In a statement regarding the passing of Harold Ramis, U.S. President Barack Obama referenced a scene from the filmmaker’s 1980 comedy Caddyshack where Bill Murray’s character, Carl Spackler, tells a story about how he was once a golf caddy for the Dalai Lama, who he says was a “big hitter,” but not a good tipper. In lieu of money, Spackler says that His Holiness promised him that on his deathbed he’d “receive total consciousness.”
Right after Ramis’s death, ABC News sat down with the Dalai Lama, where at the very end of the interview they snuck in some questions about Caddyshack. Yes, that’s right, the 78-year-old Nobel Peace Prize-winning spiritual leader did an on-camera interview with a reporter from a major news organization, who then went on to ask the Tibetan monk if he’s ever seen Caddyshack, a 1980’s R-rated “snobs vs. slobs” comedy centering on the crazy exploits of golf tournament competitors and their sexually charged caddies. The interviewer also asked the Dalai Lama if he plays golf, but didn’t get the chance to ask if he was a “big hitter.”
Watch the interview here below, which is intercut with the Bill Murray/Dalai Lama scene from Caddyshack.
Yesterday, the entertainment world lost a beloved figure with the death of Harold Ramis, the writer, director, and actor behind such classic film comedies like Ghostbusters, Stripes, Groundhog Day, Caddyshack, National Lampoon’s Vacation, and many more. The Chicago native’s untimely passing has left a lot of people who enjoyed his many works saddened by this great loss, including the President of the United States, Barack Obama.
In a statement released today through the White House, President Obama, who served as an Illinois Senator before becoming President, called Ramis “one of America’s greatest satirists” and talked about the effect the actor’s work had on him and his wife, Michelle Obama. The President went on to quote Caddyshack, the 1980 comedy co-written by Ramis, referencing Bill Murray’s memorable scene about meeting the Dalai Lama and being promised “total consciousness” upon his death.
You can read President Obama’s full statement and watch Bill Murray’s Dalai Lama scene from Caddyshack here below.
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