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Brian Doyle-Murray

Brian Doyle-Murray has built a career out of making authority figures, eccentrics and professional irritants far more entertaining than they have any right to be. Born in Chicago on October 31, 1945, he developed his comic instincts with The Second City in the early 1970s before joining The National Lampoon Radio Hour and its stage show. Those years placed him alongside performers including John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Harold Ramis and his younger brother, Bill Murray. His long association with Saturday Night Live showed both sides of his talent. Doyle-Murray worked as a writer under producers Lorne Michaels, Jean Doumanian and Dick Ebersol, while also serving during separate stretches as a featured performer. During the show’s seventh season, he anchored the news segment then known as SNL Newsbreak. His writing earned three Emmy nominations, in 1978, 1979 and 1980. Doyle-Murray made his film debut in Caddyshack and later appeared with Bill Murray in The Razor’s Edge, Scrooged, Ghostbusters II and Groundhog Day. Elsewhere, he became a reliably sharp presence in comedies including National Lampoon’s Vacation, where he played a camp clerk, and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, where he was Clark Griswold’s tightly wound boss Frank Shirley. His film work also includes Sixteen Candles, Wayne’s World, JFK, Multiplicity, As Good as It Gets, Bedazzled and 17 Again. Television gave him room to settle into recurring characters, from studio head George Savitsky on Yes, Dear to car dealership owner Mr. Ehlert on The Middle. He also co-starred in Get a Life, Bakersfield P.D. and Sullivan & Son, and appeared in Seinfeld, Wings and Psych. His distinctive delivery has proved just as useful in animation. Doyle-Murray voices the Flying Dutchman on SpongeBob SquarePants and played Captain K’nuckles in The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, extending a career shaped by dry comic timing, recognizable character work and an enduring talent for playing men who expect the room to follow their rules.