Fact Check

Bill Murray or Tom Hanks?

A photograph of actor Bill Murray and a crying child has sparked an internet debate over whether or not it actually shows actor Tom Hanks.

Published Oct. 28, 2016

 (Flickr)
Image Via Flickr
Claim:
A photograph shows actor Bill Murray and a crying baby.

In October 2016, many people took to social media to weigh in on the burning question of whether a photograph of actor Bill Murray was actually a photograph of actor Tom Hanks:

bill murray

The man pictured here is not Tom Hanks, despite the fact that if you casually glance at the photograph, he does quite resemble Hanks here. This image shows actor Bill Murray at a golf tournament in Scotland in 2012 and was originally published to the web site "Reasons My Son Is Crying" in May 2013:

Reasons my son is crying.

He met Bill Murray.

Submitted by: Laura R.
Location: St. Andrew’s, Scotland

While the origins of this photograph are well-documented, some refused to believe that the picture actually shows Bill Murray. The BBC attempted to settle the matter once and for all, and contacted "Laura R." for comment:

It's totally Bill. I can vouch cause I'm the one in the photo with the massive grin thinking "oh my god this is going to be an awesome photo!"

Laura R. also said that the photograph was taken at the Alfred Dunhill Links golf competition at St. Andrews in October 2012. We searched Getty Images for photographs from the event and sure enough, the agency's photographers captured several images of Bill Murray in the same orange coat and hat:

Bill Murray is the actor making a small child cry in this photograph, not Tom Hanks.

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.

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