“He was a force of nature.” – Mitch Glazer
“All the doors of the continent were open to him. He was America’s Guest” – Dan Aykroyd
“He could’ve given us a lot more laughs, BUT NOOOOOOOO!” – Anonymous sign at Belushi’s grave in Martha’s Vineyard.
Who was this guy? What merits him icon status? His premature death at the hands of drugs in 1982? Or was it his comic genius, which remains lasting to this day?
John Belushi blasted onto the scene in 1975, along with the rest of the “Not Ready For Primetime Players” on
Saturday Night Live. Though Belushi went into auditions adament that “television was garbage; his television was covered with spit.” Belushi did think however, that SNL was a fresh, revolutionary idea. He was soon hired. Ironically though, John wasn’t the first breakout “star” of SNL. That title went to Chevy Chase, off the heels of his weekly spot on the satirical Weekend Update, and his signature quote “I’m Chevy Chase, and you’re not.” Belushi was frustrated by this, but his frustration would not last. Chase left the show in 1976, leaving the door open for Belushi to break out.
With characters such as The Samurai, the Weatherman (BUT NOOOOOO!), his authentic and hilarious impressions of Joe Cocker, Marlon Brando, and Elizabeth Taylor, Belushi and SNL became a late night sensation, and stayed that way for 30 years.
Belushi as The SamuraiIn 1977, Belushi was offered a role in a seemingly small film about a fraternity and it’s experiences in 1962. The film was
Animal House, and Belushi’s character was Bluto Blutarsky, the slob of the fraternity. When it opened in 1978, it became the highest grossing comedy of all-time, and truly made Belushi a star. Belushi’s Bluto became one of the most recognizable characters in comedic history.
Around this time Belushi also garnered an interest in the Blues, escalating to forming his own band and mythology about the band, with Dan Aykoroyd. In 1978 The Blues Brothers band released
Briefcase Full of Blues, and it became the number 1 album in the country. By the time John Belushi turned 30 years old on January 24, 1979; Belushi had the number one late night show on television, the number one album in the country, and the number one film in the country, a trifecta never achieved before or since.
Off the heels of
Animal House and the Blues Brothers’ massive success, a film was made.
The Blues Brothers, the story of Jake and Elwood, two brothers trying to save their childhood orphanage, opened in 1980. The film made $65,000,000 worldwide, and became a cult hit. Belushi and The Blues Brothers Band then hit the road and went on a massive nationwide tour.
Belushi’s career was not just filled with successes, though. Belushi and Aykroyd both starred in Steven Spielberg’s box office nuclear bomb
1941 in 1979. In 1981, Belushi starred in his last two films,
Continental Divide, and
Neighbors.
Divide received mixed reviews, some saying Belushi was the next Spencer Tracy, and others wanting Bluto.
Neighbors was a completely different animal. At first Belushi was to play the crazy new neighbor and Aykroyd to play the suburbanite, yet at the last second Belushi and Aykroyd switched roles. Add on the fact that Belushi and Aykroyd both detested director John G. Avildsen (even half jokingly searching for a hitman to do the job on him) and you had one serious combustible situation. Larry Gelbart’s screenplay was turned completely upside down and Avildsen not being an experienced director of comedies showed (which ironically was part of Spielberg’s flop
1941) and
Neighbors was a commercial and critical disappointment.
In the end, part of Belushi’s legacy would be his premature death. On March 5, 1982 Belushi was found dead in his bungalow in the Chateau Marmont hotel overlooking the Sunset Strip. The death was ruled a accidental drug overdose. Belushi’s substance abuse escalated from recreational marijuana use to finally, and fatally, heroin. He was 33 years old.
Belushi's final resting place. "He always slept well on the Vinyard."John Belushi’s legacy leaves glimmers of golden comedic moments, but altogether ended tragically, and far too early.
“Yeah, they all though 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? But I guess they were wrong.” – John Belushi,
Don’t Look Back in Anger 
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Very special thanks to ronnierocketAGO.
