John Belushi Biography

John Belushi Biography

(1949–1982)

Actor, comedian, singer. Born on January 24, 1949, in Wheaton, Illinois. Known for his legendary characters and skits on Saturday Night Live, John Belushi imbued his brilliant performances with a manic, boisterous energy that has never seen before or since. One of four children born to Albanian immigrants, he was good at getting laughs in high school. Belushi was also captain of his school's football team and played in a rock band as a drummer. More than anything, however, he wanted to be an actor.

After high school, Belushi performed in summer stock productions before starting college. He attended the University of Wisconsin and the College of DuPage where he graduated with an associate degree in 1970. The next year, Belushi made a big splash in the Chicago comedy scene as a member of the legendary Second City improvisational troupe. He wowed audiences with his over-the-top impressions of Marlon Brando, singer Joe Cocker, and others.

In 1973, Belushi was selected to appear in an off-Broadway production of Lemmings, a collection of comedy sketches by the staff of National Lampoon, a popular, but offbeat humor magazine. He received great reviews for his work on the show. Two years later, producer Lorne Michaels asked Belushi to join the cast of his new late night comedy show, Saturday Night Live.

Premiering on October 11, 1975, Saturday Night Live featured nine talented comedians boldly going where television had not gone before. Along with Belushi, there was Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, George Coe, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner. The show soon became a hit and Belushi became one of its emerging stars. Some of his most famous characters were a sword-wielding samurai, a killer bee, and a coneheaded alien named Kuldroth. Belushi also continued making fun of the famous with hilarious takes on the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Henry Kissinger, Truman Capote, and William Shatner. While he was on Saturday Night Live, there were many stories going around about rampant drug use by the members of the cast. To deal with pressures and his own insecurities, Belushi is said to have done cocaine and other drugs.

Not long after starting the show, Belushi married his high school sweetheart, Judith Jacklin, in 1976. Two years later, he made the move to the big screen with the hit comedy National Lampoon's Animal House, directed by John Landis. Playing Bluto Blutarsky, Belushi created one of film's most memorable charactersëa thoroughly gross, barely verbal frat brother whose immortal lines included "toga, toga, toga" and "food fight." The havoc created by Bluto and the rest of his Delta House brothers against their school has become one of the most famous college comedies of all time.

Belushi's other 1978 film effort was less successful. Only in a small part, he appeared in the western flop Goin' South with Jack Nicholson and Mary Steenburgen. The next year, he took on a serious role in Old Boyfriends with Talia Shire, which failed to find an audience. Belushi fans wanted him to see him return to a Blutolike character, not in a dramatic part. And he did in a way with 1941 (1979) as Captain Will Bill Kelso in this World War II comedy. The film was loosely based on an historical incident when a Japanese submarine was off the West Coast after the attack at Pearl Harbor. Belushi played a manic National Guard pilot, who along with some other concerned citizens, including an overeager tank sergeant played by Dan Aykroyd, tries to protect a California small town under siege from the Japanese. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film was a complete flop and received numerous bad reviews. A review in The New York Times said that it was "less comic than cumbersome, as much fun as a 40-pound wristwatch."