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."