"... that’s kept Hollywood whispering for decades. Disney was allegedly forced to hire bodyguards to protect the cast and crew of 1991’s 'What About Bob?' after the actor hurled a glass ashtray at co-star Richard Dreyfuss and threatened to 'throw' the film’s female producer 'across a parking lot.'... Despite his enduring status as a beloved Hollywood bad boy, Murray has repeatedly been accused of violently clashing with co-stars — from alleged head-butting to 'inexcusable and unacceptable' language — on numerous sets stretching all the way back to the 1970s."
From "Sad tale of Bill Murray’s on-set violence surfaces amid ‘behavior’ investigation" (NY Post).
More stories here: "Bill Murray allegedly behaved inappropriately on his latest film. It’s not new territory" (L.A. Times).
I'm looking back at my old posts with the "Bill Murray" tag:
In 2015, people were talking about "Living a Bill Murray Life." Murray had composed 7 rules to help you live like him, which was presumably something quite a few of us thought of as a cool thing to do.
In 2016, I featured this Bill Murray quote: "What stops us from looking at ourselves and seeing ourselves is that we’re kind of ugly, if we really, if we look really hard. We’re not who we think we are. We’re not, uh we’re not as wonderful as we think we are."
In 2018, I quoted something Harvey Weinstein had said in 2014: "Being a Murray-ite is a religion, where you can behave as badly as you want to people, and they still love you. I used to feel guilty about behaving badly, and then I met Bill, and it feels so much better."
Posts
39 comments:
If Bill would have had a better math book back in school all this might have been avoided.
I have a friend who was an extra on a movie with Lucy Liu. Her personality is apparently very much on the rough side as well. No violence though - just acerbic
Second mention: “However, Murray and Huston later made up, with the “Lost in Translation” actor showing up at the funeral of Huston’s husband, Robert Graham, in 2008.“
"Why would such a big celebrity insert himself into these random situations? I don't think people can figure out why he would do that?"
Maybe this was his way of atoning?
As we are finding out with Will Smith, we are complicated creatures.
Attempting to convincingly perform some character for the screen, may affect some actors in unexpected ways. Acting could be hazardous.
If that is interpreted as excusing Bill's behavior, then so be it. I still love the guy.
Now and then I take note of which celebrities are said to be very nice in real life, and which ones are awful. Sometimes I say "That figures," sometimes I'm surprised.
Bill Murray had me confused for a long time. The best I can make sense of the anecdotes about him is that he is generally wonderful to random people outside show business, and he's absolute hell on his coworkers.
And maybe there's a time function at work. The wonderful character actor Jim Beaver points out, sometimes you meet a famous person during a bad period in their life, just as you might anyone else. Murray has had some problems over the years, and maybe he's not above taking them out on handy targets.
Shut the film down? If Murray were Black they would have given him an Oscar and a standing ovation.
Wish I'd read the LA Times article before commenting. They bring up the physical altercation between Murray and Chevy Chase as evidence of Murray's pattern.
In any fistfight between Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, I am rooting hard for Bill Murray. Chase (who I've found hilarious) seems to be a real nasty piece of work. I don't approve of assaulting him, but I understand it.
Heartwarming story I came across: An 11-year-old boy was allowed to approach his favorite actor Chevy Chase during some down time on the set of The Three Amigos. Chase is awful to him and the boy turns away, trying not to cry. Steve Martin comes up and says, "You're a real dick, Chevy." He grabs Martin Short, they take a Polaroid with the kid and sign it. The man still has the Polaroid, and he doesn't much care to watch Chevy Chase.
Anything short of murder, rape, or pederasty and Bill Murray stays in my 'A' book.
Two things:
1) it's probably a sign of the times that my first thought when reading this post was "Bill Murray must have said something that sounded conservativish."
2) Two of my favorite Bill Murray movies, Scrooged and Groundhog Day, have him playing a obnoxious jerk who finds redemption from an outside force. I've always thought that these pre-redeemed characters had a lot of the actual Bill Murray in them.
oh and a third, only loosely related, thing: I really have tried and simply have to admit I don't like Wes Anderson movies at all even though I'm a big fan of the quirky humor genre, such as the Coen Brothers. I can now blame Bill Murray's antisocial impact.
"Despite his enduring status as a beloved Hollywood bad boy"
Is Bill Murray a beloved Hollywood bad boy? Isn't he more of an eccentric scamp or gregarious raconteur. Charlie Sheen or Russell Brand are Hollywood bad boys, or maybe times have changed.
Does this mean we won't see him singing "Take me out to the ballgame" at Cubs games this summer?
Actually it's sad to hear. But again, it's showbiz.
He’s ruined.
George had it right... "Pollution of the highest degree"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoNHMJChnzA
Disney had to hire some bodyguards to physically separate Dreyfuss and Murray
That's a weird way of putting it. Since bill Murray could kick Dreyfuss's ass with one hand tied behind his back, the bodyguards were there to PROTECT Richard Dreyfuss. Further, people just don't "hurl ashtrays" without provocation. What did Dreyfuss do that set Murray off?
Maybe, Dreyfuss was a mouthy obnoxious twerp who thought he could say ANYTHING and not get a physical response. Lets hear Murray's side of the story.
You have to wonder why Murray was such a violent thug, why he lasted for 45 years in Show biz. This sounds like Hollywood liberals cryng and getting hysterical over anything the least bit physical, while seeing nothing wrong with Harry Weinstein ejaculating into Potted plants or cancelling someone's career over the wrong tweet or a wrong word.
Very liberal, and very effeminate.
He has made some enjoyable films, but I've always sensed that he was an entitled asshole.
I've never understood the Murray adulation.
And his shtick at the Pebble Beach golf tournament is beyond old at this point...
Have had low opinion of Murray for over three decades since a colleague on a business trip recounted an unpleasant encounter of him hitting on her at the hotel next to where we were working.
This follows on the heels of shutting down a set and replacing Frank Langella for unspecified on set behavior.
David Begley said...
He’s ruined.
Only until they need him again. Granted, the way Hollywood is going these days that's unlikely, but if it does ever happen Bill Murray will be lauded as "one of the greats".
I read the story in Variety yesterday.
It had no details of what Murray said or did but did give an example of his last movie where he disagreed strongly with the director about some lines in the script.
Apparently his disagreement upset the woman director.
Most people would just say it is an example of a professional being passionate about their craft.
John LGKTQ Henry
I'm not chevy chase, but he is.
Anyway, I'm really too upset at celebrities who are rude to fans. They owe us a good performance, not autographs and personal kindness. Supposedly, Bill Russell got so upset at "fans" bothering him and saying "How's the weather up there?" he spit on a fan and said "its raining".
Cruel. but i can understand the reaction. If you become famous, and people ask for your autograph or want to talk to you its probably flattering, the first 500 times it happens. After that...
Our high school golf team only fielded a varsity team, so obviously there was no junior varsity team. Usually about 14 boys would make the team. The coach did run an A team and a B team. Everyone played enough to qualify for a Letterman’s jacket, but the A team played the harder courses and more challenging opponents. At each match the team could consist a combination of A and B players depending on a players current performance. This kept the A team on their toes and gave the B team something to strive for.
A side note my son’s Freshman year he made the B team and ended up playing the majority of his rounds with the A team. Those boys always wanted to play up. It was a very good strategy. The majority of the glory each season went to the A team.
This is where Bill Murray comes in. There was an afternoon where both the A and B teams were playing matches, the A team at a nicer more difficult course and the B team at a typical course that was nice but not great. Bill Murray was at the typical course, ran into our B team (after the match) and noticed their team bags and clothing. He approached them and hung out. Chatted. Gave them tips to make the A team. Took pictures. All in all he was awesome.
rcocean,
I get it. In fact Steve Martin has a reputation for being cool and distant when approached. This led him to have this wonderful card printed up to hand out on such occasions:
"This certifies that you had a personal encounter with me and found me warm, polite, intelligent and funny."
I've had very few celebrity encounters, and I've limited each to a cordial nod. (Bill Maher returned one pleasantly when we almost collided, approaching a door from opposite directions.) But I always liked the attitude of Peter Capaldi, who I first knew as the vicious "Malcolm Tucker" in The Thick of It. Asked about some event where people raved about how gracious he was, he said,
"It's very easy to make people happy when they're automatically glad to see you. You just have to be nice to them. In fact, that's a pretty good rule for life: Just show up and don't be horrible, you'd be surprised how much people like it."
It seems to me that in just about any business assholes are tolerated so long as they remain high performers. And if lesser performers find that distressing, well, business is business and you shouldn't expect some sort of cosmic justice from it.
Perhaps that's more exaggerated in Hollywood where a top-talent can bring in $hundreds of millions, and a mid-grade performer barely earns his/her keep?
But it's not as if this doesn't exist everywhere.
After a lifetime of wealth, fame, and substance abuse, these complaints seem small bore, especially compared to the scandals that other celebs have afflicted upon the world. I'm sure Mother Theresa had her off days and occasionally acted like a moody bitch.
Let those who have not gone through menopause in the glare of the spotlight cast the first stone......I think Louis CK should write a buddy movie for him, Charlie Sheen, and Bill Murray. Some kind of road trip or prison movie. Alec Baldwin could play the villain. Maybe Bill Cosby could play the wise old Black man who gives our heroes spiritual guidance in their quest for redemption and wisdom. I don't see Roseanne as the love interest, but she definitely deserves a part. Maybe the ex-wife who's jealous and bitter about Bill's love affair with Scarlet Johannsen.
Not one of these articles includes a single word about what "inappropriate behavior" Murray allegedly engaged in on the set of this new film, let alone whether he actually did it. And yet, every single news outlet seems to think it has to run with the story. And in a vacuum of actual facts, they all end up going the route of "let's look at his troubled history" -- which seems to be another tangle of allegations, many anonymously or poorly sourced, about things he maybe did or said, ranging from truly bad behavior to virtual nothingburgers. How many people could withstand an inquisition like that, in which every negative interaction they've ever had is recounted in its worst possible light? I'm not saying that Murray isn't a jerk whose "cancellation" is long overdue -- maybe he is! But right now, the media is trying him on the basis of zero evidence of what he's even supposed to have done on this latest set -- just because every newspaper, magazine and website is afraid they'll be the only one with nothing to say on the subject.
Any story such as this describing the people who make Hollywood films should always end with the punchline, "The Aristocrats!" For the laughs, and accuracy.
William said...
I think Louis CK should write a buddy movie for him, Charlie Sheen, and Bill Murray. Some kind of road trip or prison movie. Alec Baldwin could play the villain. Maybe Bill Cosby could play the wise old Black man who gives our heroes spiritual guidance in their quest for redemption and wisdom. I don't see Roseanne as the love interest, but she definitely deserves a part. Maybe the ex-wife who's jealous and bitter about Bill's love affair with Scarlet Johannsen.
Why not just remake the Blues Brothers? Louis and Charlie could play Jake and Elwood, Murray could be the priest who runs the orphanage, Cosby could do the Cab Calloway role (except for the singing). Rosanne could the the Carrie Fisher part and make attempt after attempt to kill Louis over the canceled wedding and Baldwin....well, Baldwin just screams Illinois Nazi to me.
Bill Murray can be nasty to his co-workers? Ie, Hollywood assholes?
That's a plus in my book.
I held the door open for Harold Pinter once. I wanted to compliment him, but I was concerned that he would resent my American accent.
Blogger Jim at said...
Bill Murray can be nasty to his co-workers? Ie, Hollywood assholes?
That's a plus in my book.
At least he didn't shoot them like Alex Baldwin.
A young woman who used to work for me told me that on a flight to Raleigh-Durham Bill Murray threatened to break her phone if she took his picture. She didn't mind because she was thrilled to meet Bill Murray.
If you’ve not familiar with the site thechive.com, they do a lot of business with their Bill Murray adulation. It’s a daily visit for me, especially scrolling through the daily morning and daily afternoon randomness. I usually share at least one picture a day to my Facebook page- a picture that doesn’t include scantily clad females, which seem to be featured in all their posts regardless of subject. It’s amazing how you can insert scantily clad females into almost any subject.
Anyway, their Bill Murray posts always mention the good things Bill Murray does. So much so I find it easy to believe that a special snowflake was offended and as us, it’s being blown out of proportion.
Some comedians just have an excess of life or energy that they can't control and that can make them behave very well or very badly. I don't think Bill Murray is bipolar, but he does seem to have come up in an environment where self-control wasn't demanded and all kinds of behavior -- random acts of spite or kindness -- were expected. If he approached life in a level-headed, prosaic way, he wouldn't have been as successful as he has been.
So if the "little" people destroy the star, their jobs go away. That is the hill they are going to die on.
I read once that Mork squeezed Mindy's breast before a take. The whole DVD series should be recalled.
Saw Bill a few times at the Crosby Clambake. He seemed very switched on, engaged. Was spontaneous hilarious.
Murray has repeatedly been accused of violently clashing with co-stars — from alleged head-butting to 'inexcusable and unacceptable' language
One of these things is not like the other. Ooh, "inexcusable and unacceptable language"! Did he call someone a Republican?
Most I would ever do for/to a celebrity is just say Thank You for whatever they did that I liked and be as pleasant as I would to anyone else. I doubt they give two s***s about me or whether I hold them in some esteem or not.
Unless I really dislike something they've done, then I'd just ignore them. I think they would hate that more than anything.
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