On This Date, March 5th in 1982: Actor / Comedian John Belushi died of an accidental drug overdose in the Chateau Marmont Hotel in West Hollywood, California. He was 33 years old. He’s been gone so long now that it’s easy to forget just how gifted and funny John Belushi was, and many people reading this may be too young to remember much at all about John. But you can remember some of his achievements, and read about projects he never lived to see completed, at This Link. RIP, John.
First of all Gail, I believe that John died in 1982, not 1882. I know I’m old, but not THAT old!
In the late ’90s, my band Glitterhick was kicked out of The Chateau Marmont. Given the hotel’s rather dubious past, I was somewhat taken aback by being a member of an entourage that was actually “asked” to leave.
Belushi has left a void that has yet to be filled.
HA! Thanks for catching my typo, Chris! It has been corrected. — G
I can’t imagine John Belushi being 63 years old. Probably because it could never happen. Something about brightest flames burning out quickly or some such nonsense. The original Saturday Night Live was my generation’s Elvis or Beatles. It’s sad that John didn’t survive the madness but I just don’t think it was meant to be.
Perfect, Clark! Equating the pop culture impact that the original SNL had on us forty-somethings to what Elvis and The Beatles had on our older syblings and parents is a spot-on observation.
Sometimes I forget about how brilliant he was. He rarely did anything on SNL that wasn’t funny. We then saw how difficult it is to be funny on SNL after the first cast members were replaced by dull, unfunny people in 1980…and then John checking out in general…leaving that comedy void.
“Your women. I want to buy your women. The little girl, your daughters… sell them to me. Sell me your children!”
I loved John playing Vito Corleone with Lorraine Newman in group therapy and the Samurai with Buck Henry. Cheeboiga, cheeboiga, no Coke, Pepsi.
SNL hasn’t been the same since Belushi and his cohorts were let loose there! It was a turning point in comedy that reflected a whole different direction my generation was taking.
“Where’d ya get that mask?! Hey! Where’d ya get that arm?!” ~ John Belushi in Dr. X, Family Counselor sketch
Love him, miss him !!!