What happened between Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss? What About Bob feud explored as Ghostbusters star denies throwing ashtray at the actor

While What About Bob? is a beloved comedy classic, the off-screen relationship between its two lead actors, Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss, was anything but funny. Over the years, reports and interviews have provided glimpses into a fraught and intense relationship, which could be stated as one of Hollywood’s lesser-known feuds.

What About Bob? featured Bill Murray as the wacky and intrusive Bob Wiley, an obsessive patient who stalks his therapist, played by Dreyfuss, on a family holiday.

According to an article by Nicki Swift, the juxtaposition of the chaotic Bob and the ever more unhinged Dr. Marvin created great onscreen chemistry, but ironically, there was plenty of friction off-screen.

Dreyfuss has long been critical of his negative experience while working on the film. He has called his working experience with Murray "unpleasant," referred to the Ghostbusters star as a "drunken Irish bully," and went so far as to call him a "despicable pig." Remembering an interaction on the set, Dreyfuss said:

"He put his face next to me, nose-to-nose. And he screamed at the top of his lungs, 'Everyone hates you! You are tolerated!'"

In a 2019 interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Richard Dreyfuss described one incident where Murray allegedly screamed at him over a discussion about the script and then threw a glass ashtray in his direction.

"There was no time to react, because he leaned back and he took a modern glass-blown ashtray. He threw it at my face from... And he missed me. He tried to hit me. I got up and left." He said.

Bill Murray responds to Richard Dreyfuss’ claims and their past clashes with other industry legends

In an interview with The New York Times, published Saturday, Murray addressed Dreyfuss' claims, among other allegations of inappropriate behaviour on set.

When asked about the incident where he allegedly threw an ashtray at Dreyfuss, Murray replied:

"You can tell that story as much as you like, but it’s never going to be true. I did fire a glass, but I threw it at the ceiling. We were in a townhouse on the set of “What About Bob?” and I did not fire it at anyone. I threw it up in a far corner of the townhouse, assuming it might break upon contact with the ceiling and the walls, but I didn’t throw it at anyone. If I’d thrown it at Dreyfuss, I’d have hit him."

In an interview from the early ’90s, Bill Murray detailed how he would get up close to Dreyfuss, shouting into his ear and engaging in improvised annoying behaviors that were designed to get under the other actor’s skin, a strategy that Murray believed contributed to the authenticity of their performances.

"Anything that I could think of to annoy someone in a scene, particularly if it was Dreyfuss, I went with it," Murray remarked.

Frank Oz, the director of The Muppets and Little Shop of Horrors, also confirmed the tension during the filming of What About Bob? He said it was "a tough, tough movie to shoot."

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It is worth mentioning that Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss have both earned a reputation for being difficult co-workers. Reports by Nicki Swift state that Dreyfuss has previously documented on-set feuds while working on Jaws, where he had problems with Robert Shaw.

Bill Murray, on the other hand, has a history of many major public feuds, including a fight with the cast and director of the 2000 remake of Charlie's Angels and with his Ghostbusters co-star Harold Ramis.

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