Quiet Riot

Bill Murray

In the can-do '80s, the smart-ass emerged as the ultimate form of rebel. And Bill Murray was the ultimate smart-ass -- the most sarcastic deflator of authority who ever lived. His characters weren't strong or ambitious; they understood that all they had to do to ... morebest their stuffed-shirt rivals was not to care about the fight. In Murray comedies, the funniest man always won -- and you know who that was. He may have seemed clownish to some, but Murray was one of the Reagan era's biggest stars because his persona was radical.

Essential performances: "Caddyshack," "Stripes," "Tootsie," "Ghostbusters," "Scrooged"