Why Bill Murray crashed Elvis Presley’s funeral: “Something made me want to go”
According to celebrity legend, Bill Murray loves to utter one mischievous refrain when he surprises people by turning up in unexpected places.
Despite being a man who often made himself so difficult to find that it actually cost him iconic Hollywood roles, Murray also loves doing the exact opposite. That is, when you least expect it, you may be treated to the bizarre sight of Murray crashing your karaoke night or stealing your fries at McDonald’s, just because he can. Then, when you say, “This is crazy, Bill Murray! What are you doing here?” that hangdog face will twist into a grin and he’ll say, “No one will ever believe you.”
To Murray’s fans, this is a beloved aspect of the comedic titan, who has always walked to the beat of his own drum. If he wants to go to a bar one night and serve people drinks for free, he’ll do it, and if it takes his fancy to wander into a wedding and take pictures with the happy couple while rubbing his bare belly, he’ll do that, too. It’s an incredible story to tell if you’re one of the lucky ones who catches Murray on a random adventure, and it speaks to a certain joie de vivre that not a lot of people have.
On the other hand, though, if you know Murray also has a reputation for being a willfully difficult asshole, you’re less likely to find these antics charming. You may think they seem like the actions of a man with a desperate need for attention, or a guy who has no respect for boundaries or privacy. In truth, the reality is probably somewhere between “Murray just likes to have fun with strangers” and “Murray is a narcissistic jerk who can get away with things because he’s one of the funniest actors alive”.
Amazingly, though, Murray admitted that his history of showing up unannounced didn’t just begin when he reached the top of Hollywood. Instead, he’s been doing that shit since he was an up-and-coming Saturday Night Live star, and back then, he didn’t just target events held by regular folks. After all, in ‘77, he took a notion to pay tribute to ‘The King of Rock’. So, he hopped on a flight to Memphis, Tennessee, to attend Elvis Presley’s funeral, despite not being invited.
“Something made me want to go,” Murray shrugged while on TODAY in 2018, before revealing that he arrived at Presley’s iconic Graceland mansion just as public visitation hours were coming to a close. Initially, it looked like he wouldn’t actually be able to blag his way into the funeral service the next day at Forrest Hill Cemetery, where Presley’s beloved mother Gladys was also buried. However, when he met a photographer he knew who was covering proceedings, he was hooked up with a spot on a bus comprising part of Presley’s funeral procession.
As the bus wound its way through Memphis, with thousands of crying fans lining the streets and city buildings flying their flags at half mast, Murray was taken aback by the enormity of the occasion. “It was an extraordinary thing to see,” he confessed. “Hundreds of thousands of people standing on a really hot day waiting.”
When he got off the bus and scampered across the cemetery to get a good spot to watch the ceremony, though, he found himself in a sticky situation. “All of a sudden,” Murray recalled, “the motorcycle cops looked at me like, ‘If you move, we will kill ya.’ I just froze. They were all staring at me and pointing.”
Murray initially thought the jig was up, and the cops knew he wasn’t supposed to be there, but then he realised they were gesturing at something else. “I realised they were pointing at Elvis’ mother’s grave,” he remembered in astonishment. “I was standing right at her gravesite.” It was a hairy moment, for sure, but it proved you really can get anywhere in life, as long as you know the right people and act like you belong.
