Bill Murray facing messy divorce

Bill Murray, star of Sophia Coppola’s Oscar-winning film Lost in Translation, has been accused of drug abuse, sex addiction and physical violence in divorce papers issued by his wife, Jennifer Butler Murray (left, with Murray and Coppola). The claims, which have been made in court papers filed in the US, and have cropped up on Hollywood’s Smoking Gun website, will come as a surprise to fans of the popular 57-year-old actor, being quite at variance with his urbane public image.

However, the court papers are unambivalent, stating that the actor’s "adultery, addiction to marijuana and alcohol, abusive behaviour, physical abuse, sexual addictions and frequent abandonment" are the cause of the breakdown of the couple’s 11-year marriage.

According to Butler Murray, the last altercation between the pair occurred in November 2007 when Murray allegedly hit his wife in the face and told her she was "lucky he didn’t kill her". She claims she no longer feels safe in her husband’s presence. The divorce documents go on to claim that Murray would "often leave the state or country" without telling his wife of his whereabouts, and engage "in public and private altercations and sexual liaisons".

Murray is said to have left "threatening voice messages" on his wife’s answer machine and refused to seek treatment for his adultery, the papers further allege.

This has led Butler Murray, 42, to seek a restraining order against the actor. The couple married in July 1997 - after Murray had made his name in hits like Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day - and have four children aged between seven and 15. It was Murray's second marriage.