Michael O'Keefe Says Cocaine Was Budgeted on 'Caddyshack'

Michael O'Keefe is opening up about a darker side of the making of Caddyshack, saying cocaine use was so common during production that it was allegedly even reflected in the film's budget. In a recent interview with Page Six, the 71-year-old actor said there was heavy drug use around the 1979 shoot of the comedy classic, which was released in 1980 and went on to become one of the most recognizable sports comedies of its era.

O'Keefe, who played Danny Noonan, said the atmosphere on set reflected a wider culture in entertainment at the time. He recalled that cocaine was treated casually and claimed there was "some miscellaneous item" in the budget that accounted for it. Looking back, he described the attitude of the period in blunt terms, saying people handled it as if it were an ordinary daily necessity rather than a dangerous drug.

The film, set at the fictional Bushwood Country Club, featured a high-profile cast that included Ted Knight, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Rodney Dangerfield. While Caddyshack became a lasting hit, O'Keefe said some of his own memories from the production are far from celebratory. He told Page Six that he used cocaine before filming certain scenes and admitted that revisiting those moments now is uncomfortable.

According to O'Keefe, those scenes are not among his favorite memories from the movie. He said he is not happy when he watches them today, and he added that the period during and immediately after Caddyshack marked the last time he used cocaine. He said he came to understand that getting involved with the drug was a serious mistake, explaining that while it may have seemed exciting on the surface, the reality was far different.

A turning point after the film

O'Keefe also pointed to the death of Caddyshack co-writer and producer Doug Kenney as a major reason he stepped away from drugs. He described Kenney's death as a huge wake-up call. Kenney died in 1980 at age 33 after falling from a cliff in Hawaii, and O'Keefe said the loss forced him to confront the consequences of addiction more directly.

Speaking about Kenney, O'Keefe remembered him as one of the most affable, intelligent and funny people he had known. He also said Kenney had been struggling with cocaine use and depression, and he linked the tragedy to drug addiction. For O'Keefe, that experience helped end any illusion that the drug culture surrounding the film was harmless.

A career beyond one iconic role

Although O'Keefe remains best known to many viewers as Danny Noonan, his career stretches well beyond Caddyshack. Before that film, he broke through with The Great Santini, a performance that earned him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor. He later appeared in Ironweed, Frozen River and, more recently, the Apple TV series Your Friends & Neighbors, where he plays Ron Cooper, the father of Jon Hamm's Andrew "Coop" Cooper.

O'Keefe has previously spoken about his mixed feelings over being so closely identified with Caddyshack. In a 2020 interview with Yahoo, he said actors often hope not to be pigeonholed and admitted he sometimes wished more attention would be paid to his other work. Still, he said his perspective changed after hearing from a wardrobe designer who told him that her family watched the movie together during her father's final weeks as he battled leukemia. O'Keefe said that story reshaped how he viewed the film's meaning to audiences and what it meant to him to have been part of it.