Bill Murray Tells Vanity Fair About Christmases in Wilmette

It’s not too common someone has a compelling story about growing up poor in Wilmette, but film comedy legend Bill Murray is not too common.

Murray will grace the cover of Vanity Fair when it hits national newsstands on November 10.

The magazine interviewed him as part of its cover story ahead of the actor’s upcoming holiday special on Netflix. A portion of the Mitch Glazer article touched on the actor’s childhood in Wilmette.

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Under the article sub-head, “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin,’” Murray - best known for his roles in Caddyshack, Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day among other iconic films - talks about Christmas while growing up in Wilmette with eight siblings. With little money, it was difficult for him to get something practical and functional.

“In the early days, they would cost a dime,” Murray, 65, said of the gifts.

“Literally a dime. You would go to, like, a variety store. And you would get people combs. ‘Hey, you’re getting a comb this year.’ And I mean, like, a pocket comb. Like an Ace pocket comb. And then girls had hairnets, so you buy them a hairnet. When I was really feeling flush they’d get a comb and a hairnet. In the drugstores, they used to have a nut display, where nuts would be available in there. And they would be, like, heated. They’d be under a heat lamp. I thought, Hey, you know what? We never have cashews. I’ll buy everyone cashews. So I bought cashews—enough cashews for everyone, divided up into, like, eight groups for my brothers and sisters—and then wrapped them all in tinfoil.”

more via Vanity Fair

Photo: Wikimedia Commons