INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

It’s Bill Murray In That Photo, Not Tom Hanks — And How Murray Rescued Miley Cyrus When She Forgot Her Lyrics

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 04:05 PST, Nov 28, 2016

Bill Murray is the Hollywood actor who appeared in the infamous photo of a mystery celebrity and a crying child. The photo, which had people worldwide debating whether the actor pictured was Bill Murray or Tom Hanks, was taken in 2013 but only went viral last month, according to Entertainment Weekly.

It was Hanks who finally put an end to the confusion when he addressed the topic during his appearance on the Graham Norton Show. Joking that he has been pulling off “a pale imitation of Bill Murray” for most of his career, Hanks confirmed that the photo is of Murray, not himself.

“Unless I’ve had a cranial plate shift that is medicinal, that’s not me. I believe that’s Bill.”

In other news, Bill Murray has recently received America’s top prize for comedy, according to Fox News. The 66-year-old comedian was at the center of attention of all guests at the Kennedy Center when he received his prize.

Bill Murray was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and joined several other Saturday Night Live alumni to receive the annual award for humor. The show was filled with all kinds of jokes and fun stories about Murray, but one of the highlights was when the now-bearded David Letterman stepped on the stage.

Miley Cyrus also became the highlight of the Mark Twain event when she forgot her lyrics during her performance in Bill Murray’s honor. But the 66-year-old actor came to her rescue.

When Bill Murray accepted the main award of the night, he handed it to a person in the first row and asked the audience to pass it around. It was apparently a gesture showing that Murray acknowledges the support from his long-time friends and fans.

At the end of the night, after more than a dozen of his co-stars and comedy partners shared sweet stories about him, Bill Murray came on stage to admit he had been uncomfortable just sitting there and listening.

“It’s really hard to listen to all those people be nice to you for two days. You just get real suspicious.”

When the bearded David Letterman, who made a rare public appearance since his last late night talk show episode in 2015, came on stage and revealed how Bill Murray “saved” him, he surely made the audience shed tears.

Letterman said that Bill Murray gave CBS a desperately needed boost by making 44 guest appearances over the years. Apart from saving Letterman’s show, the two also grew close and even spent some time together at the late night talk show host’s vacation home in Montana.

“He didn’t save the show, but he saved me.”

But the rest of the night was filled with jokes and laughs. It was a fun night thanks to Bill Murray, who doesn’t mind being roasted a little bit if it makes the audience laugh. Knowing that, such comedy gurus as Steve Martin, Jimmy Kimmel, and Aziz Ansari made jokes of Murray for being aloof and unpredictable.

The show was filmed beforehand for broadcast on Friday, but producers decided not to cut Miley Cyrus’ embarrassing gaffe from the final version, according to ABC News.

The “Wrecking Ball” singer forgot her lyrics and repeatedly cursed during her unique rendition of “My Way.”

Cyrus started her performance in Bill Murray’s honor with confidence, but it all came crashing down when she forgot the lyrics and started throwing curse words for the rest of her performance.

Cyrus then jokingly explained that she “got too stoned, smoked too much and forgot,” and apologized. But Bill Murray was sweet enough to come to the singer’s rescue and asked Cyrus to start the song over.

Bill Murray is among few Saturday Night Live alumni who still have what it takes to deliver top-notch humor and make millions of people around the world laugh. The 66-year-old actor starred in some of the best comedies of the 1980s and 1990s.

Bill Murray received an Academy Award nomination for his brilliant performance of a washed-up actor in Lost in Translation co-starring Scarlett Johansson. Besides his world-famous film performances, Murray also entertains people by photobombing other celebrities and crashing weddings and house parties. It made Bill Murray a social media favorite. Knowing which tricks to pull on social media to make people laugh is such a crucial talent for a comedian in the modern era: just one of the many reasons why Murray won his Mark Twain Prize.

[Featured Image by Owen Sweeney/AP Images]

Share this article: It’s Bill Murray In That Photo, Not Tom Hanks — And How Murray Rescued Miley Cyrus When She Forgot Her Lyrics
scarlett johansson miley cyrus david letterman tom hanks bill murray
More from Inquisitr