James Belushi

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Jim Belushi

The Cast of According to Jim
Born: June 15, 1954 (age 52)
Chicago, Illinois
Occupation: Comedian, actor

James Edgar "Jim" Belushi (born June 15, 1954) is an American film and television actor, and younger brother of the late comedian John Belushi. Belushi currently stars in the sitcom According to Jim.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Belushi was born in Chicago, Illinois but grew up in nearby Wheaton. He is the third of four children of Adam Belushi, an Albanian immigrant who left his native Qytezë village in 1934 at the age of 15, and Agnes, who was born in the U.S., and whose parents were also Albanian immigrants[citation needed]. (Belushi's Albanian heritage was later used as a minor plot point in a cameo appearance in Wag The Dog.) After graduating from Wheaton Central High School, Belushi attended College of DuPage and later Southern Illinois University, where he earned a degree in Speech and Theater Arts.

[edit] Career

From 1977 to 1980 Belushi, like his older brother, John Belushi, worked with the Chicago theater group The Second City. At one point, John called a director at Second City and instructed her that James was not to use any of John's old material[citation needed]. During this period, Belushi made his television debut in the 1978's Who's Watching the Kids and also had a small part in Brian De Palma's The Fury.

His first significant role was in Michael Mann's Thief (1981). From 1983 to 1985 he appeared on Saturday Night Live; he portrayed characters such as Hank Rippy from "Hello, Trudy!", and "That White Guy."

Belushi rose to greater prominence with his supporting roles in About Last Night..., Salvador, and Little Shop of Horrors (as Patrick Martin) (all 1986) which opened up opportunities for lead roles. He has starred in films including Real Men (1987), The Principal (1987), Red Heat (1988), Homer and Eddie, K-9 (1989), Dimenticare Palermo (1989), Taking Care of Business (1990), Mr. Destiny (1990), Curly Sue (1991), Wild Palms (1993), Royce (1994), Race the Sun (1996), Retroactive (1997), Gang Related (1997), and Angel's Dance (1999).

His voice work includes The Mighty Ducks, Babes in Toyland, and Hey Arnold!, and the more recent Hoodwinked and The Wild.

On January 4, 2001, Belushi appeared on the ER episode "Piece of Mind". The episode focused on both Dr. Mark Greene's life-or-death brain surgery in New York and Belushi's character, who had been in a car accident with his son in Chicago. Belushi's performance contributed to his reemergence in the public eye, and the following year he was cast as the titular role in ABC's According to Jim.

In 2003, Belushi and Dan Aykroyd released the album Have Love, Will Travel, and participated in an accompanying tour. He also performs at various venues nationwide as Zee Blues in an updated version of The Blues Brothers.

[edit] Present activities

Belushi has married three times and has three children. He married his current wife Jennifer Sloan in 1998.

He had his first book released, Real Men Don't Apologize, in May, 2006.

Belushi often heralds himself as a die-hard fan of the Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears; however, many true fans of those teams doubt Belushi's actual level of knowledge and devotion. It has been said that prior to a live ESPN appearance during a Cubs game in 2003, Belushi was asking fans around him how to pronounce names of prominent Cubs players like Eric Karros.[citation needed] This is not very probable, though.

[edit] Selected Filmography

  • Selected filmography, not 100 % Complete
Year Title Role Notes
1981 Thief Barry Movie debut
1983 Trading Places Harvey Mostly in Gorilla Suit
1985 The Man with One Red Shoe Morris
1986 Little Shop of Horrors Patrick
1986 Salvador Doctor Rock
1986 Jumpin' Jack Flash Various - Cab Driver, Police officer, Repair Man
1986 About Last Night Bernie Litgo
1987 The Principal Rick Latimer
1987 Real Men Nick Pirandello
1988 Red Heat Det. Sgt. Art Ridzik
1989 K-9 Det. Mike Dooley
1990 Taking Care of Business Jimmy Dworski
1990 Mr. Destiny Larry Joseph Burrows
1991 Curly Sue Bill Dancer
1991 Diary of a Hitman Shandy
1992 Traces of Red Jack Dobson
1992 One Upon A Crime Neil
1994 Royce Shane Royce
1995 Canadian Bacon Reporter, Charles Jackal
1996 Jingle All the Way Mall Santa
2002 Snow Dogs Demon Voice Actor
2005 Hoodwinked Woodsman Voice Actor

[edit] Trivia

On November 2, 2004 Belushi filed a lawsuit against actress and neighbor Julie Newmar.[1] Belushi claimed that Newmar was trying to drive him from his home by blaring loud music directed at his house, bad-mouthing him to neighbors, and destroying his property. Newmar claimed she was the victim of Belushi and had been suffering for many years, ever since he moved next door to her. In January 2006, the two announced they had settled their differences out-of-court, and later that year Newmar guest-starred on an episode According to Jim ("The Grumpy Guy") that poked fun at the feud by having Newmar play a neighbor who annoys Belushi's character.[2]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Pool, Bob. "Fighting Like Cats and Dogs", Los Angeles Times, 2004-11-10, p. B1.
  2. ^ WENN (2006-01-16). Warring Belushi and Newmar Team Up on TV. IMDb Movie/TV News. Retrieved on July 13, 2006.

Jim Belushi also appears in the film Trading Places as a drunk gorilla during a New Year's Eve party.

[edit] Recurring Characters on SNL

  • Hank Rippy (Hello, Trudy!)
  • man on the street Jesse Donnelly
  • That White Guy, a stereotypical Caucasian man who can rap

[edit] Celebrity Impersonations on SNL

[edit] External link

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