The famous Blues Brothers – John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd – were hilariously funny, back in the heydey of Saturday Night Live. When my husband and I went out on Saturday night (which was almost ALWAYS) we made it a priority to get home by 11:30 to hear those famous words, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night …”
I remember when I heard that John (1949-1982) was dead. My immediate reaction was fury! Belushi died from “acute cocaine and heroin intoxication” and when reading a description of his last evening, it’s no wonder that his body just couldn’t take it anymore. My anger came from the fact that the man was so darned funny and now we were deprived forever of his unique brand of crazy comedy. Selfish reaction, of course, but the guy was only 33 years old and had everything to live for, along with an amazing talent. What the hell was he thinking? Of course, that question answers itself – he was NOT thinking at all.
The Blues brothers, Jake and Elwood, began as skits on Saturday Night but became so popular that they developed their own road show and even had their own movie. If you’ve never seen them in action, take a look at the video below. Their energy is infectious!
I especially loved watching John do cartwheels on the stage. Let’s face it: he wasn’t a model of health and well being, yet he managed to be energetic for many, many hours. And I couldn’t do a cartwheel even when I was a kid so there’s a touch of envy there.
If you love the Blues Brothers like we do, you can grab our vector silhouettes of them and 25 other great celebrities like Clint Eastwood, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, Julia Roberts, Mick Jagger, Cher, Oprah and more. Use them for commercial products or personal ones. There are no restrictions except that you can’t resell our images “as is”.
And by the way, I don’t think Dan Ackroyd ever recovered from the loss of John Belushi who was the real star and the real comedian. I never thought Ackroyd was that funny without his “brother”.
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