The great Canadian Actor and Comedian John Candy was one of my favorite comedic actors of the 1980′s.
While we here in the US had Saturday Night Live, viewers in Canada had Second City Television (SCTV), a great comedy sketch show that would introduce viewers to such comedy greats as Rick Moranis, Martin Short, Dave Thomas, Eugene Levy, Harold Ramis, and the incomparable John Candy. The show ran from 1976-1984. I lived in Spokane, Washington during the late 1970′s and we were able to get Canadian TV which allowed me to become a fan of the show.
To me, John Candy was the true heart of the show.
John went on to a very prolific career in Hollywood films after a series of minor roles in movies such as “1941″, “National Lampoons Vacation”, “The Blues Brothers”, “Splash”, “Stripes”, and others. He went on to headlining a number of films including “Summer Rental”, “The Great Outdoors”, “Armed and Dangerous”, “Uncle Buck”, “Nothing but Trouble”, “Only the Lonely”, “Cool Runnings”, “Volunteers”, and my personal favorite “Trains, Planes, and Automobiles.
He appeared in a large number of films between 1973 and 1995 with his final completed film being the 1995 release “Canadian Bacon” in which the very Canadian actor portrayed an American Sheriff involved in a war between the US and Canada.
To me, it seemed that John Candy was probably as just as funny and lovable off screen as the characters he portrayed in his films. I have never read anything negative about the man as a person. Apparently he had a tremendous impact on all those that he encountered in his career. He was apparently just an all-round great guy. I still enjoy his films whenever they pop up on the satellite and I enjoy watching some of the SCTV DVD’s that I have collected. He was a great talent and is greatly missed.
Favorite moment: In “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” when Steve Martin has dozed off and John Candy is driving their rental car. He gets his coat hooked on his seat and cannot wiggle out of it and ends up careening down the freeway right between two trucks speeding directly at them. As the car blasts between the trucks, Steve Martin wakes up, looks over, and sees John Candy laughing Hideously in a red Devil’s costume….. That cracks me up every time!
John Passed away in March of 1994 while filming the western comedy “Wagons East”. The movie was completed using a body double in many scenes and has largely been forgotten…..but John Candy should not.
He was one of the greats.
