Movies - TV
Groundhog Day Left Harold Ramis and Bill Murray's Friendship in Shambles
By ETHAN ANDERTON
"Ghostbusters" stars Bill Murray and Harold Ramis had a friendship that went all the way back to 1970 when the two were just a pair of young comedians working in the famous Second City improvisational comedy troupe. However, it was their collaboration on the 1993 comedy classic "Groundhog Day," that had a disastrous impact not only on their professional relationship but their longtime friendship.
Immediate Trouble
Murray felt he had a vested interest in the creative direction of the film and started doing rewrites with Danny Rubin without giving Ramis any pages in advance. When Ramis finally got Murray’s alternate version, it was worse than he'd imagined, the rewrites had completely torpedoed the script.
Bill Behaving Badly
Ramis and Murray’s differing viewpoints of the film’s tone created a confrontational relationship throughout the entire shoot. The arguments were so bad that Ramis forced Murray to get an assistant who could relay messages between them, Murray obliged by hiring a young deaf woman, which clearly didn't fix the issue.
The Final Blow
The creative disagreements between them came to a head when Ramis grabbed Murray by the shirt collar and threw him against a wall. After the incident, the two didn’t speak for 21 years, with Ramis feeling "heartbroken, confused, and yet unsurprised by the rejection."
Bittersweet Reunion
In 2010, Ramis was diagnosed with autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis which caused him to lose most of his ability to walk and speak for the remaining years of his life, until his passing in February 2014. Murray paid an unexpected visit to Ramis' home in Chicago where the two made amends shortly before his death.