Just Doing Comedy!Fun facts, wild true stories, and cringey ego-driven tea-spilling from behind the scenes of some of history's most beloved and infamous comedy movies.
The sports comedy Caddyshack is a cult classic appreciated by comedy nerds and golfing dads alike. Released in 1980, the crude, vulgarity-laced film launched Harold Ramis’s directorial career and pulled Bill Murray into the spotlight.
Caddyshack behind the scenes also had plenty of dark drama and tragedy though. As a first-time director, Ramis allowed (or overlooked) rampant coke use, which often had the studio execs tearing their hair out and led to a production that was as improvised as it was scripted. There was the requisite tension between Chevy Chase and everyone else with whom he was working. And the crew notoriously even set off a huge explosion on a real-life golf course without getting the owners' permission... all while distracting them with food and booze.
The Caddyshack cast had a great time shooting this movie, and thanks to the rampant blow use of the '80s and their comedic talent, they left the rest of us with some wild stories and a solid film to boot.
The 'Caddyshack' Crew Didn’t Have Permission To Blow Up The Golf Course
Caddyshack wouldn’t be Caddyshack if the pristine golf course at a ritzy country club didn’t explode. The film crew had trouble convincing the owners to let them detonate the fairway, so they took the owners to dinner to create a diversion while they blew up their golf course.
Clearly, the Caddyshack crew included free spirits, and due to their impulsiveness, they created one of the most popular movies of all time.
It takes years of dedication to become known as a legend like Bill Murray. Today, Bill Murray is famous for showing up at weddings and parties and generally being a great light in this world, but he was once just a young actor who liked to party so hard he would pass out in sand traps.
Luckily, he didn't wander too far away from set and was still able to give a great performance.
'Caddyshack' Helped End a Feud Between Bill Murray and Chevy Chase
In a perfect world, Bill Murray and Chevy Chase would have been the best of friends, but instead, they didn't get along when Caddyshack filming began - their feuding became almost legendary.
Bill Murray replaced Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live, which made them professional enemies. But filming certain scenes, especially the cabin scene, brought the two together and ended their feud.
Filmmaking has a magical allure, but at the end of the day, executives in Hollywood make films to turn a profit, and obviously, rampant substance use can hinder their bottom line. Harold Ramis recalled in a Sports Illustrated interview about the wild '70s, saying, "We shot the movie in 1979. It was a pretty debauched country at the time. The cocaine business in South Florida was mammoth, and everyone was doing everything."
The use of coke on the Caddyshack set was frequent and heavy. Actor Michael O'Keefe has said that it "was driving everyone."
The Cast And Crew Thought A Hurricane Was A Great Excuse To Party
If one is stuck indoors due to a natural disaster, then they can wait it out peacefully, complain, or use the opportunity to party. Much of the Caddyshack cast and crew was not from Florida, so they thought the hurricane that struck during filming was cool.
The hurricane party was one of the first behind-the-scenes Caddyshack parties and set the stage for more late-night antics and questionable activities to come.
The Caddyshack crew took advantage of having a country club golf club at their disposal. Despite laws, regulations, and general good sense to not race golf carts under the influence, nighttime races reportedly took place, and often. The actors weren’t the biggest golf fans, by all accounts, but golf cart racing was something they could appreciate.
According to actor Chevy Chase, “It was pretty nuts on that set. At night, we would race golf carts down the fairways, people whacked out having a good time. The crew possessed whatever you needed.”
