Canadian comedian John Candy was born in Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto, in 1950. In high school he was a good student and talented football player, already tall at over 6 feet. After high school he went to a community college, studying drama and auditioning for any parts he could find. He did alright as a small budget local Canadian performer until 1972, when he joined comedic improvisational team Second City in Chicago. In 1974 Candy and fellow comedians Joe Flaherty, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, and Eugene Levy formed a Canadian Second City troupe in Toronto. The troupe got a TV show, SCTV, of which Candy was an integral part, with his cast of memorable characters like the sleazy poser Johnny LaRue, the unctuous talk show host William B, and the menacing salesman "Guy With the Snake on His Face". And who can forget Candy's half of the polka loving brothers Yosh and Stan Schmenge (with Eugene Levy as Stan... or was it Yosh?)
Candy got many small television and movie parts in Canada, finally by the 1980s graduating to Hollywood, appearing in an astonishing number of B movies over the next decade or so. What he lacked in quality he made up for in quantity, appearing in over 30 movies between 1984 and 1994. He also sang on the celebrity benefit song Tears are not Enough and appeared twice on Sesame Street specials. In 1991 he became co-owner of the Toronto Argonauts football team, and was thrilled when they won the Grey Cup the next year. Candy also owned a chain of restaurants with Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi. He had two children with his wife Rose or Rosemary, a daughter Jennifer in 1980 and a son Christopher in 1984. Friends say he was a genuinely nice man, one of the few in Hollywood. In spite of this, and his success, he had lifelong problems with overconsumption of food, alcohol, and drugs, at times ballooning to over 250 lbs. In 1994, while filming Wagons East in Durango, Mexico, Candy unexpectedly had a heart attack and died. He was 44.
An incomplete but still impressive list of movies Candy's in:
Canadian Bacon (1995)
Wagons East (1994)
Cool Runnings (1993)
Rookie of the Year (1993)
Once Upon a Crime (1992)
Boris and Natasha (1992)
JFK (1991)
Only the Lonely (1991)
Delirious (1991)
Nothing But Trouble (1991)
Masters of Menace (1990)
Home Alone (1990)
The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
Uncle Buck (1989)
Who's Harry Crumb? (1989)
Speed Zone! (1989)
The Great Outdoors (1988)
Hot to Trot (1988)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
Spaceballs (1987)
Armed and Dangerous (1986)
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Volunteers (1985)
Brewster's Millions (1985)
Summer Rental (1985)
Splash (1984)
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
Stripes (1981)
Heavy Metal (1981)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
1941 (1979)
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