Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd | |
---|---|
Born | Daniel Edward Aykroyd July 1, 1952 |
Citizenship |
|
Education | Carleton University |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1971–present |
Spouse | |
Children | 3, including Vera Sola |
Relatives | Peter Aykroyd (brother) |
Daniel Edward Aykroyd CM OOnt (/ˈækrɔɪd/ AK-royd; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian and American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and musician.
Aykroyd was a writer and an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" cast on the
Aykroyd gained prominence for writing, and starring as Dr. Raymond "Ray" Stantz in Ghostbusters (1984), and Ghostbusters II (1989) and has reprised his role in various projects within the Ghostbusters franchise. He also is known for his comedic roles in Trading Places (1983), Spies Like Us (1985), Dragnet (1987), Coneheads (1993), The Great Outdoors (1988), The Blues Brothers (1980), and its 1998 sequel.
In 1990, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Boolie Werthan in Driving Miss Daisy (1989). Other dramatic roles include in My Girl (1991), Chaplin, and Sneakers (both 1992). Aykroyd has done supporting roles in Tommy Boy (1995), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), 50 First Dates (2004), The Campaign (2012), and Behind the Candelabra (2013).
He starred as Reverend Mike Weber, in his sitcom Soul Man (1997–1998). He has since appeared on various television shows including It's Garry Shandling's Show (1990), Home Improvement (1997), Family Guy (2009), The Simpsons (2021) and The Conners (2019). Aykroyd is also a businessman, having co-founded the House of Blues chain of music venues and the Crystal Head Vodka brand.
Early life
Aykroyd was born on July 1, 1952, at
He attended St. Pius X and St. Patrick's high schools, and studied criminology and sociology at Carleton University, but dropped out before completing his degree. He worked as a comedian in various Canadian nightclubs and ran an after-hours speakeasy, Club 505, in Toronto for several years.[10]
Aykroyd developed his musical career in Ottawa, particularly through his regular attendance at
There was a little disco club there called Le Hibou, which in French means 'the owl.' And it was run by a gentleman named Harvey Glatt, and he brought every, and I mean every, blues star that you or I would ever have wanted to have seen through Ottawa in the late '50s, well I guess more late '60s sort of, in around the Newport jazz rediscovery. I was going to Le Hibou and hearing James Cotton, Otis Spann, Pinetop Perkins, and Muddy Waters. I did actually jam behind Muddy Waters. S.P. Leary left the drum kit one night, and Muddy said 'anybody out there play drums? I don't have a drummer.' And I walked on stage and we started, I don't know, Little Red Rooster, something. He said 'keep that beat going, you make Muddy feel good.' And I heard Howlin' Wolf (Chester Burnett). Many, many times I saw Howlin' Wolf. As well as the Doors. And of course Buddy Guy, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. So I was exposed to all of these players, playing there as part of this scene to service the academic community in Ottawa, a very well-educated community. Had I lived in a different town I don't think that this would have happened, because it was just the confluence of educated government workers, and then also all the colleges in the area, Ottawa University, Carleton, and all the schools—these people were interested in blues culture.[11][12]
Aykroyd's first professional experience, which he gained at the age of 17, was as a member of the cast of the short-lived Canadian sketch comedy series The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour with Lorne Michaels, among others.[13] He was a member of the Second City comedy troupe in 1973 in both Toronto and Chicago.[14]
Career
Saturday Night Live
Aykroyd gained fame on the American late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL). He was originally hired, and paid $278 a week (equivalent to $1,603 in 2024), as a writer for the show, but became a part of the cast before the series premiered. The original cast was referred to on the show as "The Not Ready For Prime Time Players". Aykroyd was the youngest member of the cast, and appeared on the show for its first four seasons, from 1975 to 1979. He brought a sensibility to the show which combined youth, unusual interests, talent as an impersonator, and a manic intensity. Guest host Eric Idle of Monty Python said that Aykroyd's ability to write and act out characters made him the only member of the SNL cast capable of being a Python.[15]
He was known for his impersonations of celebrities such as
Aykroyd's eccentric talent was recognized by others in the highly competitive SNL environment; when he first presented his "Super Bass-O-Matic '76" sketch, a fake TV commercial in which a garish, hyper-pitchman (based on
While Aykroyd was a close friend and partner with fellow cast member John Belushi and shared some of the same sensibilities, Aykroyd was more reserved and less self-destructive. Aykroyd later recalled that, unlike Belushi and others of his peers, he was uninterested in recreational drug use.[20]
In 1977, he received an Emmy Award for writing on SNL; he later received two more nominations for writing and one for acting. In Rolling Stone's February 2015 appraisal of all 141 SNL cast members to date, Aykroyd was ranked fifth (behind Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, and Mike Myers). "Of all the original [SNL] greats, Aykroyd is the least imitated", they wrote, "because nobody else can do what he did."[21]
In later decades, Aykroyd made occasional guest appearances and unannounced cameos on SNL, often impersonating the American politician Bob Dole. He also brought back past characters including Irwin Mainway and Leonard Pinth-Garnell. In 1995, he appeared on the show to introduce a performance by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip.[22] Aykroyd, who is a fan of the band, had personally lobbied Lorne Michaels to book them as musical guests.[23]
During some guest appearances, he resurrected the Blues Brothers musical act with frequent host
The Blues Brothers
Aykroyd was a close friend of John Belushi. According to Aykroyd, their first meeting helped spark the Blues Brothers act. When they met in a club that Aykroyd frequented, he played a blues record in the background, and it stimulated a fascination with blues in Belushi, who was primarily a fan of heavy rock bands at the time. Aykroyd educated Belushi on the finer points of blues music, and with a little encouragement from then-SNL music director Paul Shaffer, it led to the creation of their Blues Brothers characters.[25][26]
Backed by such experienced professional R&B sidemen as lead guitarist Steve Cropper, sax man Lou Marini, trumpeter Alan Rubin, and bass guitarist Donald "Duck" Dunn, the Blues Brothers proved more than an SNL novelty. Taking off with the public as a legitimate musical act, they performed live gigs and in 1978 released the hit album Briefcase Full of Blues (drawn from the fact that Aykroyd, as "Elwood Blues", carried his blues harmonicas in a briefcase that he kept handcuffed to his wrist, in the manner of a CIA courier; Belushi originally carried the key to those handcuffs). Briefcase Full of Blues eventually sold 3.5 million copies, and is one of the highest-selling blues albums of all time.[11] The band was much further popularized in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, which Aykroyd co-wrote. A sequel, titled Blues Brothers 2000, was released in 1998 and featured John Goodman as Belushi's replacement.[citation needed]
The Blues Brothers Band continues to tour, both with and without Aykroyd. The band features original members Cropper and Marini, along with vocalist Eddie Floyd. Aykroyd sometimes performs as Elwood, along with Belushi's younger brother Jim Belushi, who plays "Brother Zee" on stage. They are most frequently backed by the Sacred Hearts Band.[27]
Other film and television work
Concurrent with his work in Saturday Night Live, Aykroyd played the role of Purvis Bickle, lift operator at the fictitious office block 99 Sumach Street in the CBC Television series Coming Up Rosie.[28]
After leaving SNL, Aykroyd starred in a number of films, mostly comedies, with uneven results both commercially and artistically. His first three American feature films all co-starred Belushi. The first,
In the early 1980s, Aykroyd began work on a script for the film that eventually became Ghostbusters, inspired by his fascination with parapsychology and his belief in ghosts. The script initially included a much greater fantasy element, including time travel, but this was toned down substantially through work on the script with Harold Ramis (who became a co-writer) and director Ivan Reitman. Aykroyd originally wrote the role of Dr. Peter Venkman with Belushi in mind, but rewrote it for Bill Murray after Belushi's death. Aykroyd joked that the green ghost, later known as "Slimer", was "the ghost of John Belushi" and was based on Belushi's party-animal personality. Ghostbusters was released in 1984 and became a huge success for Aykroyd, who also appeared as one of the lead actors; the film earned nearly US$300 million on a US$30 million budget. Aykroyd also briefly appeared in the hit 1984 action-adventure film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as an escort with a British accent.
Aykroyd's next major film role was in the 1985 spy comedy film Spies Like Us, which like The Blues Brothers was co-conceived and co-written by Aykroyd, and directed by Landis. Aykroyd had again intended for Belushi to be the other lead in the film; the part was instead given to SNL alumnus Chevy Chase. The film was intended as an homage to the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Road to ... movies of the 1940s to 1960s. Bob Hope made a cameo appearance in the film.[citation needed]
Dragnet, in which Aykroyd co-starred (with Tom Hanks) and co-wrote, was released in 1987. The film was both an homage and a satire of the previous Dragnet series, with Aykroyd playing Sgt. Joe Friday as a police officer whose law-and-order attitude is at odds with modern sensibilities.[citation needed]
In 1988, Aykroyd co-starred (with John Candy) in the comedy film The Great Outdoors. Aykroyd appeared in four other films released in 1988 (The Couch Trip, She's Having a Baby, Caddyshack II, and My Stepmother Is an Alien), all of them critical and commercial failures.[citation needed]
A sequel to Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, was released in 1989; Aykroyd and the other co-creators were reluctant to make another Ghostbusters film, but succumbed to pressure from the film's studio, Columbia Pictures.[29] The film, while considered inferior to the original, was another big hit, earning US$215 million. Aykroyd was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1989's Driving Miss Daisy. He was the fourth SNL cast member to be nominated for an Oscar, after Joan Cusack, who was the third.[30]
Aykroyd's directorial debut was 1991's
In 1994, Aykroyd made a guest appearance in an episode of the sitcom The Nanny as a refrigerator repairman. In 1997, he starred as an Episcopal priest in the ABC sitcom Soul Man, which lasted two seasons. In 1998, he voiced the role of Chip, a wasp, in DreamWorks Animation film Antz.[citation needed]
In 2001, Aykroyd starred in the Woody Allen film The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. Most of his subsequent film roles have tended to be small character parts in big-budget productions, such as a signals analyst in Pearl Harbor (2001), a neurologist in 50 First Dates (2004), an annoying neighbor in Christmas with the Kranks (2004), and a fire captain in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007).[citation needed]
In 2009, Aykroyd and Ramis wrote and appeared in Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which also featured Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, William Atherton, and Brian Doyle-Murray. In 2010, he played the voice of the title character, Yogi Bear, in the live-action/CGI-animated-film Yogi Bear. That same year, Aykroyd and Chevy Chase guest-starred in the Family Guy episode "Spies Reminiscent of Us", an homage to Spies Like Us.[citation needed]
Aykroyd appeared in two February 2011 episodes of CBS's The Defenders as Judge Max Hunter, which also starred Jim Belushi.[31] He also appeared on Top Chef Canada as a guest judge.[32] He had supporting roles in the 2012 political comedy film The Campaign, which starred SNL alum Will Ferrell, and in the 2013 HBO film Behind the Candelabra.[citation needed]
In 2014, Aykroyd voiced the role of Scarecrow in Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return, and had a supporting role in the comedy film Tammy. In 2015, he appeared in a State Farm insurance commercial along with Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman, as the Coneheads, talking to "Jake", a State Farm agent,[33] and played the emcee of the video game championship in the science fiction comedy film Pixels.[citation needed]
Aykroyd was one of the executive producers of Ghostbusters, a long-discussed reboot of the Ghostbusters franchise, which was released in 2016. Aykroyd had a cameo appearance in the film, along with many of the rest of the surviving original Ghostbusters cast.[34][35]
In early 2021, Aykroyd provided the voice of the Postage Stamp Fellow in the episode The Dad-Feelings Limited in the TV series The Simpsons. He also reprised his role of Dr. Ray Stantz in the movie Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Aykroyd expressed interest in having the surviving three actors of the original Ghostbusters team continuing to reprise their roles for as many sequels as possible while they were alive. Aykroyd again reprises his role in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.[36]
Other musical endeavours
Aykroyd participated in the recording of "We Are the World" in 1985, as a member of the chorus. He wrote the liner notes for fellow Ottawa-born blues musician JW-Jones's album Bluelisted in 2008. Until its ending in 2018, he hosted the internationally syndicated radio show "Elwood's BluesMobile", formerly known as the House of Blues Radio Hour, under his Blues Brothers moniker Elwood Blues.[37]
Business ventures
In 1992, Aykroyd and Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Isaac Tigrett founded the House of Blues,[38] a chain of music venues, with the mission to promote African-American cultural contributions of blues music and folk art.[citation needed]
Many other music and Hollywood personalities helped to finance it at its start. It began as a single location in
On New Year's Eve, 1994, Aykroyd opened the Aykroyd's Ghetto House Cafe on Princess Street in Kingston, Ontario.[40]
In 2007, Aykroyd and artist John Alexander founded Crystal Head Vodka, a brand of high-end vodka known for its distinctive skull-shaped bottle and for being filtered through Herkimer diamond crystals.[41]
Aykroyd is also part owner of several wineries in Canada's Niagara Peninsula, and the company that distributes Patrón tequila in Canada.[42][43]
In 2016, Aykroyd partnered with TV producers Eric Bischoff and Jason Hervey and game developer Ike McFadden to release an online-casino game that features the Blues Brothers. Aykroyd provided the in-game voice of his Elwood Blues character via voiceover.[44]
Charitable works
In 2009, Aykroyd contributed a series of reminiscences on his upbringing in Canada for a charity album titled Dan Aykroyd's Canada. He helped start the Blue Line Foundation, which is redeveloping flood-damaged lots in New Orleans and helping first responders buy them at reduced prices. Coastal Blue Line LLC, hopes to eventually rebuild 400 properties in New Orleans.[45]
Aykroyd is a member of Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.[46]
Personal life
Aykroyd was briefly engaged to actress Carrie Fisher, proposing to her on the set of The Blues Brothers. In the film, she appeared as a jilted girlfriend of John Belushi's character Jake Blues. Their engagement ended when she reconciled with her former boyfriend, musician Paul Simon. In 1983, Aykroyd married actress Donna Dixon. The couple met on the set of Doctor Detroit released the same year and appeared together in four additional films: Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983); Spies Like Us (1985); The Couch Trip (1988); and Exit to Eden (1994). Together, they have three daughters, including Danielle (known by her stage name, Vera Sola). The couple announced in April 2022 that they were separating after 39 years of marriage, but would remain legally married.[47]
Aykroyd maintains his Canadian roots as a longtime resident of Sydenham, Ontario, with his estate on Loughborough Lake.
In a 2004 NPR interview with host Terry Gross, Aykroyd said that he had been diagnosed in childhood with Tourette syndrome (TS). He stated that his TS was successfully treated with therapy.[48] In 2015, he stated during a HuffPost Show interview with hosts Roy Sekoff and Marc Lamont Hill that he has Asperger syndrome which was "never diagnosed", but was "sort of a self-diagnosis" based on several of his own characteristics.[49]
Aykroyd is a former reserve commander for the police department in Harahan, Louisiana, working for Chief of Police Peter Dale. While on the force, Aykroyd carried his badge with him at all times.[50] He currently serves as a reserve deputy of the Hinds County Sheriff's Department in Hinds County, Mississippi. He supports the reserves with a fundraiser concert along with other blues and gospel singers in Mississippi.[51]
Aykroyd's passions for the outdoors, geology and paleontology, which he attributes to watching his father work on constructing the Gatineau Parkway which included blasting through granite rock formations to run the highway,
Aykroyd has acquired American citizenship.[55]
Friendship with John Belushi
In an appearance on the
Aykroyd was openly hostile to the 1989 film Wired, a biopic of Belushi which was based on the 1984 book of the same name by journalist Bob Woodward, starred Michael Chiklis in his film debut as Belushi, and featured him as a character played by actor Gary Groomes. Along with Belushi's widow Judith and brother Jim, and many other friends, associates and relatives of Belushi, he boycotted the film and the associated book for misrepresenting Belushi's life,[57] and expressed his desire that the film would flop at the box office, which it ultimately did. During an interview for MTV's The Big Picture in June 1988, he said, "I have witches working now to jinx the thing... I hope it never gets seen and I am going to hurl all the negative energy I can and muster all my hell energies [against them]. My thunderbolts are out on this one, quite truthfully." He had actor J. T. Walsh removed from the film Loose Cannons after Walsh had already done two days of filming in the role of Grimmer, after finding out that Walsh had been in the cast of Wired.[58] Walsh, who had played Bob Woodward in Wired, was replaced as Grimmer by fellow Canadian Paul Koslo, causing the film a $125,000 production delay.
Beliefs
Aykroyd considers himself a Spiritualist, stating:
- I am a Spiritualist, a proud wearer of the Spiritualist badge. Mediums and psychic research have gone on for many, many years ... Loads of people have seen spirits, heard a voice, or felt the cold temperature. I believe that they are between here and there, that they exist between the fourth and fifth dimensions, and that they visit us frequently.[59]
Aykroyd's great-grandfather, a dentist, was a
Aykroyd was interviewed for 80 minutes by UFOlogist David Sereda, discussing in depth many aspects of the UFO phenomenon.[60]
On September 29, 2009, Peter Aykroyd Sr., Dan's father, published a book entitled A History of Ghosts. This book chronicled the family's historical involvement in the Spiritualist movement, to which Aykroyd readily refers. Aykroyd wrote the introduction and accompanied his father on a series of promotional activities, including launches in New York and Toronto, appearances on Larry King Live and Coast to Coast AM, and various other public-relations initiatives. Aykroyd also read the introduction for the audio version of the book.[61] In 1997, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry awarded Aykroyd in absentia the Snuffed Candle Award for hosting Psi Factor and being a "long-time promoter ... of paranormal claims". Following the awards, Joe Nickell wrote to Aykroyd asking for the research behind the "cases" presented on Psi Factor, particularly a claim that NASA scientists were "killed while investigating a meteor crash and giant eggs were found and incubated, yielding a flea the size of a hog".[62]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1977 | Love at First Sight | Roy | |
1979 | Mr. Mike's Mondo Video | Jack Lord Priest / Himself | |
1941 | Motor Sergeant Frank Tree | ||
1980 | The Blues Brothers | Elwood J. Blues | Also writer |
1981 | Neighbors | Vic Zeck | |
1982 | It Came from Hollywood | Himself | Documentary |
1983 | Doctor Detroit | Clifford Skridlow / Doctor Detroit | |
Trading Places | Louis Winthorpe III | ||
Twilight Zone: The Movie | Passenger / Ambulance Driver | ||
1984 | Ghostbusters | Dr. Raymond Stantz | Also writer |
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | Art Weber | Cameo | |
Nothing Lasts Forever | Buck Heller | ||
1985 | Into the Night | Herb | |
Spies Like Us | Austin Millbarge | Also writer | |
1987 | Dragnet | Sergeant Joe Friday | |
1988 | The Couch Trip | John W. Burns Jr. | |
She's Having a Baby | Roman Craig | Uncredited cameo | |
The Great Outdoors | Roman Craig | ||
Caddyshack II | Captain Tom Everett | ||
My Stepmother Is an Alien | Steven Mills | ||
1989 | Driving Miss Daisy | Boolie Werthan | |
Ghostbusters II | Dr. Raymond Stantz | Also writer | |
1990 | Loose Cannons | Detective Ellis Fielding | |
Masters of Menace | Johnny Lewis | ||
1991 | My Girl | Harry Sultenfuss | |
Nothing but Trouble | Judge Alvin "J.P" Valkenheiser Bobo |
Also writer and director | |
1992 | Chaplin | Mack Sennett | |
Sneakers | Darren "Mother" Roskow | ||
This Is My Life | Arnold Moss | ||
1993 | Coneheads | Beldar Conehead
|
Also writer |
1994 | A Century of Cinema | Himself | Documentary |
Exit to Eden | Fred Lavery | ||
My Girl 2 | Harry Sultenfuss | ||
North | Pa Tex | ||
1995 | Canadian Bacon
|
OPP Officer | Uncredited cameo |
Casper | Dr. Raymond Stantz | Uncredited cameo | |
The Random Factor | Dexter | Voice role | |
Tommy Boy
|
Ray Zalinsky | ||
1996 | Rainbow | Sheriff Wyatt Hampton | |
Celtic Pride | Jimmy Flaherty | ||
Feeling Minnesota | Detective Ben Costikyan | ||
My Fellow Americans | President Bill Haney | ||
Getting Away with Murder
|
Jack Lambert | ||
Sgt. Bilko | Colonel John T. Hall | ||
1997 | Grosse Pointe Blank | Grocer | |
1998 | Antz | Chip | Voice role |
Blues Brothers 2000 | Elwood J. Blues | Also writer and producer | |
Susan's Plan | Bob | ||
1999 | Diamonds | Lance Agensky | |
2000 | The House of Mirth | Gus Trenor | |
Loser | Dad | ||
Stardom | Barry Levine | ||
2001 | The Curse of the Jade Scorpion | Chris Magruder | |
Evolution | Governor Lewis | ||
The Frank Truth | Himself | Documentary | |
On the Nose | Dr. Barry Davis | ||
Pearl Harbor | Captain Harold Thurman | ||
2002 | Crossroads | Pete Wagner | |
Unconditional Love | Max Beasly | ||
2003 | Bright Young Things | Lord Monomark | |
2004 | 50 First Dates | Dr. Joseph Keats | |
Intern Academy | Dr. Cyrill Kipp | ||
Christmas with the Kranks | Vic Frohmeyer | ||
2007 | I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry | Captain Phineas Tucker | |
Shortcut to Happiness | Julius Jenson | ||
2008 | War, Inc. | The Former Vice President | |
2010 | Yogi Bear | Yogi Bear | Voice role |
2012 | The Campaign | Wade Motch | |
The Ultimate Sacrifice | Narrator | Voice Documentary | |
2013 | Behind the Candelabra | Seymour Heller | |
2014 | Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return | Scarecrow | Voice role |
Tammy | Don | ||
Get On Up | Ben Bart | ||
2015 | Pixels | 1982 Championship MC | Cameo |
Being Canadian | Himself | Documentary | |
2016 | Ghostbusters | Taxi Driver | Cameo Also executive producer |
2019 | Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters |
Himself | Documentary |
2021 | Ghostbusters: Afterlife | Dr. Raymond Stantz | Also executive producer |
2023 | Zombie Town | Len Carver | |
2024 | Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire | Dr. Raymond Stantz | Also executive producer[63] |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1974 | The Gift of Winter | Goodly / Rotten / Maple | Television short; Voice |
1975–1978 | Coming Up Rosie | Purvis Bickle | 32 episodes |
1975–1979 | Saturday Night Live | Various Roles | 97 episodes |
1976 | The Beach Boys: It's OK | Cop | Television film; also writer |
1978 | All You Need Is Cash | Brian Thigh | Television film |
1986–1991 | The Real Ghostbusters | Creator | |
1990 | The Dave Thomas Comedy Show | Various | Episode 1.2 |
It's Garry Shandling's Show | Boolie Shandling | Episode: "Driving Miss Garry" | |
The Earth Day Special | Vic's Buddy | Special | |
1991 | Tales from the Crypt | Captain Mulligan | Episode: "Yellow" |
1994 | The Nanny
|
Repair Man | Episode: "Sunday in the Park with Fran" |
1995 | Kelsey Grammer Salutes Jack Benny | Himself | Special |
1996–2000 | Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal | Himself (host) | 88 episodes |
1997 | The Arrow | Crawford Gordon | 4 episodes; also creative consultant |
Home Improvement | Reverend Mike Weber | Episode: "Losing My Religion" | |
1997–1998 | Soul Man | Reverend Mike Weber | 25 episodes |
2000 | Normal, Ohio | Frank Wozniak | Episode: "He Always Gets His Man" |
2001 | Earth vs. the Spider | Inspector Jack Grillo | Television film |
History's Mysteries | Narrator (voice) | Episode: "The Children's Crusade" | |
2002–2009 | According to Jim | Sergeant Danny Michalski | 5 episodes |
2006 | Living with Fran | Judge | Episode: "Going Crazy with Fran" |
2009 | Family Guy | Himself (voice) | Episode: "Spies Reminiscent of Us" |
2011 | The Defenders | Judge Max Hunter | 2 episodes |
2012 | Happily Divorced | Harold | Episode: "Fran-alyze This" |
2017–2023 | Workin' Moms | Kate's Dad | 4 episodes |
2019 | The Conners | Buddy | Episode: "The Preemie Monologues"[64] |
2020–2021 | Hotel Paranormal | Narrator (voice) | All episodes |
2021 | The Simpsons | Postage Stamp Fellow (voice) | Episode: "The Dad-Feelings Limited" |
2023 | The Unbelievable With Dan Aykroyd | Himself (host) | All episodes |
Video games
Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | Ghostbusters: The Video Game | Ray Stantz | Also writer |
2010 | Yogi Bear: The Video Game | Yogi Bear | |
2015 | Lego Dimensions | Ray Stantz | Archive sound |
2019 | Planet Coaster | Ray Stantz | [65] |
2019 | Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered | Ray Stantz | Also writer |
2022 | Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed | Ray Stantz | [66][67][68] |
2023 | Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord | Ray Stantz | [69] |
Guest appearances on SNL
Date | Episode | Host / Musical guest | Role(s) |
---|---|---|---|
February 13, 1988 | Season 13, Ep. 11 | Justine Bateman, Terence Trent D'Arby | Bob Dole |
May 15, 1993 | Season 18, Ep. 20 | Kevin Kline, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon | |
March 25, 1995 | Season 20, Ep. 16 | John Goodman, The Tragically Hip | Bob Dole, Elwood Blues, Irwin Mainway, Tom Snyder, Rush Limbaugh, Robert Stack, Miner |
February 7, 1998 | Season 23, Ep. 14 | John Goodman, Paula Cole | Bob Dole, Elwood Blues, Irwin Mainway, Ernesto |
September 26, 1998 | Season 24, Ep, 01 | Cameron Diaz, The Smashing Pumpkins | Yortuk Festrunk |
November 3, 2001 | Season 27, Ep, 04 | John Goodman, Ja Rule | Dr. Keith Vester, Elwood Blues, Leonard Pinth-Garnell
|
February 2, 2002 | Season 27, Ep. 12 | Britney Spears | Mormon, Judge Lindenwell |
March 8, 2003 | Season 28, Ep. 14 | Queen Latifah, Ms. Dynamite | Bob Dole |
May 17, 2003 | Season 28, Ep. 20 | Dan Aykroyd, Beyoncé | Andrew Card, Patrick Fitzpatrick, Esteban Donnie "The Finger" Dabinski, Butch, Sam Elliott |
March 24, 2007 | Season 32, Ep. 16 | Peyton Manning, Carrie Underwood | Himself |
February 14, 2009 | Season 34, Ep. 16 | The Jonas Brothers
|
John Boehner |
March 9, 2013 | Season 38, Ep. 16 | Justin Timberlake | Himself, Yortuk Festrunk |
February 15, 2015 | Season 40 | 40th Anniversary Special | Super Bass-O-Matic 2150 Spokesperson, Elwood Blues |
Awards and nominations
In 1977, Aykroyd received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series for his collaborative work on Saturday Night Live. In 1994, he received an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Carleton University.[70] In 1999, Aykroyd was made a Member of the Order of Canada.[71] He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2002.[72] In 2017, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario in recognition for being "one of the world's most popular entertainers, well-known for his time on Saturday Night Live and the 1984 classic movie Ghostbusters."[73]
See also
- List of American actors
- List of Canadian actors
- List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
- List of Saturday Night Live cast members
References
- ^ "Want Ads/Births". The Ottawa Evening Journal. July 1, 1952. p. 12.
- ^ a b "Dan Aykroyd profile". Filmreference.com. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
- ^ "Chiang: Top civil servant and philanthropist Peter Aykroyd dies at 98". Retrieved December 9, 2021.
- ^ "Remembering the life of Lorraine AYKROYD". montrealgazette.remembering.ca. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ISBN 1-55002-185-0.
- ^ "Lorraine Hélène Marie Gougeon Aykroyd - Obituaries - Kingston, ON - Your Life Moments". www.yourlifemoments.ca. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
- ISSN 0011-3344. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
- ^ "Chiang: Top civil servant and philanthropist Peter Aykroyd dies at 98". Ottawa Citizen. July 9, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ DeMara, Bruce (July 22, 2017). "Local Legends: The Queen East 'key club' where the Blues Brothers were born". thestar.com. Toronto Star. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
- ^ a b Roger Gatchet (May 18, 2007). "Still on a mission from God: interview with Dan Aykroyd". www.austinsound.net. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
- ^ This recollection of Aykroyd is subject to challenge. Some assert that it was Ottawa artist Arthur II Archived July 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine who joined the band to play drums and that, at best, Aykroyd was a member of the audience.
- ^ "Dan Aykroyd profile". Starpulse.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
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Further reading
- Hill, Doug, and Weingrad, Jeff, Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. Vintage Books, 1986. ISBN 0-394-75053-5.
External links
- Dan Aykroyd at IMDb
- Dan Aykroyd at AllMovie
- Dan Aykroyd, Still Full of the 'Blues' – interview on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross – originally aired November 22, 2004