James Belushi
| Jim Belushi | |
|---|---|
 James Belushi in 2007 |
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| Born | James Adam Belushi June 15, 1954 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, comedian, musician |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Religion | Eastern Orthodoxy |
| Spouse | Jennifer Sloan (1998-present) 2 children Marjorie Bransfield (1990-1992; divorced) Sandra Davenport (1980-1988; divorced) 1 child |
James Adam "Jim" Belushi (born June 15, 1954) is an American actor, comedian, musician and the younger brother of John Belushi.
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Early life
Jim Belushi was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Agnes (née Samaras), who was of Albanian descent and worked as a goat farmer, and Adam Belushi, an Albanian immigrant and restaurant operator who left his native village, Qyteza, in 1934 at the age of sixteen.[1][2][3][4] After graduating from Wheaton Central High School, Jim Belushi attended the College of DuPage and graduated from Southern Illinois University 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 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, Separate Lives, Retroactive, Gang Related, Angel's Dance and Joe Somebody (2001). K-9 produced two sequels that were released straight to video, K-911, featuring Mac, Sonto & Reno as "Jerry Lee", K-9: P.I., featuring King as "Jerry Lee", and The George Lopez Show as the building inspector in "George's Extreme Makeover: Holmes Edition"
His voice work includes The Mighty Ducks, Babes in Toyland, Gargoyles and Hey Arnold!, and the more recent Hoodwinked 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. 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.
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 grow interest in his ancestry in Albania. During his visit to Tirana on November 11, 2008, Belushi received the order Honor of the Nation from the President of Albania, H.E. Bamir Topi. On October 10, 2009 he finally received the Albanian citizenship.[5]
Belushi 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.
The Chicago Tribune 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.[6] On May 17, 2010 it was confirmed that the pilot had been picked up as a series to CBS's fall lineup.[7]
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 (born 1981), 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 (born 1999), and a son, Jared (born 2002).
Belushi is closely related to Albania and recently received the Albanian honorary citizenship by the President of Albania, Bamir Topi.[8]
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Working Stiffs | Ernie O'Rourke | 9 episodes |
| 1981 | Thief | Barry | |
| 1983 | Trading Places | Harvey | |
| 1983–1985 | Saturday Night Live | Various | 33 episodes (Shameless) |
| 1985 | The Man with One Red Shoe | Morris | |
| 1986 | Little Shop of Horrors | Patrick | |
| Salvador | Doctor Rock | ||
| Jumpin' Jack Flash | Cab driver, police officer, Sperry repair man | ||
| About Last Night... | Bernie Litgo | ||
| 1987 | The Principal | Rick Latimer | |
| Real Men | Nick Pirandello | ||
| 1988 | Red Heat | Det. Sgt. Art Ridzic (Ridžić) | |
| 1989 | K-9 | Detective Michael Dooley | |
| Homer and Eddie | Homer Lanza | ||
| Who's Harry Crumb? | Man on Bus | uncredited | |
| 1990 | Taking Care of Business | Jimmy Dworski | |
| Mr. Destiny | Larry Joseph Burrows | ||
| Masters of Menace | Gypsy | ||
| Dimenticare Palermo | Carmine Bonavia | ||
| Wedding Band | Reverend | ||
| 1991 | Curly Sue | Bill Dancer | |
| Diary of a Hitman | Shandy | ||
| Only the Lonely | Salvatore Buonarte | ||
| Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe | Principal Latimer | ||
| 1992 | Traces of Red | Jack Dobson | |
| Once Upon A Crime | Neil | ||
| 1993 | Wild Palms | Harry Wyckoff | (mini-series) |
| Last Action Hero | Himself | ||
| 1994 | Royce | Shane Royce | Television |
| 1995 | Sahara | Sergeant Joe Gunn | Television |
| Canadian Bacon | Charles Jackal | ||
| Separate Lives | Tom Beckwith | ||
| Gargoyles | Fang | 3 episodes, 1995–1996 | |
| The Pebble and the Penguin | Rocko | Voice | |
| Destiny Turns on the Radio | Tuerto | ||
| Irving | Gay Vampire #2 | ||
| 1996 | Jingle All the Way | Mall Santa | |
| Race the Sun | Frank Machi | ||
| Gold in the Streets | Mario | ||
| Pinky and the Brain | Additional voices | 3 episodes | |
| Mighty Ducks | Phil Palmfeather | 3 episodes | |
| Hey Arnold! | Coach Wittenberg | 4 episodes, 1996–1999 | |
| 1997 | Gang Related | Frank Divinci | Alongside Tupac Shakur |
| Retroactive | Frank Lloyd | Time travel | |
| Living in Peril | Harrison/Oliver | ||
| Disney's Bad Baby | Dad | Voice | |
| Wag the Dog | Himself (as Jim Belushi) | ||
| Total Security | Steve Wegman | 13 episodes | |
| 1998 | Overnight Delivery | Overnight Delivery Boss | scenes deleted |
| 1999 | Angel's Dance | Stevie 'The Rose' Rosellini | |
| Made Men | Bill "The Mouth" Manucci | ||
| K-911 | Detective Michael Dooley | Video | |
| My Neighbors the Yamadas | Takashi | voice: English version | |
| The Florentine | Billy Belasco | ||
| 2000 | Return to Me | Joe Dayton | |
| 2001 | Joe Somebody | Chuck Scarett | |
| According to Jim | Jim | 182 episodes, 2001–2009 | |
| 2002 | Snow Dogs | Demon | Voice |
| Pinocchio | The Farmer | (English voice) | |
| K-9: P.I. | Detective Michael Dooley | ||
| 2003 | Easy Six | Elvis | |
| 2004 | DysEnchanted | Doctor (The Shrink) | |
| Less Than Perfect | Eddie Smirkoff | ||
| 2005 | George Lopez | Building Inspector | |
| 2005 | Hoodwinked! | Woodsman | Voice |
| 2006 | Casper's Scare School | Alder | Voice |
| The Wild | Benny | Voice | |
| 2007 | Underdog | Dan Unger (Father) | |
| Once Upon a Christmas Village | Santa Claus | Voice | |
| 2008 | Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King | Goblin | Voice |
| Snow Buddies | rescue dog | Voice | |
| 2010 | The Ghost Writer | John Maddox | |
| 2012 | Dorothy of Oz | The Cowardly Lion | Voice (Pre-production) |
| Bronko | TBA |
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
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References
- ↑ NBC.com "Saturday Night Live Bio". http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/bios/John_Belushi.shtml NBC.com.
- ↑ "John Belushi Biography (1949-1982)". Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/41/John-Belushi.html. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
- ↑ Broyard, Anatole. Books Of The Times; Close-Up Of John Belushi, The New York Times, June 2, 1984.
- ↑ Dunham, Chris (2009-07-12). "Before They Were Belushis (or Blues Brothers)". Genealogywise.com. http://www.genealogywise.com/profiles/blogs/before-they-were-belushis-or. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
- ↑ "Xhejms Belushi merr shtetësinë shqiptare". Shekulli.com.al. http://www.shekulli.com.al/2009/10/10/xhejms-belushi-merr-shtetesine-shqiptare.html. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
- ↑ Ausiello, Michael. "Pilot Intel: Jim Belushi eyes CBS' 'Defenders'". ew.com. http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/02/22/jim-belushi-cbs-defenders/. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
- ↑ Ausiello, Michael (2010-05-17). "Breaking: CBS picks up four series". Ausiellofiles.ew.com. http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/05/17/cbs-picks-up-four-series/. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
- ↑ "James Belushi takes Albanian citizenship (Article in Albanian)". Shekulli.com.al. http://www.shekulli.com.al/2009/10/10/xhejms-belushi-merr-shtetesine-shqiptare.html. Retrieved 2010-08-14.