The Friendship Between Bill Murray and John Candy Changed Their Careers

The entertainment industry is known for providing people with opportunities to become stars. Sometimes, these career-changing openings can arrive thanks to a friend. That's part of what made the friendship between Bill Murray and John Candy so special.

Not only did the actors have great comedic timing on the screen, but they were also known to be good friends in real life. Bill remembers the legacy of his friend fondly.

John died of a heart attack in 1994, leaving the entertainment industry devastated by his loss. John was only 43 years old.

What did the friendship between Bill and John look like? Here's what we know about the partnership of these two comedic icons.

Some of the earliest records documenting the friendship between Bill and John come from the making of Stripes, a war comedy film about a man who loses everything he values. John Winger's (Bill Murray) idea to find meaning again comes in the form of joining the army.

In the movie, John Candy portrayed Dewey "Ox" Oxberger, a man who joined the military in order to lose weight. Stripes allowed John and Bill to work together while slowly becoming friends.

Stripes was released in 1981, meaning that Bill and John shared more than a decade of being friends before the actor passed away. In those 10 years, the performers continued to share experiences together, as their artistic careers went in different directions.

In order to highlight John Candy's life and what he accomplished as an actor, two artists decided to work together in order to create a documentary called John Candy: I Like Me. Ryan Reynolds was announced as one of the main producers involved with the project, with Colin Hanks directing the feature.

Prime Video grabbed the distribution rights for the documentary, announcing an official release date of Oct. 10, 2025.

According to CNN, Ryan took an opportunity to share stories from the development of the project during the world premiere of John Candy: I Like Me. Bill Murray was hesitant to join the project. As a close friend of John's back in the day, the Ghostbusters star didn't want anything disrespectful to be produced.

Ryan found an unconventional way to reassure Bill, and it all came down to the actor's son.

Ryan's son, Olin, was present during one of the phone calls between Bill and Ryan. The kid pleaded with the actor to appear in the documentary about John's life. Moved by the gesture, Bill finally agreed to become a part of the project.

Decades after John died, Bill continues to celebrate his life and their friendship in many different ways.