John Belushi

**John Belushi** (January 24, 1949 - March 5, 1982) was an American actor in movies and television shows.

Belushi was born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother was the daughter of Albanian immigrants; his father was an immigrant from Albania. His brother is James Belushi, who is also an actor.

John was co-captain of the football team in high school as well as homecoming king in his senior year. In school he was already active in acting, but he thought he might try to play professional football. His drama-teacher persuaded him to pursue becoming a professional actor.

He appeared mainly in TV shows, and was one of the founders of _Saturday Night Live_. His _Blues Brothers_ act with Dan Aykroyd was famous, long before _The Blues Brothers_ movie (1980).

Belushi became a drug addict. He used both heroin and cocaine, and a lot of both. In the time before he died, he spent about $2,500 a week on drugs.

John Belushi died in 1982 from a drug overdose injected by a woman named Cathy Smith. She was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

## Credits

- _National Lampoon's Lemmings_ (1973) (Stage)
- _The National Lampoon Radio Hour_ (1973–1974) (Radio) (also Creative Director)
- _The National Lampoon Show_ (1975) (Stage)
- _The Beach Boys: It's OK_ (1976) (TV)
- _Saturday Night Live_ (1975–1979) (TV)
- _Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle_ (1975) (voice)
- _Goin' South_ (1978)
- _National Lampoon's Animal House_ (1978)
- _The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash_ (1978) (TV)
- _Old Boyfriends_ (1979)
- _1941_ (1979)
- _The Blues Brothers_ (1980)
- _Continental Divide_ (1981)
- _Neighbors_ (1981)

## _SNL_ characters and impersonations

- Recurring characters
- Samurai Futaba
- Captain Ned, one of Miles Cowperthwaite's cronies
- Jacob Papageorge alias 'Joliet' Jake Blues, from the Blues Brothers
- Jeff Widette, from the Widettes
- Kevin (from _The Mall_ sketches)
- Kuldorth (from _The Coneheads_)
- Larry Farber (one half of the Farber couple the wife, Bobbi, was played by [Gilda Radner])
- Lowell Brock, from the H&L Brock commercials
- Matt Cooper, from the Land Shark sketches
- Pete, from the Olympia Cafe
- Steve Beshekas (who was in real life a good friend of Belushi's since community college)
- Frank Leary, one of St. Mickey's Knights of Columbus

- Celebrity impersonations

- Al Hirt
- Babe Ruth
- Bert Lance
- Cesar Romero
- Dino De Laurentiis
- Ed Ames
- Edward Asner
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Elvis Presley
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Fred Silverman
- George Wallace
- Grigori Rasputin
- Henry Kissinger
- Hermann Göring
- Jack Kerouac
- Jawaharlal Nehru
- Jerry Mathers (as The Beaver from Leave It To Beaver)
- Jimmy Hoffa
- Joe Cocker
- John Lennon
- Julia Child
- Leonid Brezhnev
- Ludwig van Beethoven
- Marlon Brando
- Menachim Begin
- Richard Daley
- Robert Blake
- Roy Orbison
- Sam Peckinpah
- Sanjay Gandhi
- Steve Rubell
- Sun Myung Moon
- Tip O'Neill
- Truman Capote
- Vasiliy Alekseyev
- William Shatner
- Woody Hayes
- Yasser Arafat

## Infobox (comedian)

- **embed**: yes
- **influenced**: Chris Farley, Artie Lange
- **spouse**: Judith Belushi Pisano, Judy Belushi (1976–1982)
- **relations**: James Belushi (brother)
- **parents**: Adam Belushi
Agnes Belushi


## Infobox (person)

- **image**: John Belushi at the 32nd Annual Radio and Television Correspondents Association Dinner - NARA - 30805929.jpg
- **caption**: Belushi in 1976
- **birth name**: John Belushi
- **birth place**: Wheaton, Illinois, U.S.
- **nationality**: United States, American
- **death place**: West Hollywood, California, West Hollywood, California, U.S.
- **death cause**: Accidental overdose
- **known for**: _Saturday Night Live_
- **occupation**: comedian, musician, actor
- **years active**: 1973–1981