Comedy Icon John Belushi Died 40 Years Ago Today

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I was just shy of 10 years old the first time I was devastated by a celebrity death. Watching the early evening news, I can still remember the shock of hearing that my beloved Bluto and Blues Brother was dead at just 33 years old. It made no sense to a young kid who had worshipped the comic genius that was John Belushi.

I honestly don't remember if I first saw him on "Saturday Night Live" or in ANIMAL HOUSE. Whatever it was, I was hooked from the jump. Never before had audiences seen a performer quite like him. A burly guy with a devilish grin and playful eyebrows, Belushi would do anything for a laugh and it wasn't often he didn't get one. 

He rocketed to stardom with a bevy of iconic characters on SNL. Samurai Futaba. The Olympia Restaurant ("Chee-burger, chee-burger, chee-burger!"). The Bee. The Hulk.

That handshake with Superman/Bill Murray never fails to slay. And "It's not supposed to smell like roses" is one his all-time SNL lines. But his biggest SNL character was Jake Blues, one half of the Blues Brothers.

However, it was his balls-out, go-for-broke performance as John "Bluto" Blutarsky in the game-changing ANIMAL HOUSE that launched him into the stratosphere. A combination of slapstick, facial mannerisms, one-liners, and one of the best rah-rah speeches in film history, Bluto instantly became an iconic movie character and literally changed college culture as well as the course of American comedies. Most actors would kill to get two minutes like this in a lifetime of work. Belushi did it (and more) in one movie.

He eventually left SNL to work in movies full-time and in 1980, he and Dan Aykroyd brought their soul-loving duo from SNL to the big screen with THE BLUES BROTHERS. The movie was way over budget and the set was constant chaos because of the self-destructive path that Belushi was on by this point. Still, the musical comedy made a boatload of cash, became a timeless classic, and gave Belushi his second and final iconic film role.

After THE BLUES BROTHERS and while sober, he took on his first serious role in CONTINENTAL DIVIDE and we got a look at another side of the comedic madman. He then paired back up with Aykroyd in the bomb that was NEIGHBORS. Less than three months after the movie debuted, the magic was over and the laughter died.

It was gutting and heartbreaking news that we would never see this mad genius again. There have certainly been other preternaturally funny guys since (with Chris Farley being the obvious one). But there was only one John Belushi. And nobody has come close to touching him or his legacy. 

Forever loved and forever missed.

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