Bill Murray is a national treasure. He is one of the greatest comedic actors of all time, and he doesn't limit his antics to the stage and screen. Murray is regularly pulling stunts and shenanigans in public that are relatively harmless, completely bizarre, utterly hilarious, and, in the words of How I Met Your Mother's Barney Stinson, legend---wait for it--ary.
Stories abound regarding Bill Murray crashing parties, stealing change, running a cash register, and generally just popping up in random places to do random things with random people. Sense a theme? Stories about Bill Murray doing odd things have been circulating for years, and have been collected in both the film Bill Murray Stories and the website of the same name. In many cases, he leans over and tells the subject or witness to his pranks, "No one will ever believe you."
These wonderful stories about Bill Murray's off-screen, public antics have been circulating for decades; sometimes they even occur on-set, as cast members tell their wild Bill Murray stories. Let's take a look at a few of the most spectacular stories.
Bill Murray at the 1996 Pan Am Golf Tournament
There are many stories about Bill Murray on golf courses, which seems appropriate given his role in the 1980 movie Caddyshack. In this story, the year was 1996, and Murray was attending the 1996 Pan Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach, California (which got canceled due to weather). This story is two-fold. In the first part, Murray walked over to an ice cream cooler and asked a little boy if he wanted one. He said yes, so Murray grabbed a sweet treat from the cooler and tossed it to him. He then did the same for a little girl. Finally, he turned to a pretty young woman and, when she said that she wanted ice cream, Murray reached into the cooler one last time and tossed the woman a frozen fish.
In the second part of this story, Murray was walking with a reporter being interviewed. The reporter asked Murray what he thought of the golf movie Tin Cup starring Kevin Costner, which had recently been released. Murray turned to the reporter and said, "Well, I still think I was in the best golf movie of all time." He was.
Why is Bill Murray Running the Cash Register?
One summer on Martha's Vineyard, a father and son and the father's friend pulled into the town's Texaco gas station. Now, the Texaco in the village of Menemsha in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts isn't just a run-of-the-mill gas station. It's a market, bait shop, marina, coffee shop, and gas station for cars and boats. A father and son walked into the Texaco to shop for their day of fishing. The son turns to his father and said, "Is that Bill Murray?" Moments later a friend walks up and says “Why is Bill Murray running the cash register?”
Bill Murray was standing behind the cash register, ringing up customers while wearing a fishing vest and a bucket hat. The group put a bottle of water and candy bar on the counter for Murray to ring up. Murray said, "That'll be $147.51 please." The owner of the Texaco was watching from the back room and laughing.
I Met Bill At a Cubs Training Game
When a Chicago Cubs fan was 12-years-old, he and his mom (also a big Cubs fan) attended a 1991 spring training game. The 12-year-old got autographs on an official Cubs baseball from Cubs legends Ryne Sanderg and Mark Grace. He was thrilled, until his mom noticed that Bill Murray was sitting in front of them. He worked up the courage to tap Murray on the shoulder and ask for his autograph on the baseball.
Can You Watch My Bags?
Back in 2012, one intrepid traveler was at the airport in Tucson, Arizona and scheduled for the first flight out that morning. The airport was empty due to the early morning hour. Going through security, he realized the only other person there was exceptionally tall and ... Bill Murray. Once Murray collected his bags, the traveler introduced himself and the two got into a conversation about Tucson as they walked towards the gate and sat down. Suddenly, Murray stood up and said, “Can you watch my bags? I have to go take a leak.” Murray walked away, and the traveler realized how bizarre it was that he was not only watching Bill Murray's bags but that Murray asked a stranger to watch them in the first place. Fortunately, Murray returned, and the pair continued their conversation until it was time to board.
At A Diner in Maine
Several years ago in New England, a person stopped at a diner outside Portland, Maine. It was early in the morning and they were sitting at the counter having a cup of coffee while waiting for their breakfast. About 12 or so people were in the diner when a man walked in and went behind the counter and intro the kitchen. The patrons assumed he was the owner until he walked back out of the kitchen with a Styrofoam container with breakfast foods piled in it. He struggled to close the container it was then when patrons realized it was none other than Bill Murray. He turned to the person at the counter, grinned, and said, “No one will ever believe you”.
A Late Night Snack in Chicago
One summer, a person doing a summer internship at a four-star hotel in Chicago saw something so bizarre and unexpected he almost couldn't believe his eyes. Early one Thursday morning, he saw a man eating leftovers off a room service cart that had been left in the hallway. The man was stuffing cold mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, and chocolate cake into his mouth, and washed it all down with leftover champagne right out of the bottle. Just as the intern was about to ask the man what he was doing and why, he realized the man foraging for food was Bill Murray. At that moment, Murray picked up a half-eaten shrimp cocktail and walked toward the elevator. Before Murray got on the elevator, he turned to the intern and said, “No one will ever believe you.”
A Gas Station in New Jersey
One time, a person stopped at an Exxon station off the New Jersey Turnpike. When they exited the store after paying, they saw someone had opened the door to their car and was stealing change out of the ashtray. They ran to the car yelling at the man dressed in sweatpants and a tie dye t-shirt. When the man got out of the car, it was Bill Murray. They stood and looked at each other for a moment. Murray smiled and said, “no one will ever believe you” before walking away.
Bill Murray And The Trays
A woman named Shelby worked at a cafeteria style restaurant. One day, she was cleaning up the salad station when a man in a trench coat and sunglasses walked into the restaurant. The man started taking trays and stacking them one by one on his head until he had a tower of 15 trays balanced on his head. He then took the trays and threw them. The manager was about to step in and ask him what he was doing when the man took off his sunglasses and revealed himself to be Bill Murray. Murray looked at them and said “No one will ever believe you.” before he walked out.