Jim Belushi

Jim Belushi
James Belushi in 2007
Born	James Adam Belushi (1954-06-15) June 15, 1954 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Residence	Brentwood, Los Angeles, California
Other names	"The Belush", Zee Blues
Occupation	Actor, comedian, musician
Years active	1977–present
Spouse(s)	Jennifer Sloan (1998–present; 2 children) Marjorie Bransfield (1990–92; divorced) Sandra Davenport (1980–88; divorced; 1 child)
Relatives	John Belushi (brother)
Website
jimbelushi.ws

James Adam "Jim" Belushi (born June 15, 1954) is an American actor, comedian and musician. He is best known for playing the role of James "Jim" Orenthal on the long-running sitcom According to Jim, and is the younger brother of late comic actor John Belushi.

Early life

Belushi was born in Chicago. His mother, Agnes Demetri (Samaras), was the daughter of Albanian immigrants, and his father, Adam Anastos Belushi, was an Albanian immigrant, from Qytezë.^[1][2] Jim was raised in Wheaton, a Chicago suburb, along with his three siblings: older brother John, his sister, Marian, and a younger brother, Billy.^[3][4][5][6] After graduating from Wheaton Central High School, Jim Belushi attended the College of DuPage and graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with a degree in Speech and Theater Arts.

Career

From 1977 to 1980, Belushi, like his older brother John Belushi, worked with the Chicago theater group The Second City. During this period, Belushi made his television debut in 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). After his elder brother John's death, 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 also appeared in the film Trading Places as a drunk man in a gorilla suit during a New Year's Eve party. He made a guest appearance in Faerie Tale Theatre's third season episode Pinocchio, starring Paul Reubens as the titular puppet.

Belushi rose to greater prominence with his supporting roles in The Man with One Red Shoe (1985), 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, The Principal, Red Heat, Homer and Eddie, K-9, Dimenticare Palermo, Taking Care of Business, Mr. Destiny, Only the Lonely, Curly Sue, Once Upon A Crime, Wild Palms, Royce, Race the Sun, Jingle All The Way, Separate Lives, Retroactive, Gang Related, Angel's Dance and Joe Somebody (2001).

His voice work includes The Mighty Ducks, The Pebble and the Penguin, Babes in Toyland, Gargoyles and Hey Arnold!, and the more recent Hoodwinked, Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King, and The Wild. He also lent his vocal talents for 9: The Last Resort (a PC game released in 1995), in which he portrayed "Salty", a coarse yet helpful character. In 1997, he portrayed the "Masked Mutant" in the Goosebumps PC video game, alongside Adam West as "The Galloping Gazelle". 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 re-emergence in the public eye, and the following year he was cast as the title role in ABC's According to Jim. His first animation voice-over was as a pimple on Krum's head in Aaahh!!! Real Monsters on Nickelodeon. That performance led him to be cast in the continuing role as Simon the Monster Hunter in that series, where he ad-libbed much of his own dialogue.

Belushi in House of Blues in Houston, 2008

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. He released his first book, Real Men Don't Apologize, in May 2006. Recently, Belushi was a narrator of an NFL offensive linemen commercial. Belushi also introduced the starting lineups for the University of Illinois football team during ABC's telecast of the 2008 Rose Bowl.

Belushi started to take interest in his Albanian ancestry. During his visit to Tirana on November 11, 2008, he received the order Honor of the Nation from the President of Albania, H.E. Bamir Topi. On October 9, 2009, he received Albanian citizenship.^[7][8][9] He appeared in MC Hammer's video "Too Legit to Quit" in 1991 (in the extended full-length version). He also hosted a celebration rally for the Chicago Cubs playoff series in Chicago prior to the 2008 World Series. Steve Dahl has dubbed him "The Funniest Living Belushi."

In 2010, Belushi was cast in a pilot for CBS called The Defenders a series about defense lawyers.^[10] The one-hour series premiered on September 22, 2010.^[11] In two episodes in 2011, Belushi was paired with Blues Brothers partner Dan Aykroyd.^[12][13] On May 15, 2011, The Defenders was canceled by CBS.^[14] In 2011, he was cast as corrupt businessman Harry Brock in Born Yesterday, which opened on Broadway in late April.^[15]

Personal life

Belushi has been married three times and has three children. He married Sandra Davenport on May 17, 1980 and had a son, Robert James (also an actor, born October 23, 1980), with her before they divorced. He was married to Marjorie Bransfield from 1990 to 1992. He has been married to Jennifer Sloan since May 2, 1998, with whom he has a daughter, Jamison Bess (born July 28, 1999), and a son, Jared James (born February 8, 2002). Belushi is closely linked to his Albanian heritage and recently received honorary Albanian citizenship from the President of Albania, Bamir Topi.^[9] Belushi is an avid fan of the Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Bears, Chicago Cubs, and the Chicago Fire Soccer Club.

In 2011, Belushi announced that he suffered from gout, and became a spokesman for Savient Pharmaceuticals' educational campaign "Check Out Your Gout".^[16] He has also appeared on the cover of and been interviewed by Cigar Aficionado magazine.^[17]

Though he's a registered Republican, Belushi endorsed the re-election campaign of Democratic President Barack Obama; in 2012. On a Fox News interview, he explained,"When you talk to the President in private, he's a cool guy, that knows what he's doing. Besides, I'm from Chicago too." ^[18]

Filmography

Characters on Saturday Night Live

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

Celebrity impersonations

References

External links

• Jim Belushi at the Internet Movie Database
• Jim Belushi at AllMovie