John Belushi Was Composed Of Equal Parts Brilliance, Bad Decisions, And Pure Cocaine
For three decades, we've been treated to numerous looks-back on the Dan Aykroyd-John Belushi comedy team, and the one perfect film they managed to make, 1980's The Blues Brothers. So much dirt has already been dished over the decades that it almost feels like we know everything we'll ever need to about the hard-partying tendencies that ultimately killed Belushi in 1982. We would be mistaken, as a new Vanity Fair profile will no doubt demonstrate that however many skeletons you think might have been unearthed, there's always room for one or two more in the mass grave of a dead celebrity's life story.
The January issue features a new and very detailed look into the making of The Blues Brothers. Part fond remembrance, part cautionary tale, and part "Jesus H Christ, seriously. You seriously did all that," it delivers absolutely delicious — and absolutely tragic — stories from Belushi's friends, family and former coworkers about that film's troubled production. We've culled a few choicer nuggets from the online preview:
* The '70s were even more decadent than we think. According to Dan Aykroyd, "We had a budget in the movie for cocaine for night shoots" during the making of The Blues Brothers. And just like that, films like Zardoz suddenly begin to make more sense.
* Belushi's drug problem had gotten so out of hand that they actually asked Carrie Fisher - Carrie Fisher! - to keep him from consuming. I wonder if they also asked Chevy Chase to keep Dan Aykroyd from making bad decisions about the roles he intended to take during the late '80s and early '90s.
* Belushi and Robert Downey, Jr. have a lot in common: Apparently Belushi disappeared from the set one night, and Aykroyd found him at a nearby home where, the homeowner told him, Belushi had just showed up, raided the man's fridge like it wasn't even a thing, and passed out on the couch.
Obviously, this thing just became required, end-of-the-year reading. It goes without saying also that we're very glad this kind of addiction is no longer enabled so blatantly.
[Source: Vanity Fair]
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Comments
John, you yutzes.
Jim Belushi is equal parts DNA-related sibling, acting scrub, and anti-comedic bunghole.
Jim Belushi? Pretty inept, Movieline.
Jesus H. Christ requires a period, as this non-existent middle name stands for something, although it is up to the speaker to decide what it is, unlike Harry S Truman, whose middle initial is just that, to honor both sets of grandparents. I'll leave the obvious issue to BDGALLOF.
None of this information is revelatory, except for the mis-identification of the subject.
The typo - and I promise it was a typo, not a mistake in the sense of confusing the talented brother for the untalented one - has been fixed.
Still...makes you guys look like you're edited by a 12 year old. Just because you can quickly change your lead doesn't excuse you from not taking the most rudimentary steps in terms of reviewing your content.
Measure twice, cut once.
Jesus, Ahr Mon. I bet you're a ton of fun to hang out with.
Mistakes happen. All you can do is acknowledge them and fix them quickly. Though if you like, you have my permission to ruthlessly mock me for all future mistakes.
Just a typo and not a mistake? Then how come it was "misspelled" on the original URL in addition to within the article? :-/
because the URL is autopopulated based on the headline you write.
"Obviously, this thing just became required, end-of-the-year reading. It goes without saying also that we're very glad this kind of addiction is no longer enabled so blatantly."
Addiction is not so bad. Often it is the madness that produces the genius. Would th BB or SNL for that matter, had been so great except for the madness?