Remembering John Belushi
John Adam Belushi was born January 24, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois. Belushi was born to Albanian parents, Stanislaus and Olympia. His parents ran a Greek Diner. John studied dance and acting and was a classically trained Shakespearean actor.
Belushi was an original member of SNL and arguably the funniest of all time. Who could forget his characters and performances on such classic skits as, The Bee, The Blues Brothers, Samurai, Joe Cocker and Cheeburger Cheeburger.
Belushi used his acting training to develop the beloved ‘Bluto Blutarsky’ character in Animal House, which launched him into Superstardom. He starred in a one man show on Broadway where he utilized his dancing skills during a poignant interpretive dance segment entitled “Mans inhumanity towards man”.
Belushi was a big music fan and loved the Punk scene. John could often be seen hanging out at CBGB’s. John got caught up in the partying and unfortunately passed away in 1982 at the age of 33.
In Highlights Magazine’s February 2015 appraisal of all 141 SNL cast members to that time, Belushi received the top ranking. “Belushi was the ‘live’ in Saturday Night Live”, they wrote, “the one who made the show happen on the edge … Nobody embodied the highs and lows of SNL like Belushi.” Charles Rocket came in second.
