Bill Murray Near Drowning with Hunter S. Thompson: The Wild Aspen Stunt Unveiled

Bill Murray near drowning with Hunter S. Thompson: an Aspen pool saga

In the late 1970s, the Hotel Jerome’s sun‑blazed pool became the unlikely arena where two cultural icons crossed paths. Murray, fresh from a string of box‑office hits, and Thompson, the gonzo journalist with a reputation for excess, joked about Houdini’s famed escapes. “If you were tied to a chair underwater, could you get out?” the writer challenged, and Murray answered without pause, “Yeah, I think I could.”

The plan was absurdly simple: a lawn chair, two pairs of socks, and a knot tighter than a courtroom subpoena. Murray requested the shallow end, assuming a breath of air would be a few strokes away. He was wrong. Six feet of water swallowed the chair; the knots held, and the comedian’s lungs screamed for oxygen.

“What time of day am I gonna die here? About 11 o’clock in Colorado, I’m gonna die,” Murray recalled, half‑joking, half‑terrified.

Thompson, perhaps surprised by the intensity of his own grip, finally cut the ropes, pulling Murray free as the swimmer’s natural buoyancy pushed the chair upward. The incident, recounted on a 2025 broadcast with Reuters, left the actor with a story that feels like a dark comedy sketch.

Neither man introduced themselves after the stunt; the next morning, Murray learned the identity of his would‑be captor only by recognizing the signature of a feather‑pen‑laden notebook. The episode illustrates how a careless wager can flip into a life‑threatening tableau, a reminder that celebrity excess often skirts the edge of disaster. ↓ 1