Bill Murray is a known badass. While he's famous for his talent as an actor and comedian, more people have come to love Bill Murray for the weird, awesome stories surrounding him. From stories on the set to sightings in random Karaoke clubs and even crashing a stranger's family photo, here some of his most legendary moments.
1. Bill Murray crashed a bachelor party full of complete strangers
Over Memorial Day weekend 2014, a handful of guys from Boston College were in Charleston, SC, for a bachelor party when Bill Murray just waltzed right up to offer some words of wisdom to the groom.
A friend of the groom reported: "At one point during dinner at a steakhouse, one guy goes to the bathroom downstairs and sees Bill Murray sitting with some people with a fishing vest on. We talked to the waiter to see if we could send him some drinks, to which Bill declined. One of my buddies then went down and asked if he'd come up and say a few words for EJ and got a 'No thanks.' My buddy comes back up dejected and tells us it's not going to happen. Two minutes later, Bill f*cking Murray walks into the room and gives this speech."
Murray says to the group, "You know how they say funerals are for the dead, not for the living? Bachelor parties are not for the groom, they're for the unmarried."
He then goes on to give sound advice to the rest of the group who hasn't gotten engaged yet. "If you have someone that you think is The One, take that person and travel around the world. Buy a plane ticket for the two of you to travel all around the world, and go to places that are hard to go to and hard to get out of. And when you land at JFK, and you're still in love with that person... get married."
Then, Bill Murray hoists the groom up on his shoulders.
Check out the video here:
2. That time he crashed someone's engagement photos.
In May, 2014, wedding photographer Raheel Gauba was out on a photo shoot with Erik Rogers and Ashley Donald, when suddenly the expressions on their faces went from candid to pure shock. Gauba told The Post and Courier: "I thought who the heck is bothering them? I turn around and it's Bill Murray with his shirt up, belly out, tapping his belly and trying to make them laugh."
Gauba invited Murray over to pose with the young couple for a few shots, to which he obliged, and then took off.
3. Bill Murray Accidentally Stars in Garfield
So, Bill Murray receives the Garfield script one day and sees the name "Joel Cohen" attached to it. He believes it's the famed director of Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Barton Fink, and No Country for Old Men Joel Coen (no H, you see). Academy Award-winning Joel Coen.
When actually, it was...
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According to Esquire magazine, Murray says: "I looked at the script, and it said, 'So-and-so and Joel Coen.' And I thought: Christ, well, I love those Coens! They're funny. So I sorta read a few pages of it and thought, Yeah, I'd like to do that."
Then he saw the movie. And only AFTER that did he realize that it wasn't Joel Coen, but Joel Cohen. No Fargo, No Country for Old Men or Big Lebowski no, this one was Daddy Day Camp (the sequel to Daddy Day Care), Evan Almighty, and Cheaper By the Dozen Joel Cohen.
"I kept saying, 'Who did this? What the f**k was Coen thinking?' And then they explained it to me: It wasn't written by that Joel Coen."
Ahhhhh... classic Bill Murray.
4. Bill Murray Does Karaoke with Complete Strangers
A group of friends go out to have a few drinks at a bar called Karaoke One 7 in New York City. Mike, the guy who reported this story to authorities, notices a couple of women who have just walked in with a guy that looks just like Bill Murray... because he IS Bill Murray.
After they do the good ol' "celebrity confirmation", the group proceeds to invite Bill Murray into their karaoke room.
15 minutes later, Bill Murray knocks on their door.
Bill Murray and the girl he's with notably from Amsterdam sing a bunch of French songs and buy everyone these weird green drinks made with Chartreuse. After these, Bill Murray himself sings an Elvis song with Mike and the group, of course, takes a bunch of photos.
5. Bill Murray Reads Poetry to Construction Workers
We all need a little art in our lives sometimes, to keep us inspired. But it doesn't usually come in the middle of a work day - especially when you're a construction worker! But, leave it to Bill Murray to change that.
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During construction of the Poet's House, a library in Manhattan, Bill Murray stops by to read poems to the construction workers who are working on the building. In the middle of reading, he says, "It gets worse. If you want to take a sick day, do it now." Workers laugh and take photos with their cell phones.
You can watch the full reading in this video:
6. Bill Murray Pairs Up with Blonde Girl in Foreign Country... Goes to Party
One evening after a golf tournament in St. Andrews, Bill Murray decides to go out and explore the city.
He's out for drinks with fellow golfers when he meets young a beautiful blonde Nordic woman named Lykke Stavnef, who is there with her friend Marie Bergene and who, naturally, invites him to a party.
Bill Murray (in typical Bill Murray fashion) says yes.
When they show up, no one can believe that 22-year-old Stavnef has brought him to a house party. She's concerned that there are not enough clean dishes there, so Bill Murray actually decides to start washing dishes. Everyone is amused when he
cleans some dishes so that people can drink, but even more charmed when he happily accepts drinking vodka out of a coffee mug.
Before he leaves, he finishes cleaning the feet-high dishes pile left by the college students, then heads back to his hotel.
7. Bill Murray Gets Drunk and Drives a Golf Cart
One day, Bill Murray had a few drinks and thought, Hey, I'm not going to get into a car because drunk driving isn't cool. But you know what I COULD do? Golf cart.
Yep. That's right.
Bill Murray is caught driving a golf cart down the streets of Stockholm, Sweden on his way back from a fancy nightclub less than a mile away from his hotel. He is with several other VIPs who are in town for a golf tournament and who stumbled upon these golf carts, which were on display near their hotel. Authorities say this is the first time they have ever seen anything like this.
Now, the great part of this story isn't that he wow'ed a hotel manager, or even that he zipped around on a golf cart. The great part of this story is that
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Bill Murray illustrates the fact that he's the type of guy who will see something he wants, knows he can afford any of the consequences of his actions financially, and just goes ahead and takes it. He can pretty much do anything he wants, he knows it, and he's having an absolutely amazing time with it.
When police accost him to take a breath test, he cites American law and refuses but he later admits to them that he was, indeed, driving under the influence. Way to own up, big guy!
8. Bill Murray Throws A Bottle And Gives a Offensive (kind of) Eulogy
Bill Murray was really great friends with comedy great and "Saturday Night Live" star John Belushi at the time of Belushis death. Belushi lived in excess and was known for doing a lot of disgusting things and for making everyone laugh doing them. It was part of his comedic craft.
So, after Ghostbusters, Bill Murray got the go-ahead to make his pet project a film called The Razors Edge based on W. Somerset Maughams 1944 novel. It's about a disillusioned World War I vet, Larry Darrell, who travels the globe to find the meaning of life. Murray says he only really did Ghostbusters so that Columbia Pictures would allow him to make this picture.
He did, and it was met with some critical acclaim, but an overall box office failureexcept one gem of a scene where a character is eulogized. Given that this film was made a little after John Belushis death, Bill Murray decided to...
use the eulogy in his film, which he co-wrote, to say goodbye to his dear friend John:
"He was a slob. Did you ever see him eat? Starving children could fill their bellies on the food that ended up on his beard and clothes. Dogs would gather to watch him eat. I never understood gluttony, but I hated it I hated that about you. He enjoyed disgusting people, being disgusting, that thrill of offending people and making them uncomfortable. He was despicable. He will not be missed."
Murray then explained why he eulogized Belushi in such a fashion, "It comes from this old Persian thing where if somebody dies you tell horrible stories about him. Thats what I did when John died What it does is remind you not to get sentimental. You say, That guy was a rat, and Im a rat too, and Id better do something about it rather than weep my life away."
9. Bill Murray Thinks Autographs Are Boring, Decides to Spice it Up
Like most celebrities, Bill Murray isn't a fan of being bothered for his autograph. Unlike most celebrities, it's because he finds it too impersonal.
One day, Bill Murray is doing a shoot for a guy, and that guy's friend asks him for an autograph. Instead of just writing his name on a piece of paper, Bill gives them...
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something better. He films an entire slow motion walk down the hall with all the guys la Wes Anderson, and they later make a short film about it called, appropriately, 'A Film About Walking In Slow Motion.'
New {fake} Trailer from David Walton Smith on Vimeo.
10. Bill Murray Surprise Bartends at Shangri-La at SXSW
Bill Murray has a lot of talents. He's a hilarious comedian, great actor and writer, and an all around awesome guy (as evinced by all these stories). But one thing that nobody saw coming was his sudden interest in bartending.
This story begins when Bill Murray attends Austin's SXSW festival and hands out with Wu-Tang Clan, you know, as one does.
But then it gets a whole lot wilder. All of them decide they'd like to go out for the night, so they show up at the bar Shangri-La. Bill Murray decides he'd like to make his bartending debut and in typical Bill Murray fashion, it has to be right then and there. So, he weasels himself behind the bar and
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takes over (how? we're not entirely sure). Not only does he serve people their drinks, he insists that everyone only drink shots of tequila. No matter what anyone went up to order, he would turn around and pour them a shot of tequila.
Rum and Coke? Tequila! Gin & Tonic? Tequila! Water? Try this tequila!
11. Bill Murray Accepts Someone's Invitation To Their Birthday Party
Marvin Larry Reynolds, of Jedburg, South Carolina, was celebrating his birthday Saturday night, and his wife Julie "invited Murray to attend the party and celebrate his own birthday." Murray turned 64 on the Sunday.
By this point, are you even surprised at what happened next? Of course, Bill Murray showed up.
But he didn't just sit quietly in the corner. Chef Brett McKee, a friend of Murray's, was catering the party and snapped shots of Bill Murray dancing with everyone, especially his beautiful choreography to "Turn Down For What."
Here, he can be seen dancing around in some random living room.
"He doesn't care," McKee told the Post and Courier of Murray. "To him, he's just a regular dude."
12. A woman named Kelly Rose shared this personal account of her adventures with Bill Murray...
The summer I was 11 years old, I looked about 8 and was habitually forced to attend Hudson Valley Renegades baseball games with my family every Friday night. Unbeknownst to my 11-year-old-Ghost-buster-loving-self, Bill Murray was part owner of this minor league baseball team.
One August Friday they were giving out Bill Murray bobbleheads as a gag and, much to everyones surprise, he actually showed up. Bill ended up sitting right behind me and I wanted to say hi so bad, but the people in my section were warned not to make a big deal out of it and let him pay attention to the game.
I decided that the best loophole was to get him to pay attention to ME, so I furrowed my brow and looked directly at him, apathetically wiggling my bobblehead. Within two minutes he caught sight of this, locked eyes with me, and started wiggling his own head in tandem with the bobble head.
After what felt like a good while, my father looks at me, then double takes because Billy and I are intently bobbling at each other. He loudly announces that I have to stop bothering Mr. Murray, to which Mr. Murray replied Oh shes alright and gave me what I can only describe as a noogie.
That was the best baseball game of MY LIFE.