Was David Johansen in Bill Murray’s Scrooged? Collaborations explored as New York Dolls singer dies at 75

Songwriter and New York Dolls lead singer David Johansen died at 75 on February 28, 2025, due to natural causes. Leah Hennessey, his stepdaughter, confirmed the news of his demise.

According to The New York Times, last month Johansen shared that he had Stage 4 cancer, a brain tumor, and a broken back. He launched a fundraising campaign through the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund to cover his medical expenses.

Besides singing, Johansen played roles in many films, including the 1988 comedy Scrooged alongside Bill Murray. In the film, Murray portrays a corrupt TV executive visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve.

Johansen plays the Ghost of Christmas Past, a cab driver who transports Murray back to his childhood in 1968, to help him understand the origins of his loneliness and unhappiness. According to Wikipedia, the role was initially meant for comedian Sam Kinison but Johansen stepped in when the opportunity arose.

Beyond Scrooged, which remained his best-known film, David Johansen acted in films such as Freejack, Mr. Nanny, Car 54: Where Are You? and Let It Ride, He also reunited with Bill Murray for the 2015 TV special A Very Murray Christmas.

David Johansen had been dealing with his illness for a long time while still enjoying life, and spending time with loved ones. However, after suffering a serious fall following Thanksgiving, his condition worsened.

He described it as the most intense pain he had ever felt, and acknowledged that though he typically avoids asking for help, this time he had no choice.

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Martin Scorsese co-directed David Johansen's documentary

David Johansen's life was the subject of a documentary co-directed by Martin Scorsese. The film, titled Personality Crisis: One Night Only, showcased Johansen’s cabaret performances at New York’s Café Carlyle in January 2020, just before the pandemic.

Scorsese was a fan of Johansen’s music since his New York Dolls days. While working on Mean Streets, the filmmaker had shared that he followed David Johansen’s performances for years. According to Rolling Stone, the director said:

“I’ve known David Johansen for decades, and his music has been a touchstone ever since I listened to the Dolls when I was making Mean Streets,” Scorsese said. “Then and now, David’s music captures the energy and excitement of New York City. I often see him perform, and over the years I’ve gotten to know the depth of his musical inspirations. After seeing his show last year at the Café Carlyle, I knew I had to film it because it was so extraordinary to see the evolution of his life and his musical talent in such an intimate setting. For me, the show captured the true emotional potential of a live musical experience.”

Speaking about his inspiration for the documentary on MSNBC, Scorsese said:

“I became aware too of his radio show Mansion of Fun. I didn’t know it was him curating it. I would just hear this music and I would hear different combinations of whether it was American folk, Sicilian folk, South American Maria Callas singing Puccini, singing La Boheme, all of this sort of thing, all mixed together.”

According to Variety, in a 2004 interview with Terry Gross for Fresh Air, David Johansen reflected on how the New York Dolls evolved from a tight-knit group into a movement. He recalled that, in the beginning they were like a gang with a rebellious, almost militant, approach to creating something new in music.

Johansen also shared that their goal was to bring back energy and excitement to rock ‘n’ roll, which had become dull and aimless at the time. To him, the genre felt like an actor searching for a role, lacking the spark it once had, and the New York Dolls wanted to shake things up.