Bill Murray And Chevy Chase Got Into A Physical Fight During SNL

The late-night sketch comedy collection “Saturday Evening Reside” is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 2025. With 5 many years of tv historical past behind “SNL,” it ought to come as no shock that there has been plenty of drama behind the scenes. Except for all of the chaos depicted in Jason Reitman’s movie “Saturday Night,” depicting the night of the present’s premiere again in October 1975, the early seasons of “SNL” sparked loads of pressure backstage, particularly when the collection turned a success, and beforehand unknown comedians began changing into well-known.

Chevy Chase was the primary and largest benefactor of the success of “SNL” proper out of the gate, largely as a result of, because the host of the information satire Weekend Replace section, he was the one one saying his title on the present frequently (“I am Chevy Chase, and you are not” was his sign-off on the desk). As has been recounted by many who labored at “SNL,” Chase’s newfound fame didn’t sit properly with fellow forged member John Belushi, who resented Chase’s fast rise, particularly when he left the present to kick off a profession in motion pictures. This was not solely as a result of Belushi needed to change into the star of the present himself (despite almost refusing to sign an “SNL” contract at one point), but additionally as a result of it pushed everybody else to the facet in what was inherently an ensemble effort. The remainder of the forged and crew weren’t happy together with his angle within the aftermath both.

Chase left “SNL” throughout season 2, and season 3 introduced in Invoice Murray, who was always known as “the brand new Chevy,” a lot to the chagrin of each comedians. So there was already some built-in pressure when Chase returned to “SNL” to host the eleventh episode of the third season in February 1978. That pressure was fomented by none aside from John Belushi, although Chase’s status after leaving the present did not do him any favors. The end result was a combat that erupted between Murray and Chase simply earlier than the present went to air.

Within the e-book “Live from New York” by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales, an oral historical past of “SNL,” Chase admitted that his first mistake was assuming that he would do Weekend Replace, even supposing forged member Jane Curtin had taken over the desk since his departure from the present. Chase mentioned, “That was considerably selfish of me as a result of Jane had been doing all of it 12 months.”

Based on Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad’s e-book “Saturday Night,” Chase was extra direct and impolite in his expectations. The e-book particulars a gathering within the workplace of “SNL” creator and showrunner Lorne Michaels by which Chase is quoted as saying, “Jane, let’s face it, you’ll be able to’t be on the display with me on the identical time.”

This did not sit properly with Invoice Murray. As Chase recalled in “Reside from New York,” “John had additionally, as I later discovered, been spreading some fairly apocryphal tales about me out of his jealousy and anger or no matter to Billy Murray, who was protecting of Jane and in addition, usually talking, a feisty fellow and I am certain Billy needed to take me down, .”

NBC

Why did it fall on Invoice Murray to take Chase down a peg or two? In “Reside from New York,” Murray defined:

“That was as a result of I used to be the brand new man, and it was form of prefer it was my job to try this. It might have been too petty for another person to do it. It is nearly like I used to be goaded into that, , I feel everyone hoped for it. I did sense that. I feel they resented Chevy for leaving, for one factor. They resented him for taking a giant piece of the success and leaving and making his personal profession go.

Everyone else was from the improvisational world the place you did not make it about you. You have been an ensemble. You have been an organization. So when he left, there was resentment about that. It was a shock. On the identical time, Chevy was the large potato within the stew. He bought probably the most sketches. He had probably the most affect, he bought probably the most publicity, all of these issues. In order that they did not miss that a part of it. However there was nonetheless a hangover feeling that he should not have left till everyone had that.”

In fact, it wasn’t simply the “SNL” forged’s resentment of Chase that created the problem. Together with Chase’s fame got here much more vanity, and he already had a giant head to start with. Murray famous as a lot when recalling the combat in “Reside from New York,” the place he mentioned, “I keep in mind simply form of a basic animosity that they felt, and he did come again as a star. If you change into well-known, you have bought like a 12 months or two the place you act like an actual a**gap. You possibly can’t assist your self. It occurs to everyone. You have bought like 2 years to drag it collectively or it is everlasting.”

Chase was nonetheless in that early stage of fame — many would probably argue that he never shook that conceited ego — however he was at the least keen to confess as a lot whereas recounting the scuffle with Murray. In “Reside from New York,” Chase mirrored:

“I feel Billy was making an attempt to take me down a rung, and I used to be in all probability up a rung. I used to be in all probability slightly too filled with myself, . I spotted once I left that perhaps I hadn’t been such an ideal man. Perhaps we weren’t so shut. Perhaps I would been considerably of an a**gap. I left with self-doubts, and as time went on, it was slightly simpler to do it through the years as a result of, , it was water below the bridge, but it surely did change my notion as a result of my notion had been all alongside that that first 12 months was actually a good close-knit household and that I simply occurred to emerge due to one thing somebody had written and since individuals have been responding to me as the primary breakaway star.”

Throughout the week main as much as the present, Murray and Chase had already been poking and prodding one another. The e-book “Saturday Evening” recounts among the barbs they threw at one another all through writing and rehearsal. At one level, Murray interrupted a gathering to air some grievances from the forged and crew about his presence throughout the present’s first season. However maybe the deepest minimize was Murray taking purpose at Chase’s publicized relationship points by saying, “Go f*** your spouse. I hear she wants it.” Chase, preserving his cool, fired again with a jab at Murray’s seems, making a remark about Neil Armstrong landed on his face, a pointed insult at boxcar scars on the comic’s face.

Every little thing got here to a head on the evening of the dwell present, and simply earlier than Chase was purported to hit the stage as President Gerald Ford for the present’s chilly open, he went into Murray’s room for a showdown.

Nevertheless, whereas each Murray and Chase took swings at one another, neither of them appeared to have landed a punch, as an alternative solely shouting and rough-housing one another a bit. Throughout the scuffle, it was truly John Belushi who ended up taking a few hits, as he was hanging out in Murray’s dressing room on the time. In reality, Chase recalled one telling element that incriminates Belushi’s place in all this, “John was just like the Cheshire Cat, sitting there like, ‘Mission completed.'”

Director John Landis (“The Blues Brothers”) occurred to be at “SNL” throughout this kerfuffle, and he relayed his reminiscence of the incident in “Reside from New York,” saying, “Chevy and Billy have been having an enormous screaming combat within the hallway, and [writers] Michael O’Donoghue and Tom Davis have been holding them again, and John and Danny [Aykroyd] jumped in as a result of Chevy and Billy have been actually going to return to blows.” However maybe the funniest element he recalled was that Murray took the time to name Chase a “medium expertise,” which is such a selected, considerate, and hilarious insult.

In fact, Chase and Murray had a present to do. In “Reside from New York,” Chase perhaps patted himself on the again an excessive amount of when it got here to staying on monitor going straight to dwell tv:

“This occurred, however I’ve bought a present to do. Others may need withered. I had a sure tensile energy about me from childhood with an older brother who had already kicked the crap out of me by way of a lot of my youthful life, and there’d been various occasions once I was in violent conditions, so it wasn’t as if I used to be merely some man who had by no means seen the opposite facet of the tracks. I had. And so I assume I merely weathered it. In different phrases, slightly than be stuffed with the adrenaline that provides you the shakes and does not assist you to consider what you are doing, that merely handed, and it could be as a result of I used to be in form and I performed loads of soccer and had been in conditions the place I may settle down readily after one thing like that occurred.”

All proper, we get it, Chevy.

Whereas this feud between Chase and Murray would final for years, they’d ultimately squad their beef throughout manufacturing on the traditional comedy “Caddyshack.” Director Harold Ramis, who would later have his own beef with Bill Murray following “Groundhog Day,” forged each Chase and Murray in his “slobs vs. snobs” golf film. In reality, their well-known scene collectively (seen under) is the explanation the 2 actors have been in a position to put their variations behind them.

In Chris Nashawaty’s e-book “Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story,” Murray mentioned he discovered the collaboration simple:

“I would by no means actually achieved something with Chevy. We would at all times had form of a… humorous relationship. Nevertheless it was like, ‘O.Ok., I favored that once you did that. Let’s simply maintain going.’ We stored going, and it was humorous as a result of Ty Webb’s not removed from who Chevy is. So he was fairly comfy in his area. And I used to be comfy as Carl. So he may very well be free to snort at me. And if Ty laughed, Carl thought it meant, ‘Hey, he is my good friend!’ It is a actually enjoyable, self-aware instance of regardless of the heck Harold maintains the film is about – standing.”

Chase agrees, as he mentioned in a self-congratulatory approach that solely somebody like him can say, “We bought over all the pieces. The strain was short-lived. I’ve nothing however admiration and affection for Invoice. He nonetheless generally is a surly character, to say the least. However in the end, he is man. Despite the fact that I am the primary star within the film below the title, I am going to at all times consider Caddyshack as Billy’s film.” It is laborious to disagree, particularly when Bill Murray improvised one of the funniest scenes in the movie.

The excellent news is that they are nonetheless on good phrases, at the least so far as we all know. Throughout an look on “The Howard Stern Show” again in September 2008, Chase mirrored on their battle and mentioned, “We have by no means been shut, however we have been very pleasant, we play golf collectively. […] I feel we have made an effort through the years to get to know one another higher and to place that stuff behind.”

The late-night sketch comedy collection “Saturday Evening Reside” is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 2025. With 5 many years of tv historical past behind “SNL,” it ought to come as no shock that there has been plenty of drama behind the scenes. Except for all of the chaos depicted in Jason Reitman’s movie “Saturday Night,” depicting the night of the present’s premiere again in October 1975, the early seasons of “SNL” sparked loads of pressure backstage, particularly when the collection turned a success, and beforehand unknown comedians began changing into well-known.

Chevy Chase was the primary and largest benefactor of the success of “SNL” proper out of the gate, largely as a result of, because the host of the information satire Weekend Replace section, he was the one one saying his title on the present frequently (“I am Chevy Chase, and you are not” was his sign-off on the desk). As has been recounted by many who labored at “SNL,” Chase’s newfound fame didn’t sit properly with fellow forged member John Belushi, who resented Chase’s fast rise, particularly when he left the present to kick off a profession in motion pictures. This was not solely as a result of Belushi needed to change into the star of the present himself (despite almost refusing to sign an “SNL” contract at one point), but additionally as a result of it pushed everybody else to the facet in what was inherently an ensemble effort. The remainder of the forged and crew weren’t happy together with his angle within the aftermath both.

Chase left “SNL” throughout season 2, and season 3 introduced in Invoice Murray, who was always known as “the brand new Chevy,” a lot to the chagrin of each comedians. So there was already some built-in pressure when Chase returned to “SNL” to host the eleventh episode of the third season in February 1978. That pressure was fomented by none aside from John Belushi, although Chase’s status after leaving the present did not do him any favors. The end result was a combat that erupted between Murray and Chase simply earlier than the present went to air.

Within the e-book “Live from New York” by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales, an oral historical past of “SNL,” Chase admitted that his first mistake was assuming that he would do Weekend Replace, even supposing forged member Jane Curtin had taken over the desk since his departure from the present. Chase mentioned, “That was considerably selfish of me as a result of Jane had been doing all of it 12 months.”

Based on Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad’s e-book “Saturday Night,” Chase was extra direct and impolite in his expectations. The e-book particulars a gathering within the workplace of “SNL” creator and showrunner Lorne Michaels by which Chase is quoted as saying, “Jane, let’s face it, you’ll be able to’t be on the display with me on the identical time.”

This did not sit properly with Invoice Murray. As Chase recalled in “Reside from New York,” “John had additionally, as I later discovered, been spreading some fairly apocryphal tales about me out of his jealousy and anger or no matter to Billy Murray, who was protecting of Jane and in addition, usually talking, a feisty fellow and I am certain Billy needed to take me down, .”

NBC

Why did it fall on Invoice Murray to take Chase down a peg or two? In “Reside from New York,” Murray defined:

“That was as a result of I used to be the brand new man, and it was form of prefer it was my job to try this. It might have been too petty for another person to do it. It is nearly like I used to be goaded into that, , I feel everyone hoped for it. I did sense that. I feel they resented Chevy for leaving, for one factor. They resented him for taking a giant piece of the success and leaving and making his personal profession go.

Everyone else was from the improvisational world the place you did not make it about you. You have been an ensemble. You have been an organization. So when he left, there was resentment about that. It was a shock. On the identical time, Chevy was the large potato within the stew. He bought probably the most sketches. He had probably the most affect, he bought probably the most publicity, all of these issues. In order that they did not miss that a part of it. However there was nonetheless a hangover feeling that he should not have left till everyone had that.”

In fact, it wasn’t simply the “SNL” forged’s resentment of Chase that created the problem. Together with Chase’s fame got here much more vanity, and he already had a giant head to start with. Murray famous as a lot when recalling the combat in “Reside from New York,” the place he mentioned, “I keep in mind simply form of a basic animosity that they felt, and he did come again as a star. If you change into well-known, you have bought like a 12 months or two the place you act like an actual a**gap. You possibly can’t assist your self. It occurs to everyone. You have bought like 2 years to drag it collectively or it is everlasting.”

Chase was nonetheless in that early stage of fame — many would probably argue that he never shook that conceited ego — however he was at the least keen to confess as a lot whereas recounting the scuffle with Murray. In “Reside from New York,” Chase mirrored:

“I feel Billy was making an attempt to take me down a rung, and I used to be in all probability up a rung. I used to be in all probability slightly too filled with myself, . I spotted once I left that perhaps I hadn’t been such an ideal man. Perhaps we weren’t so shut. Perhaps I would been considerably of an a**gap. I left with self-doubts, and as time went on, it was slightly simpler to do it through the years as a result of, , it was water below the bridge, but it surely did change my notion as a result of my notion had been all alongside that that first 12 months was actually a good close-knit household and that I simply occurred to emerge due to one thing somebody had written and since individuals have been responding to me as the primary breakaway star.”

Throughout the week main as much as the present, Murray and Chase had already been poking and prodding one another. The e-book “Saturday Evening” recounts among the barbs they threw at one another all through writing and rehearsal. At one level, Murray interrupted a gathering to air some grievances from the forged and crew about his presence throughout the present’s first season. However maybe the deepest minimize was Murray taking purpose at Chase’s publicized relationship points by saying, “Go f*** your spouse. I hear she wants it.” Chase, preserving his cool, fired again with a jab at Murray’s seems, making a remark about Neil Armstrong landed on his face, a pointed insult at boxcar scars on the comic’s face.

Every little thing got here to a head on the evening of the dwell present, and simply earlier than Chase was purported to hit the stage as President Gerald Ford for the present’s chilly open, he went into Murray’s room for a showdown.

Nevertheless, whereas each Murray and Chase took swings at one another, neither of them appeared to have landed a punch, as an alternative solely shouting and rough-housing one another a bit. Throughout the scuffle, it was truly John Belushi who ended up taking a few hits, as he was hanging out in Murray’s dressing room on the time. In reality, Chase recalled one telling element that incriminates Belushi’s place in all this, “John was just like the Cheshire Cat, sitting there like, ‘Mission completed.'”

Director John Landis (“The Blues Brothers”) occurred to be at “SNL” throughout this kerfuffle, and he relayed his reminiscence of the incident in “Reside from New York,” saying, “Chevy and Billy have been having an enormous screaming combat within the hallway, and [writers] Michael O’Donoghue and Tom Davis have been holding them again, and John and Danny [Aykroyd] jumped in as a result of Chevy and Billy have been actually going to return to blows.” However maybe the funniest element he recalled was that Murray took the time to name Chase a “medium expertise,” which is such a selected, considerate, and hilarious insult.

In fact, Chase and Murray had a present to do. In “Reside from New York,” Chase perhaps patted himself on the again an excessive amount of when it got here to staying on monitor going straight to dwell tv:

“This occurred, however I’ve bought a present to do. Others may need withered. I had a sure tensile energy about me from childhood with an older brother who had already kicked the crap out of me by way of a lot of my youthful life, and there’d been various occasions once I was in violent conditions, so it wasn’t as if I used to be merely some man who had by no means seen the opposite facet of the tracks. I had. And so I assume I merely weathered it. In different phrases, slightly than be stuffed with the adrenaline that provides you the shakes and does not assist you to consider what you are doing, that merely handed, and it could be as a result of I used to be in form and I performed loads of soccer and had been in conditions the place I may settle down readily after one thing like that occurred.”

All proper, we get it, Chevy.

Whereas this feud between Chase and Murray would final for years, they’d ultimately squad their beef throughout manufacturing on the traditional comedy “Caddyshack.” Director Harold Ramis, who would later have his own beef with Bill Murray following “Groundhog Day,” forged each Chase and Murray in his “slobs vs. snobs” golf film. In reality, their well-known scene collectively (seen under) is the explanation the 2 actors have been in a position to put their variations behind them.

In Chris Nashawaty’s e-book “Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story,” Murray mentioned he discovered the collaboration simple:

“I would by no means actually achieved something with Chevy. We would at all times had form of a… humorous relationship. Nevertheless it was like, ‘O.Ok., I favored that once you did that. Let’s simply maintain going.’ We stored going, and it was humorous as a result of Ty Webb’s not removed from who Chevy is. So he was fairly comfy in his area. And I used to be comfy as Carl. So he may very well be free to snort at me. And if Ty laughed, Carl thought it meant, ‘Hey, he is my good friend!’ It is a actually enjoyable, self-aware instance of regardless of the heck Harold maintains the film is about – standing.”

Chase agrees, as he mentioned in a self-congratulatory approach that solely somebody like him can say, “We bought over all the pieces. The strain was short-lived. I’ve nothing however admiration and affection for Invoice. He nonetheless generally is a surly character, to say the least. However in the end, he is man. Despite the fact that I am the primary star within the film below the title, I am going to at all times consider Caddyshack as Billy’s film.” It is laborious to disagree, particularly when Bill Murray improvised one of the funniest scenes in the movie.

The excellent news is that they are nonetheless on good phrases, at the least so far as we all know. Throughout an look on “The Howard Stern Show” again in September 2008, Chase mirrored on their battle and mentioned, “We have by no means been shut, however we have been very pleasant, we play golf collectively. […] I feel we have made an effort through the years to get to know one another higher and to place that stuff behind.”