Belushi

Twenty-five years ago today John Belushi was found dead in Hollywood of acute cocaine and heroin intoxication. A tragic end for one of the funniest people ever to grace weekly TV and the movies and the stage.

I remember the first time I heard the Lemmings album with Belushi's impersonation of Joe Cocker and then a few years later seeing him do the same bit on Saturday Night Live was even funnier. I actually recall falling off the couch and rolling on the floor laughing so hard my side ached, which only made it funnier.

The other stand outs from SNL were John as the Samurai tailor with Buck Henry and the video bit of an old Belushi walking through the cemetery past the graves of the rest of the cast and telling us how they all died and how John had out lasted them all. But that was not to be; Belushi would be the first of the SNL Not Ready For Prime-time Players to die. I remember it like it was yesterday.

I was working for SOGITEC, a technical typesetting company in Lakewood California when a woman I worked with came into the office upset and said to us all, "Pelosi's been shot!"

Rick Pelosi was one of the technical illustrators I worked with (if you're out there "Hi Rick!") and it startled me, but not my boss at the time, Bob Waterman. Bob calmly asked, "Do you mean Belushi?"

The co-worked replied, "Oh, yes, that's it. John Belushi's been shot. I just heard it on the radio."

Now I don't know if it was ever reported that John was shot or if she was just so upset she heard it wrong, but we turned on a radio (no Internet in 1982) and heard the news. What a down day that ended up being.

I think had John not self-destructed he might have ended up being not just a funny, funny man, but a great dramatic actor. I have nothing to really base this on except that the guy seemed to excel at just about every thing he did and he just oozed talent.

Mr. Belushi, you are missed.