BILL MURRAY - MURRAY'S PERFECT SKYDIVE GETS FESTIVAL OFF TO GREAT START

MURRAY'S PERFECT SKYDIVE GETS FESTIVAL OFF TO GREAT START

Actor BILL MURRAY kicked off the festivities for Illinois' 50th Annual Chicago Air and Water Show 2008 on Friday (15Aug08) in spectacular fashion - by performing a skydive in front of the packed crowd.
The Lost In Translation star, 57, executed a tandem jump with The Golden Knights, the U.S. Army's parachute team, on Friday afternoon, much to the delight of the audience.
Before jumping, Murray said: "I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be."
He then hurled himself off the plane and descended in a free fall for almost one minute before pulling off a number of spins with his expert guide.
The pair banked over a sea of water before coming in to make a perfect landing on North Avenue Beach.
But the star later admitted the experience was an exhilarating one: "That was really fun. That was really fun. Thank you."
He joked, "It's a quiet return to public life. It was 120 miles (193 kilometres) per hour, and I was laughing as I was falling. But just before, I was tearing up a little bit, thinking, 'Oh, not another stupid mistake.' But it was really fun, and it was quite a kick."