John Candy - The Beloved Canadian Actor And Comedian
John Candy, a Canadian comedian, had a reputation in Hollywood for being one of the friendliest and easiest people to get along with. With his natural friendliness and great sense of humor, he created some of the most memorable movie characters of the 1980s and 1990s, like "Uncle" Buck Russell and Del Griffith in "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles."
Author:Emily SanchezReviewer:James PierceAug 29, 202237 Shares500 Views
John Candy, a Canadian comedian, had a reputation in Hollywood for being one of the friendliest and easiest people to get along with.
With his natural friendliness and great sense of humor, he created some of the most memorable movie characters of the 1980s and 1990s, like "Uncle" Buck Russell and Del Griffith in "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles."
As a cast member of the renowned Canadian sketch comedy program "SCTV" (syndicated, 1977–80, NBC, 1981–82, Cinemax, 1983), Candy first gained widespread recognition in the late 1970s.
He then went on to find success in dozens of films, including seven for the time's box office comedy king, John Hughes.
However, Candy's main skill was capable of far more than the consistently poor Hollywood fare, and his annoyance showed in her binge eating and heavy smoking.
There was a feeling that he had just begun to reveal his true depth as an actor when his life was cut short by a heart attack in 1994 at the age of 43.
Early Life
John Franklin Candy came into the world on October 31, 1950, in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada.
His parents were Evangeline (Aker) Candy and Sidney James Candy.
Before going to McMaster University and Centennial Community College, he went to Neil McNeil Catholic High School.
He was overweight, which led to several health problems.
On March 4, 1994, he passed away unexpectedly while traveling to Mexico.
He wasn't even 44. His fatal heart attack was reported as the cause of death.
Candy lost his father when he was just a little boy, at age four.
After that, his mother raised him with help from his aunt and grandmother.
He grew up to be an actor and comedian.
Candy attended Catholic schools and participated in hockey and football.
He participated in several productions in high school, where he first encountered acting.
Candy enrolled at Toronto's Centennial Community College in 1969 to study acting and journalism.
He dropped out of school in 1971 to focus on his acting career.
During this period, he became friends with Dan Aykroyd, a future collaborator.
Aykroyd persuaded Candy to try out for the Toronto division of the well-known Second City comedy group from Chicago.
John Candy Wife
The actor and Rosemary Hobor were married from 1979 until the actor's death in 1994.
Christopher, the couple's son, and Jennifer, their daughter, were born.
Early Acting Career
After performing so well in his audition, Candy was given the opportunity to join the Second City's Chicago ensemble.
He performed with comic luminaries like John Belushi and Gilda Radner for two years.
In 1974, Candy moved back to Toronto and started working with the Second City troupe there.
In 1977, he assisted in bringing SCTV, a sketch comedy show that also starred Martin Short, Eugene Levy, and Harold Ramis, to Canadian television.
SCTV was given a position on NBC's late-night schedule in 1981.
By now Candy was a prominent performer.
He did impressions of Julia Child, Orson Welles, and Luciano Pavarotti for the show.
Candy also came up with a ton of iconic characters, such as the shady star Johnny LaRue and the master of horror movies, Dr. Tongue.
In 1981 and 1982, he was awarded Emmys for the scripting of the programs.
Candy made a few cinematic appearances when she was on SCTV.
He starred alongside Belushi and Aykroyd in The Blues Brothers in 1980, as well as in Steven Spielberg's war comedy 1941 in 1979.
In the popular Bill Murray comedy Stripes, Candy also portrayed a misfit Army recruit.
John Candy Movies
After leaving SCTV in 1983, Candy mainly concentrated on producing movies.
His filmography is filled with highs and lows.
Candy was successful in 1984 when he played Tom Hanks's shady brother in the movie "Splash."
Ron Howard was the film's director, and Daryl Hannah played the mermaid whom Tom Hanks' character falls in love with.
After that movie, Candy had a string of bad movies, such as Brewster's Millions and Summer Rental in 1985.
Armed and Dangerous, his subsequent movie, also had a poor box office performance in 1986.
With the well-known comedy Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, in which Candy co-starred with Steve Martin, Candy's career began to take off.
In the same year, he made a short but well-known appearance in Mel Brooks's parody of Star Wars, Spaceballs.
He co-starred with Aykroyd in The Great Outdoors in 1988, which earned only average reviews.
While The Great Outdoors and Spaceballs failed to impress reviewers, Candy went on to have great success with the John Hughes comedy Uncle Buck (1989).
He made a brief appearance in Macaulay Culkin's blockbuster Home Alone in 1990.
Candy often played the big guy and made people laugh because he was tall and had a lot of weight.
But in 1991, he was given the uncommon chance to play the romantic lead opposite Ally Sheedy and Maureen O'Hara in Chris Columbus' Only the Lonely.
In the same year, he had a small part in Oliver Stone's political thriller JFK, which showed that he could act.
With the release of Cool Runnings in 1993, Candy went back to what she knew best.
The movie is about how hard it was for the first Jamaican bobsled team to get into the Olympics.
Death
When tragedy struck, Candy had just finished filming a new comedic western called Wagons East.
He was 43 years old when he was discovered dead on the set in Durango, Mexico.
The actor reportedly had a heart attack while sleeping, according to a later story.
Candy smoked a lot and had struggled with his weight for the whole of his career.
Candy was a veteran of more than 40 movies, a devoted sports fan, and a co-owner of the Toronto Argonauts, a team in the Canadian Football League.
Along with Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi, he was the co-owner of the House of Blues chain of blues bars and eateries.
The entertainment world was very saddened by Candy's death.
He was known for his kindness and compassion in the business, and he had a unique gift for comedy.
According to a Maclean's contributor, Candy "may be a great comedian."
But what made him special was a compassion, a soft emotional sincerity that easily won people around.
The Very Best of John Candy
John Candy Net Worth
At the time of his passing in 1994, John Candy, a Canadian actor and comedian, had a $15 million net worth.
Stripes, Cool Runnings, Splash, Summer Rental, Spaceballs, The Great Outdoors, and Uncle Buck are a few of his most known movies.
Additionally, he appeared in the films JFK, Only the Lonely, Home Alone, Who's Harry Crumb?, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Little Shop of Horrors, Armed and Dangerous, Vacation, The Blues Brothers, and Sesame Street Presents: Follow that Bird that made him earn this net worth.
People Also Ask
What Did John Candy The Actor Died Of?
On March 4, 1994, 43-year-old comedy icon John Candy passes away abruptly from a heart attack. At the time of his death, he was living near Durango, Mexico, and making the Western comedy Wagons East with Richard Lewis.
How Much Did John Candy Weight At Death?
It is believed that Candy weighed more than 300 pounds when he passed away on March 4, 1994. But it is not confirmed as such.
How Tall Was John Candy And What Did He Weigh?
Candy's height of six feet two was well known, and he weighed about 300 pounds.
Conclusion
John Candy had just finished directing his first film, the comedy Hostage for a Day for Fox Television, when he passed away.
In Wagons East, which was completed after the filmmakers' insurance company paid a rumored $15 million settlement, he had performed two-thirds of his sequences.
Canadian Bacon, a newly finished film, came out in 1995.
Emily Sanchez
Author
James Pierce
Reviewer
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