John Candy

John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian comedy actor known mainly for his work in Hollywood films. Candy rose to fame as a member of the Toronto branch of the Second City and its related Second City Television series, and through his appearances in such comedy films as Stripes, Splash, Cool Runnings, Summer Rental, The Great Outdoors, Spaceballs, and Uncle Buck, as well as more dramatic roles in Only the Lonely and JFK. One of his most renowned onscreen performances was as Del Griffith, the loquacious, on-the-move shower-curtain ring salesman in the John Hughes comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

While filming the Western parody Wagons East!, Candy died of a heart attack in Durango, Mexico, on March 4, 1994, aged 43. His final two films, Wagons East! and Canadian Bacon, are dedicated to his memory.

• Reference: Wikipedia

Actor. He is fondly remembered as one of Canada's greatest and funniest character actors, earning a reputation for his quirky humor and his uncanny imitation of others. Born John Franklin Candy in East York (a suburb of Toronto), Ontario, Canada, he was raised in a working-class Roman Catholic family. His father died from a heart attack when he was only five years old. He attended Holy Cross Catholic Grade School and graduated from Neil McNeil Catholic High School in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and soon found his passion for drama while attending a local community college. His first movie role was a small uncredited appearance in the 1973 film "Class of '44." He appeared in several other low-budget films during the 1970s, including "Tunnel Vision" (1976), "Find the Lady (1976), and "The Silent Partner" (1978). In 1976 he played a supporting role (with Rick Moranis) on Peter Gzowski's short-lived, late-night television talk show, "90 Minutes Live." That same year, as a member of Toronto's branch of The Second City (an improvisational comedy enterprise), he gained wide popularity, which grew when he became a cast member on the influential Toronto-based comedy-variety show "Second City Television" (SCTV). In 1981, NBC picked up the show and it quickly became a fan favorite, winning Emmy Awards for the show's writing in 1981 and 1982. By 1980 he began a more active film career having appeared as a soldier in Steven Spielberg's big-budget comedy flop "1941" and had a supporting role as Burton Mercer, "Joliet" Jake's probation/parole officer in "The Blues Brothers". The following year he played the lovable, mild-mannered Army recruit Dewey Oxberger in "Stripes," one of the most successful films of the year. In the next two years, Candy did a small cameo in Harold Ramis's "National Lampoon's Vacation" and appeared on "Saturday Night Live" twice (hosting in 1983) while still appearing on SCTV. In 1983 he headlined in the film "Going Berserk," and was also approached to play the character of accountant Louis Tully in "Ghostbusters" (completed and released in 1984), but ultimately did not get the role because of his conflicting ideas of how to play the character, and the part went instead to Rick Moranis (He was one of the many celebrities who appeared chanting "Ghostbusters" in Ray Parker, Jr.'s hit "single" for the movie.). In 1984 he played Tom Hanks's womanizing brother in the hit romantic comedy "Splash," generally considered his breakout role. During the last half of the 1980s, he often took roles in substandard films (even performing the voice of a talking horse in the Bobcat Goldthwait comedy "Hot to Trot" (1988)). While continuing to play supporting roles in films like "Spaceballs" (1987), he headlined or co-starred in such comedy films as "Summer Rental" (1985), "Volunteers' (1985), "Brewster's Millions" (1985), "Armed and Dangerous" (1986), "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (1987), "The Great Outdoors" (1988), "Who's Harry Crumb?" (1989), and "Uncle Buck" (1989). He also continued to provide memorable bit roles, including a policeman in the Sesame Street film "Follow That Bird" (1985) and a "weird" disc jockey in the comic musical film "Little Shop of Horrors" (1986). He also produced and starred in a Saturday-morning animated series on NBC entitled "Camp Candy" in 1989. The show was set in a fictional summer camp run by Candy, featured his two children in supporting roles, and also spawned a brief comic book series published by Marvel Comics' Star Comics imprint. In the early 1990s, his career began to decline after he appeared in a string of critical and commercial failures, including "Nothing but Trouble" (1991) for which he was nominated for a Razzie as "worst supporting actress," playing a woman), "Delirious" (1991), and "Once Upon a Crime" (1992), although he did appear in major successes such as "The Rescuers Down Under" (1990), "Home Alone" (1990), "Rookie of the Year" (1993, uncredited), and "Cool Runnings" (1993). He attempted to reinvigorate his acting career by broadening his range and playing more dramatic roles. In 1991 he appeared in a light romantic drama, "Only the Lonely," which saw him as a Chicago cop torn between his overbearing mother (Maureen O'Hara) and his new girlfriend (Ally Sheedy). The same year and in rare form, he played a dramatic role as Dean Andrews Jr., a shady Southern lawyer in Oliver Stone's "JFK." In 1991 he, along with Bruce McNall and Wayne Gretzky became owners of the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts. The celebrity ownership group attracted a lot of attention in Canada and the team spent a significant amount of money, even signing some highly touted National Football League prospects like wide receiver Raghib Ismail, and the Argonauts won the Grey Cup in their first year of ownership. While filming "Wagons East!" on location in Durango, Mexico in 1994, he gave notice that he was putting the Argonauts up for sale. On March 3, 1994, after cooking a late lasagna dinner for his assistants, he went to bed and in the early morning hours of the following day he died from a heart attack in Durango at the age of 43. In the Walt Disney animated movie "Pocahontas" (1995), he had planned to be the voice for a turkey named 'Redfeather' but after his death, his character and dialogue were deleted. His final completed movie was "Canadian Bacon" (1995) was released a year after his death. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. In May 2006 he became one of the first four entertainers ever honored by Canada Post by being featured on a postage stamp. A tribute to him was hosted by actor Dan Aykroyd at the 2007 Grey Cup festivities in Toronto in November 2007. The John Candy Visual Arts Studio at Neil McNeil Catholic High School in Toronto is dedicated in his memory.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Mar 4 2019, 11:27:33 UTC