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.
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.