John Candy

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John Candy

Birth name John Franklin Candy
Born October 31, 1950
Canada Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died March 4, 1994
Durango, Mexico
Notable roles Stripes
Splash
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Uncle Buck
Cool Runnings

John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian comedian and actor. Candy rose to fame as a member of the Toronto branch of The Second City, often playing lovable losers and characters with bad luck but big hearts. His television and film roles were mostly comedic, such as his memorable characters in Stripes, The Blues Brothers, Brewster's Millions, Uncle Buck, and Planes, Trains & Automobiles, but he also played serious characters in films like JFK and Cool Runnings. Candy died of a heart attack in 1994.

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[edit] Early life and career

Candy was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was the younger of two sons. His father, Sidney Candy, was of Scottish descent, and his mother Evangeline was of mixed Scottish and Lithuanian descent. His father died quite young from a heart attack. He attended the Neil McNeil Catholic High School, an all-boys, public, Catholic school in Toronto, where he played football.

Candy's first movie role was in Class of '44 in 1973, in which he made a small uncredited appearance. In 1976, Candy played a supporting role (with Rick Moranis) on Peter Gzowski's short-lived, late-night television talk show, Ninety Minutes Live. That same year, as a member of Toronto's branch of The Second City, he gained wide North American popularity, which grew when he became a cast member on the influential Toronto-based comedy-variety show Second City Television (SCTV). NBC picked the show up in 1981 and it quickly became a fan favorite.

[edit] 1980s

Among Candy's memorable characterizations for SCTV were unscrupulous street-beat tv personality Johnny LaRue, 3-D horror auteur Doctor Tongue, sycophantic and easily amused talk-show sidekick William B. Williams, and quiescent Melonville Mayor Tommy Shanks. Other characters included cheerful Leutonian clarinetist Yosh Shmenge, who was half of the Happy Wanderers and the subject of the mockumentary The Last Polka, folksy fishin' musician Gil Fischer, handsome if accent-challenged TV actor Steve Roman, hapless children's entertainer Mr. Messenger, corrupt soap opera doctor William Wainwright and smut merchant Harry, "the Guy With the Snake on His Face".

Mimicry was one of Candy's talents, which he used often at SCTV. Celebrities impersonated by Candy include Jerry Mathers, Divine (Glen Milstead), Orson Welles, Julia Child, Richard Burton, Darryl Sittler, Luciano Pavarotti, Jimmy the Greek, Tip O'Neill, Don Rickles, Curly Howard, Merlin Olsen, Jackie Gleason, Tom Selleck, Gordon Pinsent, Ed Asner, Doug McGrath, and Hervé Villechaize.

By 1980, Candy was appearing in mainstream films such as 1941 and The Blues Brothers. Encouraged by his early success, Candy went on to star in such films as Stripes, Splash, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, The Great Outdoors, Spaceballs, Brewster's Millions, Who's Harry Crumb?, and Uncle Buck. He also had a part as a maniacal disc jockey in the comic musical film Little Shop of Horrors.

Candy typically played characters who, although they lived somewhat seedy lives, often had their hearts in the right place. Candy was lauded by some as a true comic genius because of his ability to portray an "everyman" with whom the audience could identify.

[edit] 1990s

Candy was very popular in the 1980s, but in the early 1990s he appeared in a string of critical and commercial failures such as Nothing But Trouble, Delirious and Once Upon A Crime. He also produced and starred in a short-lived Saturday morning animated series on NBC entitled Camp Candy in 1989. The show was set in a fictional summer camp run by Candy, featured his two children in supporting roles, and also spawned a brief comic book series published by Marvel Comics' Star Comics imprint.

After the mediocre success of those films, Candy was widely regarded as a spent force. Soon, however, he reinvigorated his acting career by broadening his range. Candy moved into occasional dramatic roles by appearing in JFK, in which he gave a convincing performance as a shady fatcat lawyer from the south, and took semi-dramatic roles in Only the Lonely and Cool Runnings, in which he played a disgraced former Olympic athlete training four Jamaicans in bobsledding for the 1988 Winter Olympics. Candy received positive reviews for these roles.

In 1991, Bruce McNall, Wayne Gretzky, and Candy became co-owners of the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts. The celebrity ownership group attracted a lot of attention in Canada and the team spent a significant amount of money, even signing some highly-touted National Football League players.

Candy's final completed movie was Canadian Bacon, a satirical comedy by Michael Moore in which America started a war with Canada. Candy played the American sheriff Bud Boomer who led the "attack" against Canada (which is ironic considering his Canadian heritage). Its release was delayed because Moore changed the ending of the film following Candy's death.[1]

Candy also made an appearance in the Fox TV movie Hostage For a Day, starring alongside George Wendt.

[edit] Death

Candy died of a massive heart attack in his sleep during location filming in Durango, Mexico, for the western comedy film Wagons East. Doctors found that Candy's fatal heart attack had been the result of a complete blockage of one of his coronary arteries. He was 43 years old.

Candy quit smoking prior to his death and was losing weight – fellow cast and crew on Wagons East even said he looked healthier than ever. Candy was warned by doctors several times to lose weight due to a genetic predisposition to heart disease, from which his father had died at the age of 35. Candy refused, and reportedly stated that his portly frame was what gave him his film roles. Despite this, there was public evidence that Candy was self-conscious about his appearance when, a few years before his death, he cancelled his appearance as host of an awards show for the CBC because the advertising campaign for the special poked fun at his weight.

Candy was survived by his widow, Rosemary Margaret (Hoban), whom he married in 1979, and their two children, Jennifer and Christopher. His funeral Mass was held at St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto and was broadcast live across Canada. Candy is interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

[edit] Legacy

Wagons East was completed using a body double in Candy's place. Released in the summer of 1994, critics and audiences alike denounced the film as one of the worst Candy ever made and an unworthy finale to his career. Candy recorded a voice for the TV film The Magic 7 in the early 1990s, as did the late Madeline Kahn. The film remained in production for years due to animation difficulties and production delays, and eventually it was shelved. Plans were made to launch the film sometime in 2005 or 2006, but to date it has not been released.

Candy was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. In May 2006, Candy became one of the first four entertainers ever honoured by Canada Post by being featured on a postage stamp.

The band Ween's fourth studio album, Chocolate and Cheese (1994) is dedicated in loving memory to John Candy.

Blues Brothers 2000 is dedicated to three people including Candy, who played a major role in the original Blues Brothers.

The John Candy Visual Arts Studio at Neil McNeil Catholic Highschool, in Toronto, Ontario was dedicated in his honour after his death. John Candy, one of the school's most famous alumni, said during one of his annual visits to the school “My success is simply rooted in the values and discipline and respect for others that I was taught at Neil McNeil.”

[edit] Filmography

[edit] External links

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