The biggest comedy stars of the Eighties were just as crazy as their on-screen characters

The Eighties was a classic period for blockbuster comedy films. And the anarchic American TV show Saturday Night Live spawned some of the biggest and brightest stars, such as Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Chevy Chase and Steve Martin. They partied hard – Aykroyd’s comedy partner John Belushi died of a drug overdose and Chase and Murray once got into a fist-fight backstage before the show. Now a new book reveals some of the outrageous off-screen antics of some of the biggest stars of the era.

The Ghost writer

When Dan Aykroyd wrote a script called ‘Ghost Smashers’ it was more of a horror than a comedy. Fascination with the supernatural had long been a family trait, his grandfather once commissioned a sketch of a vibrating crystal he believed would be able to tranport him to another dimension. Aykroyd claimed his home was haunted by Mama Cass, one of The Mamas And The Papas.

‘Ghost Smashers’ eventually became Ghostbusters in 1984. Sigourney Weaver inspired the movie’s possession plot strand, after getting down on all fours and barking like a dog during her audition.

After the success of Ghostbusters, its star, Bill Murray, rocketed to the top of the A list. But fame meant he could no longer dine, shop, or walk down the street without getting mobbed. Eventually, fed up, he took four years off, during which time he spent six months at the Sorbonne in Paris, studying philosophy and history. He wouldn’t appear in a substantial role again until Scrooged in 1988. ‘I’m famous enough,’ he said. ‘Being more famous isn’t going to do anything but cause more problems.’

You can’t hurry a Murray

The lead role in Groundhog Day, of a jaded weatherman stuck in a temporal loop, was initially offered to Tom Hanks, who turned it down. Bill Murray, who had been nicknamed ‘the Murricane’ because of his volatility, took the part but ordered a rewrite, leading to tensions with director Harold Ramis, Murray’s fellow Ghost-buster. On set, communication between the two broke down completely. ‘He’s raging, angry, and full of grief and unresolved emotions,’ Ramis reflected later of Murray, whose marriage was breaking up at the time. ‘He’s volcanic.’ Finally the director was forced to make a request for an assistant for Murray, so that messages could be relayed.

A young lady arrived, selected by Murray. There was one hitch: she was deaf. ‘It’s like an existential joke,’ says Groundhog Day producer Trevor Albert. ‘But the victim was the young woman, more than anyone else.’

Eddie Murphy loved Elvis

As a teenager, Eddie Murphy liked to stand in front of a mirror, lip-syncing to Elvis Presley’s Live At Madison Square Garden and gyrating until he was dripping with sweat. His mother, Lillian, said: ‘He looks in that mirror and he’s on a natural high.’ Murphy raced after fame, ruthlessly eliminating any possible distraction. He didn’t drink alcohol. He didn’t smoke cannabis. He didn’t snort cocaine. One night in New York, John Belushi and Robin Williams had taken him out for a drink. ‘They put blow [cocaine] out on the bar,’ Murphy recalled, ‘and they said, “C’mon, have a sniff.”’ Murphy remained resolute. ‘That was the closest I’d ever come to experimenting with drugs.’

Chevy’s shocking role

Chevy Chase was nearly killed filming his fifth movie, a turkey called Modern Problems. During a dream sequence in which the hero imagines himself as an airplane, the star had a string of landing lights wrapped around his arms. The lights were attached to Chase’s bare skin. ‘Look, I’m clammy, sweaty. I think there’s a danger,’ Chase muttered. ‘It’s perfectly safe,’ someone insisted. But when the power was flipped on, a huge charge of electricity jolted through his body. Chase screamed, then passed out. His muscles wouldn’t heal fully for two years. For over a year he refused to touch a light switch. He fell into a deep depression, with bouts of uncontrollable crying. As he moped at home, he worked off his blues by heading to the garage to hunt spiders, burning them with a lighter. He would later battle addictions to painkillers and cocaine. 

‘Wild And Crazy Guys: How The Comedy Mavericks Of The 80s Changed Hollywood Forever’ by Nick de Semlyen is published by Picador at £18.99

Rambo goes to Hollywood!

Beverly Hills Cop was originally conceived not as a comedy but as a dark drama, that was offered to Sylvester Stallone

Beverly Hills Cop was originally conceived not as a comedy but as a dark drama, that was offered to Sylvester Stallone. Stallone spent two weeks transforming the entire script, stacking it with huge action set pieces. It was, essentially, Rambo Goes to Hollywood, with budgetblowing spectacles. 

A deal was offered to Stallone: he could either shoot the original draft or take his new material to a different studio. He chose the latter, ultimately making Cobra, at Warner Bros. Eddie Murphy eventually starred in Beverly Hills Cop. Paramount signed him to a five-picture deal, and he was treated like a living god. In his office, his filing cabinet bore a label reading ‘money’ – this was his nickname around the lot. 

He could often be seen in a customised golf cart with a Rolls-Royce grille, yelling, ‘Hey, suits!’ He became infamous for his parties, at which the female- to-male ratio at Murphy’s party palace events tended to be three-to-one. Limos jammed the driveway, dispensing models, actresses and party girls. Comely guests were encouraged to strip and jump into the indoor pool.