5 Things You Didn’t Know About John Belushi
Groundbreaking funnyman John Belushi was born on Jan. 24, 1949, and in just 33 short years of life, permanently changed American comedy. From his work on Saturday Night Live as one of the original cast members, to his mega-hit films like 1978’s National Lampoon’s Animal House and 1980’s The Blues Brothers, Belushi created new comedic archetypes and influenced generations of comedians, including fellow SNL star Chris Farley.
Belushi, who had struggled with a drug addiction for a decade, died from an overdose on March 5, 1982. Here’s a few things you probably didn’t know about his short, trailblazing life.
1He married his high school sweetheart
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Though Belushi is associated with the wild behavior he and his fellow SNL castmates were famous for, he also had a more traditional side. He met future wife Judith Belushi in the 1960s, while attending high school in Wheaton, Illinois. She and John moved to New York City together in the early ’70s as his comedy career developed, and married in 1976. They remained married until John’s death, and Judith wrote a memoir about their relationship in 1990.
2He was fired from SNL multiple times
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Belushi, along with his comedy partner Dan Aykroyd and fellow early cast members like Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner, is synonymous with Saturday Night Live, and is often ranked as the show’s greatest and most influential performer of all time. But the actor was actually fired from the show more than once. Producers, frustrated by Belushi’s drug use, which made him increasingly erratic, gave him multiple pink slips, but always ended up taking him back before the next show. Belushi himself never denied his struggles, telling Rolling Stone of his SNL years, “those were very hard times.”
3His famous Animal House costume came from his own closet
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Though Belushi’s most famous costume is undoubtedly the black suit he wore as Joliet Jake Blues, the “College” sweatshirt he sports throughout Animal House is a close second. But that shirt not only came from his closet — it predated his comedy stardom.
In 1972, Belushi was visiting Southern Illinois University when he stopped in a local shop called Gusto’s Graphics, and asked them to customize a shirt that simply bore the word “College.” According to a 2002 interview with the employee who printed the shirt, “I asked him about three times. I said, ‘are you sure you don’t want ‘SIU’ or ‘Salukis? He said, ‘No, no, no, just COLLEGE.’”
4He got a notorious punk rock band booked on SNL
Belushi left SNL in 1979 to embark on a film career that almost immediately yielded dividends. And he decided to use his newfound star power in one very unusual way: by trying to get mainstream traction for an L.A. punk band called Fear.
One of the bands featured in classic punk documentary The Decline of Western Civilization, Fear’s harsh sound was not the kind of thing that typically turned up on the soundtrack of big-budget studio films at the time. That didn’t stop Belushi from trying to get Fear a gig playing the theme song to his 1981 film Neighbors. The studio rejected the track, so Belushi had another idea about how to help the band out: he got them booked as the musical guest for the Oct. 31, 1981 episode of SNL. And, in a move that proved disastrous, Belushi decided to make the experience more “authentic” by busing in a group of around 50 young punk rockers from the Washington D.C. area.
You can probably guess how this all played out … but if not, watch the video above to fully take in the scene. The young punks broke equipment, grabbed the mic, and supposedly threw a pumpkin at SNL producer Dick Ebersol. Panicked producers cut to a pre-recorded skit. An unnamed staffer told the New York Post afterwards, “This was a life-threatening situation. It’s amazing no one was killed.”
Fear were permanently banned, which likely only helped their career — the whole incident raised their profile, and the band still tours today. Singer Lee Ving also had a brief Hollywood career following the incident, appearing in films including 1985’s Clue.
5He inspired Slimer
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Belushi’s 1982 death shocked many people in his life, including best friend Aykroyd, who had been writing the script for Ghostbusters with the idea that Belushi would play the role of Slimer. Following his death, the film’s special effects artists were instructed to make the ghost slightly resemble Belushi, in tribute.
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Oh What A Year: 1980
January 2020
Take a look back at our retrospect of the year 1980 where we celebrate the hottest in movies, music and TV.
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