John Belushi | |
|---|---|
 Belushi in 1976 | |
| Born | John Adam Belushi (1949-01-24)January 24, 1949 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | March 5, 1982(1982-03-05) (aged 33) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | College of DuPage University of Wisconsin, Whitewater |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1972–1982 |
| Known for | |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives |
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| Awards | Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series |
| Comedy career | |
| Medium | |
| Genres | |
John Adam Belushi (/bəˈluːʃi/bə-LOO-shee; January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and musician. He was one of sevenSaturday Night Live cast members of the first season,[1] and he was arguably the most popular member of theSaturday Night Live ensemble. Belushi had a partnership withDan Aykroyd; they had first met while at Chicago'sthe Second City comedy club, remaining together as cast members on the inaugural season of theSaturday Night Live television series.[2]
Born in Chicago toAlbanian-American parents, Belushi started his own comedy troupe withTino Insana and Steve Beshekas, called "The West Compass Trio".Bernard Sahlins recruited him for The Second City comedy club. Once there he met Aykroyd,Brian Doyle-Murray, andHarold Ramis. In 1975,Chevy Chase andMichael O'Donoghue recommended Belushi toSaturday Night Live creator and showrunnerLorne Michaels, who accepted him as a new cast member of the show after an audition. Belushi developed a series of characters on the show that reached great success, with an imitation ofHenry Kissinger and a portrayal ofLudwig van Beethoven.
Belushi appeared in several films such asNational Lampoon's Animal House,1941,The Blues Brothers, andNeighbors. He also pursued interests in music: with Aykroyd,Lou Marini,Tom Malone,Steve Cropper,Donald "Duck" Dunn, andPaul Shaffer, he foundedThe Blues Brothers, which led to the film of the same name.
Belushi was dismissed fromSaturday Night Live several times and rehired more than once. He died on March 5, 1982, at the age of 33.Cathy Smith confessed to dosing him with a lethal mixture ofheroin andcocaine at theChateau Marmont.[3][4] Smith was charged withinvoluntary manslaughter, was convicted and sentenced to 15 months in prison.[4] Belushi was honored with aposthumous award of the star on theHollywood Walk of Fame in 2004. He was the older brother ofJim Belushi.
John Adam Belushi was born to Agnes Demetri (née Samaras) Belushi[5][6] and Adam Anastos Belushi[7][8] inHumboldt Park, Chicago. Agnes was a pharmacy worker,[5] who was born inOhio to Albanian immigrants fromKorçë, Albania.[9] Adam Anastos Belushi was an Albanian immigrant fromQytezë, Albania, and was the owner of the Fair Oaks restaurant onNorth Avenue in Chicago.[10][9][11]
Belushi was raised inWheaton along with his three siblings—younger brothers Billy andJim and sister Marian.[12][13] He wasEastern Orthodox Christian, attending theAlbanian Orthodox Church. He was educated atWheaton Central High School, where he met his future wife, Judith Jacklin.[14][15]
In 1965, Belushi formed a band, the Ravens, together with four fellow high-school students (Dick Blasucci, Michael Blasucci, Tony Pavilonis, and Phil Special). They recorded one single, "Listen to Me Now/Jolly Green Giant". Belushi played drums and sang vocals. The record was not successful, and the band broke up when he enrolled at theCollege of DuPage. He also attended theUniversity of Wisconsin–Whitewater for a year, that time being the inspiration for theAnimal House scene of a motorcycle driving up stairs.[16] Belushi then attendedThe University of Illinois Chicago Circle (UICC) before joining the cast of Saturday Night Live. He acquired the iconic "College" crewneck, worn by his character inAnimal House, at a print shop when visiting his brother Jim, who attendedSouthern Illinois University.[17]
Belushi started his own comedy troupe in Chicago, the West Compass Trio (named after the improvisational cabaret revueCompass Players active from 1955 to 1958 in Chicago), withTino Insana and Steve Beshekas. Their success piqued the interest of Bernard Sahlins, the founder of The Second City, who asked Belushi to join the cast.[2] At Second City, Belushi met and began working withHarold Ramis,Joe Flaherty, andBrian Doyle-Murray.[2]
In 1972, Belushi was offered a role, together with Chevy Chase andChristopher Guest, inNational Lampoon Lemmings,[1] a parody ofWoodstock, which playedoff-Broadway in 1972. Belushi and Jacklin moved to New York City. There, Belushi started working as a writer, director, and actor forThe National Lampoon Radio Hour, a comedy radio show that was created, produced, and written by staff fromNational Lampoon magazine.[18] Cast members on the shows produced by Belushi included Ramis, Flaherty, Guest, Brian Doyle Murray, his brotherBill Murray,Gilda Radner, andRichard Belzer. In 1974, Belushi and Chevy Chase voice-acted on a Lampoon LP record, theOfficial National Lampoon Stereo Test and Demonstration Record. During a trip toToronto in 1974, Belushi met Dan Aykroyd.[1] Jacklin became an associate producer for the show, and she and Belushi were married on December 31, 1976.The National Lampoon Show toured the country in 1974;[citation needed] it was produced by Ivan Reitman.Lampoon ownerMatty Simmons was offered a TV show on NBC at this time, but he declined the offer.[19]
In 1975, Chase and writerMichael O'Donoghue recommended Belushi toLorne Michaels as a potential member for a television show Michaels was about to produce forNBC calledNBC's Saturday Night, laterSaturday Night Live. Michaels was initially reluctant, as he was not sure if Belushi's physical humor would fit with what he was envisioning, but he changed his mind after giving Belushi an audition.[1] He appeared alongside O'Donoghue inSaturday Night Live's first sketch (subsequently titled "the Wolverines") which aired on October 11, 1975.[20]
Over his four-year tenure atSaturday Night Live Belushi developed a series of successful characters, including the belligerentSaturday Night Live Samurai; Henry Kissinger; Ludwig van Beethoven; the Greek owner (Pete Dionisopoulos) of theOlympia Café; CaptainJames T. Kirk; and a contributor of furious opinion pieces onWeekend Update, during which he coined a catchphrase, "But N-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!"[1] With Aykroyd, Belushi created Jake and Elwood,the Blues Brothers. Originally intended to warm up the studio audience before broadcasts ofSaturday Night Live, the Blues Brothers were eventually featured as musical guests.[21] Belushi also reprised his Lemmings imitation ofJoe Cocker. Cocker himself joined Belushi in 1976 to sing "Feelin' Alright?" together.
Like many otherSaturday Night Live cast members and writers, Belushi was arecreational drug user. He attended concerts includingFleetwood Mac,Meat Loaf,Kiss,The Dead Boys,Warren Zevon,The Grateful Dead, andThe Allman Brothers. In 1990, Michaels remembered him as a loyal trouper, to writers, a team player, yet he was fired and rehired atSaturday Night Live.[22]
InRolling Stone's February 2015 appraisal of all 141Saturday Night Live cast members, Belushi received their top ranking. "Belushi was the 'live' inSaturday Night Live", they wrote, "the one who made the show happen on the edge … Nobody embodied the highs and lows ofSaturday Night Live like Belushi."[23]
In 1978, Belushi performed in the filmsOld Boyfriends (directed byJoan Tewkesbury),Goin' South (directed byJack Nicholson), andNational Lampoon's Animal House (directed byJohn Landis). Upon its initial release,Animal House received generally mixed reviews from critics, butTime magazine andRoger Ebert proclaimed it one of the year's best movies. Filmed at a cost of $2.8 million, it is one of the most profitable movies of all time,[24] garnering an estimated gross of more than $141 million in the form of theatrical rentals and home video, not including merchandising.Animal House was written byDoug Kenney,Harold Ramis, and Chris Miller, and followed in the tradition of theMarx Brothers films that featured subversive and satirical plots that took on traditional institutions.Hollywood studios tried to copy the film's success without the satire, resulting in a string of "nerds vs. jocks" films in the 1980s with cheap sight gags involving nudity and gross-out humor.[25]
Following the success of the Blues Brothers onSaturday Night Live, Belushi and Aykroyd, with the help of pianist-arrangerPaul Shaffer, assembled studio talent forming a proper band.Saturday Night Livesaxophonist "Blue"Lou Marini and trombonist-saxophonistTom Malone, who had previously played inBlood, Sweat & Tears were there. At Shaffer's suggestion, guitaristSteve Cropper andbassistDonald "Duck" Dunn, the powerhouse combo fromBooker T and the M.G.'s, who played on dozens of hits fromMemphis'sStax Records during the 1960s,[26] were signed as well.[27] In 1978 the Blues Brothers released their debut album,Briefcase Full of Blues, withAtlantic Records. The album reached number 1 on the Billboard 200 and wentdouble platinum. Two singles were released: "Rubber Biscuit", which reached number 37 on theBillboard Hot 100, and "Soul Man", which reached number 14.
In 1979, Belushi along with Aykroyd leftSaturday Night Live. They filmedThe Blues Brothers movie, which conflicted with the schedule ofSaturday Night Live. Michaels also decided to leave at the end of his contract. NBC's pressure to use recurring characters was also a factor in their decision. Belushi and Aykroyd made two movies together after leaving:Neighbors (directed byJohn Avildsen), and most notablyThe Blues Brothers (directed by John Landis). Released in the U.S. on June 20, 1980,The Blues Brothers received generally negative reviews.[28] It earned just under $5 million in its opening weekend, and went on to gross $115.2 million in theaters worldwide before its release on home video. The Blues Brothers band toured to promote the film, which led to a third album (and second live album),Made in America, recorded at theUniversal Amphitheatre in 1980. The track "Who's Making Love" peaked at number 39.
The only film Belushi made without Aykroyd following their departure fromSaturday Night Live was the romantic comedyContinental Divide (directed byMichael Apted). Released in September 1981, it starred Belushi as Chicago hometown hero writer Ernie Souchack (loosely based on newspaper columnist and long-time family friendMike Royko), who gets an assignment researching a scientist (played byBlair Brown) who studies birds of prey in the remoteRocky Mountains.
By 1981, Belushi had become a fan and advocate of the punk rock bandFear after seeing them perform in several after-hours New York City bars and brought them toCherokee Studios to record songs for the soundtrack ofNeighbors. Blues Brothers band member Tom Scott, along with producing partner and Cherokee owner Bruce Robb, initially helped with the session, but later pulled out due to conflicts with Belushi. The session was eventually produced by Cropper. The producers ofNeighbors refused to use the song in the movie. As penance for the refusal, Belushi, along with O'Donoghue andSaturday Night Live writerNelson Lyon, booked Fear to playSaturday Night Live'sHalloween broadcast on October 31, 1981 (doing so by agreeing to make a cameo in the episode for free; indeed, he makes a silent cameo in the cold opening of the episode, in what was ultimately his last appearance on the show during his lifetime); the telecast of the performance featured then-novelmoshing andstage diving, and was cut short by NBC due to the band's profanity. TheNew York Post published an account of these and other sensationalistic details of the event the following day.[29]
Up to his death, Belushi was pursuing movie projects,[30] including anABSCAM-related caper calledMoon Over Miami, to be directed byLouis Malle; and a diamond-smuggling caper calledNoble Rot withJay Sandrich, based on a script he adapted and rewrote with formerSaturday Night Live writerDon Novello. However,Paramount Studios offered to produceNoble Rot only if Belushi starred inThe Joy of Sex, which would have featured him in a diaper. Aykroyd advised him to turn downThe Joy of Sex and return to the East Coast, where Aykroyd was writingGhostbusters. Belushi also talked about producing a film in aHigh Times tribute article from 1982: "Belushi wanted to give these daring captains courageous of consciousness the credit they deserved, he told me. He wanted to star in a major marijuana movie to be calledKingpin. He wanted to play the title role."[31]
Belushi made a "guest-star appearance" on an episode of the television seriesPolice Squad! (1982). Each opening of the show featured a running gag that featured the guest star dying right away. Belushi died shortly before the episode was to air. The scene was cut and replaced by a segment withWilliam Conrad.[32]
Belushi had health issues in the early to mid 1970s due to hisdrug use.Cocaine was frequently used by the cast and writers ofSaturday Night Live, but Belushi's use quickly got out of control and he was temporarily banned from theSaturday Night Live set. Belushi was aware of warnings that he was headed for an early death, warnings that eventually were mentioned in the 1978 short film "Don't Look Back in Anger," in which Belushi ironically is the last surviving member of the cast and remarks "They all thought I’d be the first one to go. I was one of those ‘live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse’ types, you know?"[33] During the production ofThe Blues Brothers, directorJohn Landis confronted Belushi in his trailer after finding a stash of cocaine. Belushi tearfully admitted his addiction during the argument. Belushi was also frequently late for his call times and would delay shooting by wandering off set. The production hired Smokey Wendell to prevent Belushi from accessing more drugs.[34] He managed to quit his habit during the production ofContinental Divide, but severelyrelapsed during the production ofNeighbors.
A few months after the filming onNeighbors ended, on the evening of February 28, 1982, he checked in to a bungalow at theChateau Marmont inLos Angeles.[35] For several days, he frequented various nightclubs on theSunset Strip andSanta Monica Boulevard.[35]
On March 4, 1982, Belushi visited the Los Angeles office of his long-time managerBernie Brillstein and asked him for money. Brillstein declined, suspecting that Belushi wanted more drugs.[36] Later that day, Belushi returned and again asked for money while Brillstein was in a meeting. Brillstein was reluctant to rebuke Belushi in front of the other person and gave him the money. In the early morning hours of March 5, 1982, Belushi, while in his Chateau Marmont bungalow, was visited separately by friendsRobin Williams andRobert De Niro, as well asCathy Smith.[35][37][38]
Around noon on March 5, 1982, Belushi's fitness trainer,Bill Wallace, found Belushi dead at the Chateau Marmont bungalow.[39]
During apreliminary hearing held in September 1985, two pathologists testified that Belushi's cause of death was due to an overdose from cocaine andheroin.
Cathy Smith was arrested by theLos Angeles Police Department on March 5, 1982, for possession of narcotics. This arrest was not in relation to Belushi's death.[40] Later in 1982,Rolling Stone magazine described the circumstances of her arrest: "On the afternoon of March 5th, Cathy Evelyn Smith had appeared driving the wrong way into the one-way exit of the Chateau Marmont Hotel on Sunset Strip behind the wheel of John Belushi's rented red Mercedes … At that moment, a hundred feet away, Belushi lay naked and dead on the floor of his $200-a-day bungalow. The police who had cordoned off the area were reflexively insisting it had been 'death from natural causes'."[40] The LAPD released Smith after questioning.[40]
In an interview with theNational Enquirer in May 1982, Smith admitted that she had been with Belushi at the Chateau Marmont on the night of his death. After the appearance of theEnquirer article, Smith wasextradited from Canada, and charged withsecond-degree murder.[4] The case was delayed for four years while her lawyers negotiated. Smith pled no contest on June 11, 1986, to involuntary manslaughter and three counts of furnishing and administering controlled substances to Belushi in the hours before he was found dead.[4] She served fifteen months in prison at Chino,California Institution for Women.[4]
Belushi's funeral was conducted by an Albanian Orthodox priest.
Belushi was interred at Abel's Hill Cemetery inChilmark, Massachusetts, onMartha's Vineyard.[41] Belushi's tombstone has a skull and crossbones with the inscription, "I may be gone but Rock and Roll lives on."
After the success ofThe Blues Brothers, his fame further escalated after his death. Members of his family, along with Chilmark officials, gradually became more concerned over his gravesite becoming a tourist attraction like that ofJim Morrison. Reports increased of excess noise, damaging grass and disturbing the peace of others buried there, along with fans paying bizarre tributes by littering his gravesite with liquor bottles, beer cans, and other paraphernalia. His widow arranged to have him reinterred in an unmarked grave near the original site.[42] The tombstone of Belushi's mother atElmwood Cemetery (River Grove, Illinois), has Belushi's name inscribed on it and thus serves as acenotaph.[43]
Belushi was scheduled to present theBest Visual Effects Oscar at the1982 Academy Awards with Dan Aykroyd. Aykroyd presented the award alone, and stated from the lectern: "My partner, he would have loved to have been here tonight to present this award, since he was somewhat of a visual effect himself."[44]
During the first liveSaturday Night Live episode following Belushi's death with hostRobert Urich and musical guestMink DeVille, airing live on March 20, 1982, cast memberBrian Doyle-Murray gave a tribute to him.[45] During the preproduction ofGhostbusters, Reitman remarked thatSlimer bore a resemblance to Belushi's character Bluto fromAnimal House.[46] Since then, Slimer has been described as "the ghost of John Belushi" by Aykroyd in many interviews.
Belushi's life was detailed in 3 books: the 1984 biographyWired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi byBob Woodward, the accuracy of which has been questioned by journalists and by people close to Belushi,[47] and the 1990 memoirSamurai Widow by his widow Judith. Woodward's book was adapted into afilm of the same name in 1989, which was denounced by Aykroyd and Judith, and was given poor reviews by critics. Belushi's career and death were prominently featured in the 1999 memoir of his manager Bernie Brillstein, who wrote that he was haunted by the comedian's death. He wrote that he learned how to better deal with clients.[36] In 2005 Tanner Colby producedBelushi: A Biography, a collection of first-person interviews and photographs of Belushi's life, written in collaboration with Judith Belushi, his widow.[48][49]
Eddie Money wrote "Passing by the Graveyard (Song for John B.)", from his 1982 albumNo Control, in tribute to Belushi. The two became friends after Money was a musical guest onSaturday Night Live during the show's third season.[50] Thethrash metal groupAnthrax penned a song about Belushi on their 1987 albumAmong the Living, titled "Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)".[51] Polish rock bandLady Pank recorded a song "John Belushi" for their 1988 albumTacy sami, with references to his Albanian ancestry.
Belushi was portrayed in biographical films by actorsTyler Labine,Michael Chiklis andJohn Gemberling.[52]Chris Farley, who was heavily influenced by Belushi, died in 1997 at age 33 due to a drug overdose, which has fueled many comparisons between Belushi and Farley.[52]
In 2004, Belushi was posthumously inducted into theHollywood Walk of Fame with amotion pictures star located at 6355Hollywood Boulevard.[53] In 2006,Biography Channel aired an episode ofFinal 24, a documentary following Belushi during the last 24 hours leading to his death. Four years later, Biography aired a full documentary of Belushi's life. In 2015, Belushi was ranked byRolling Stone as the greatestSaturday Night Live cast member of all time.[54]
Belushi's widow later remarried and became Judith Jacklin Belushi Pisano. However, she and her second husband, Victor Pisano, divorced in 2010.[55][56][57]
Saturday Night Live castmateJane Curtin, who appeared onThe Oprah Winfrey Show in 2011, stated that Belushi was amisogynist who would deliberately sabotage the work of female writers and comics while working on the show: "So you'd go to a table read, and if a woman writer had written a piece for John, he would not read it in his full voice. He felt as though it was his duty to sabotage pieces written by women."[58]Saturday Night Live writerAnne Beatts suggested that because she was writing a book with his wife at the time, Belushi was frustrated with them spending more time on the book than with him. He complained to Michaels about Beatts and Rosie Shuster.[59] Judith said that Belushi was a "Women's Libber" and did not hate women.[60]
Judith, who worked to keep Belushi's legacy alive and who was credited for her role in assisting Belushi and Dan Aykroyd withThe Blues Brothers, died in July 2024.[55][56][57]
Angus Stone, also known as Dope Lemon, released a song called "John Belushi" in his honor.[61]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle | Craig Baker | English version; Voice role |
| 1978 | Animal House | John Blutarsky | |
| Goin' South | Deputy Hector | ||
| 1979 | Old Boyfriends | Eric Katz | |
| 1941 | Captain Bill "Wild Bill" Kelso | ||
| 1980 | The Blues Brothers | Jake "Joliet Jake" Blues | |
| 1981 | Continental Divide | Ernie Souchak | |
| Neighbors | Earl Keese | Final film role |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975–1980 | Saturday Night Live | Various Roles | 79 episodes; also writer |
| 1976 | The Beach Boys: It's OK | Cop #2 | TV movie; also writer |
| 1978 | The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash | Ron Decline | TV movie |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | National Lampoon Lemmings | Stage |
| 1973–1974 | The National Lampoon Radio Hour | Radio; also Creative Director |
| 1975 | The National Lampoon Show | Stage |
… son of Agnes, a first generation Albanian-American, and Adam, an Albanian immigrant and restaurant operator who left his native village, Qyteze, in 1934.
