It’s only fitting that an answering service should post a list featuring some of the most famous phone calls throughout history, whether real, or imagined by the Hollywood machine. Take a look below at these attention-grabbing calls.
Real Life
First phone call in history.
In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the very first phone call to his assistant, Thomas Watson, uttering the famous words, “Mr. Watson, come here! I want to see you!”
A man on the moon.
In 1969, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, and soon after their moon shoes touched the lunar surface, they received a phone call from the President of the United States, Richard Nixon. “Hello Neil and Buzz, I am talking to you by telephone from the Oval Room at the White House, and this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made from the White House.”
Watergate.
In 1972, security guard Frank Willis made the phone call that would lead to the resignation of President Nixon and the conviction of dozens of others in one of the biggest scandals in the history of the United States.
Jenny.
Thanks to Tommy Tutone, there were a bazillion calls to the number 867-5309 following the 1982 release of the band’s pop hit, 867-5309/Jenny. Was Jenny real? Band members tell differing stories. But it didn’t stop people from calling to ask for her!
Thoughtless little pig.
In 2007, Alec Baldwin called his daughter, Ireland, a “rude, thoughtless, little pig,” for which he apologized, citing being “driven to the edge by parental alienation” during a bitter custody battle with ex-wife, Kim Basinger. Ireland wasn’t phased by it, attributing it to her dad’s feelings of frustration.
I’ll put you in a [bleep]ing rose garden.
In 2010, Mel Gibson went nutty and lost it on ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, throwing a whole slew of f-bombs, threats of violence, and other derogatory statements. It was definitely the call heard around the world. Listen to the rant here.
Hollywood Style
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, 1986.
Chock full of great phone moments, our favorites are Cameron masquerading as Sloane Peterson’s dad, Abe Froman the “sausage king of Chicago” and the snooty restaurant maître d, and Jeannie’s exasperated 911 call.
Ghostbusters II, 1989.
As all hell breaks loose in NYC, literally, there is a frenzy of phone calls to the police – one of them from a Dock Supervisor played by Cheech Marin. What does one say when a ghostly Titanic shows up at Pier 34?? “Well, better late than never!”
The Silence of the Lambs, 1991.
Hannibal Lecter calls up Agent Starling from some tropical locale, asks her if the lambs have stopped screaming, and then alludes to his intentions of killing Dr. Chilton. “I do wish we could chat longer, but… I’m having an old friend for dinner. Bye.”
Scream, 1996.
“You hang up on me again, I’ll gut you like a fish – understand??” That pretty much says it all. An intro so chilling that it spawned several sequels, and scarred babysitters everywhere for life.
Ransom, 1996.
Making it onto our list for the second time, we give the movie father of the year award to Mel Gibson, portraying Tom Mullen, as he furiously declares to his son’s kidnappers, “You kill him, you kill yourself, you mother[bleep]er. Give me back my son!”
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, 2004.
In this seriously ridiculous scene, Will Ferrell, aka Ron Burgundy, is in a phone booth, screaming at the top of his lungs practically unintelligibly. When asked where he is, he sobs, “I’m in a glass case of emotion!!!!!”
Tropic Thunder, 2008.
In this wartime action comedy, studio exec, Les Grossman, unleashes a verbal tirade on kidnappers, the Flaming Dragons, telling them they will need to call the [bleep]ing United Nations to keep him from [bleep]ing destroying them.