The “brilliant” actor Bill Murray called the greatest he’d ever seen: “He was a monster”
With almost 50 years of film and television experience under his belt, Bill Murray has seen the best and worst that the industry has to offer. He’s also been part of it, too, with his persona existing somewhere between loveable legend and belligerent nightmare.
Along the way, he’s worked with some actors and filmmakers who’ve blown his socks off, and others who’ve left him nonplussed. He denied assaulting Charlie’s Angels director McG, but he didn’t try to distance himself from his highly publicised dislike of Richard Dreyfuss, and nor did he hold back in savaging his Groundhog Day co-star Andie McDowell.
At the opposite end of the ‘Murricane’ scale, he’ll turn up any time Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch, or Sofia Coppola ask him to, reserving a special spot for Robert Duvall as one of his greatest scene partners. However, The Godfather veteran wasn’t the best actor he’d ever seen perform in person, with that special status bestowed upon a close friend and former Saturday Night Live colleague.
Since its beginning, the sketch series has been a proving ground for the next generation of Hollywood’s comedic heavyweights, and from the original crop of stars, Murray arguably emerged as the leading light. However, many were of the belief that, were it not for his tragic demise, John Belushi would have overshadowed them all.
A charismatic tour-de-force, Belushi’s onscreen energy was almost as famous as his offscreen proclivities. His substance abuse issues would tragically win the battle, and while he’s endured as a largely beloved figure in comedy circles, Murray still thinks he “never gets enough credit from the world” for his talents.
“He was the best stage actor I’ve ever seen,” Murray said in Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller’s Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. “He walked on the stage, and you couldn’t look at anyone else. People that only knew him from television really missed something. On stage, he was a monster. He was an absolute bear. And he was brilliant.”
According to Murray, Belushi “had the ability to see what an improvisational sketch needed,” and he could see a scene in danger of falling flat and “solve” it within 90 seconds. “He was really, really gifted,” he said. “He really could find the essential in a moment and in an experience. He was something.”
Belushi only starred in a handful of features and a single made-for-TV movie before his death at the age of 33, but titles like The Blues Brothers and Animal House had him destined for the top. Even when playing against type in Jack Nicholson’s Goin’ South, there were hints that he had the potential to conquer drama, too, something most actors known for comedy attempt at the peak of their powers.
It’s been over 40 years since his passing, and Murray has shared a stage or a set with hundreds upon hundreds of actors throughout that time, and he’s still never seen anyone who’s taken his breath away to the same extent as Belushi.
