[music playing] You know, John-- I don't
think he ever slept. A little part of
him thought that he was invincible, that
he could take anything, stand anything, do anything. People are
fascinated by someone who has no vanity, no sense
of personal boundaries, and just says, this is who I am. Go along on the ride with me. He always played at
the top of his skill, at the top of his ingenuity,
at the top of his personality. No fucking way. And he had plenty
of all of those. [music playing] [applause] [music - "soul man"] NARRATOR: John Belushi was
one of the original cast of the legendary
American TV show, "Saturday Night
Live," which attracted 20 million viewers every week. As a "Blues Brother," he
sold millions of records. He made just seven films,
but they immortalized him. He walked onstage, 300
people just-- [cheers]. Everybody stood up
at once and cheered, like it was a Roman Colosseum. The roar that came
up, I got goosebumps. It was like, oh my God. It was-- yeah, I mean,
he was something. He was a god of comedy. Food fight! And he filled his mouth with--
I don't know what it was, mashed potatoes or
something, and he just went-- I'm a zit-- get it? NARRATOR: Belushi was
arrogant and quick-tempered, funny and dramatic,
insecured and beset by doubt. Everybody that
knew John very well knew that something
could happen. And nobody looked forward
to that phone call, but everybody that
knew him sort of knew that something
could happen and that it was somewhat inevitable. NARRATOR: An early death
that was inevitable? John Belushi died in 1982 of a
mixture of cocaine and heroin. This was something
that I've tossed around. Is it a shooting
star is only meant to live that long, is supposed
to burn brightly and fast? I don't know. I don't think so. I like to think that
if John had lived, and all the places he could
have gone and the things he could have done. He was a brilliant comedian,
and it's still shocking. And it's been almost 30 years. NARRATOR: Wheaton, Illinois,
a prosperous small town 30 miles west of Chicago. The local high
school football team plays in the top league
of the state, urged on by the school's cheerleaders. The image of a perfect world
at the heart of the USA. The most famous former
student of Wheaton High is commemorated in a
mural in the entrance hall-- John Belushi. His mother reminisced
not long after his death. AGNES BELUSHI: In high school,
he was on the football team too. They used to call him "Killer"
because he was like-- he played with all his heart and soul. He loved that football. NARRATOR: The Belushis lived
on Arrowhead Drive at the time. Things here look very much
like they did 50 years ago. People are conservative
and patriotic in Wheaton. Strangers stick out. And the Belushis were strangers. John's father was an Albanian
immigrant to the United States. But the family had
no trouble becoming integrated, especially John. He was just like a little man. He just took care of himself. He talked to this one woman
in the building next door. She says, I never saw such a
child that-- he was like five years old and he talked like
he was about 10 years old, she said to him. This is what she said to me. He just talks-- talk to the
older women, to anybody. He was just very
mature for his age. JAMES BELUSHI: He was
very dark as a kid. And they used to
call him "Pancho." And he took me through
the neighborhood and showed me where
he used to live and the alleys he used to
sneak down and run around. And he showed me
the pool that he said he had the
privilege of sneaking in during all the hours. They had certain hours
for swimming for adults, swimming for girls. And he would climb
over the fence and all the lifeguards
said, well, there's Pancho. Let him go swimming. So he was very well liked
in the neighborhood. NARRATOR: A carefree
childhood for John and his siblings,
Marian, James, and Billy. They were mainly raised by
their deeply loved grandmother Nina, who into the 1950s and
'60s hardly spoke any English. Their mother Agnes and
father Adam run a restaurant and fulfilled their American
dream with their house in Wheaton. His mother was a
regular stage mother. She wanted her sons to
make it in show business. In fact, she wanted to be
in show business herself, but she never admitted it. His father was a
quiet, strong presence. NARRATOR: The top
football team of Wheaton High trained six days a week. That's something
else that hasn't changed here since the 1960s. AGNES BELUSHI: One time he got
cut seriously over his eye. And he wouldn't quit playing. And he wouldn't let him
take him out of the game. He kept playing
until the very end. And I used to be out there,
and every time I'd hear, Belushi, Belushi, I used to get
so excited every time I'd hear, Belushi, Belushi. And I'd hear his name. It was like, well, just
like any mother, I guess. Just loved to hear it. NARRATOR: At the age of 12,
John was voted best athlete in the school and best actor. We saw him in a
play in junior high. The audience just
enjoyed that so much. And after the play, the
principal stopped my husband and I and he said, Mrs.
Belushi, Mr. and Mrs. Belushi, he said, this child
is one in a million that comes through my school,
the caliber that John is. My husband and I
looked at each other. We knew he was OK, but we
didn't think he was anything out of the ordinary, you know? So I said, really? He said, yes. I said, well, thank
you very much. And being a principal, I
figured he ought to know what he's talking about here. I was real proud,
really proud of him. NARRATOR: John's passion
for acting won out. He was determined
to go on the stage. He and his friend Judy moved
to the next big city, Chicago. Chicago-- the Windy City
on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, the third
biggest city in the USA. Chicago was a magnet for actors
from all over the country. If you wanted to make
it in the theatre, this is where you came. TIM KAZURINSKY: There were
maybe 100 theaters in Chicago. Chicago was the best make
it town in the world. It's because when the talent
all bubbles up and rises here, it always-- the
cream gets sucked off and goes to New York. It goes to Los Angeles. So there's always
room at the top, because it's always
being skimmed off. NARRATOR: One of the most
famous theaters in Chicago is the Second City. Bernie Sahlins is credited
with discovering John Belushi. Today, approaching
90, he's owned the theater for over 50 years. We opened in a cold
December, and it can get very cold in Chicago in December. And expecting no one there,
well, they were lined up. We had to turn away
about 50 people. And we were an
immediate success. I think that we fit
in with the zeitgeist. NARRATOR: The stage on
which John Belushi took his first steps
into the limelight still trains aspiring actors
today, students dreaming of making it to the top. A very American art form is
taught here, one at which jumbled John Belushi excelled--
improvisational theater. Improv is a really
special art, I think, just taking one suggestion,
one word, one whatever and creating an
entire scene out of it and creating an entire
world out of it. NARRATOR: Bill Murray,
Mike Myers, and Tina Fey are among the many
who've studied here. Our teachers do a lot of
name-dropping, which is fun. They just casually throw
in a few famous names. Oh, it's a blast, yeah. I mean, I love it. NARRATOR: Learning
from the stars-- and one of the biggest
idols remains John Belushi. Just think extremities. I think that he took his
characters to a new level that a lot of other
actors don't do. And I think that
watching him, you really know that he's got it. He's got this confidence
that is easy to see. NARRATOR: Easy to see, even
at John Belushi's audition, at the age of just 20. He was the first
actor I ever auditioned who went right from the
audition to the main stage. We had three stages--
sort of small, beginning stage and a regular stage. Main stage-- he went
right to the main stage. NARRATOR: They were
politically unsettled times. Young people had been
politicized by the Vietnam War. Students in Chicago
were demonstrating, including John Belushi. And Second City Theater,
the cops were busting heads. And they were taking people
into the lobby of the theater. And some of the people
that worked at Second City got their heads bashed in. And so it was like
a triage unit. There were medics and fixing
people up and wiping the blood off them in the theater. And that all got
reflected on stage. NARRATOR: Belushi was the
youngest in the company. At first, his fellow actors
didn't know what to make of the young man from Wheaton. He was an odd-looking guy, I
thought-- little short legs. His legs were short. So he looked something
like a bear up on stage, just kind
of moving along. And I wasn't too sure that
I thought he was any good. NARRATOR: But John
had stage presence. I call it a bride syndrome. A bride is totally
in the present. She's up there, she's standing,
I'm a bride and I'm beautiful. So yes, you're a bride. You're beautiful. Well, Belushi was a
bride-- beautiful. You know, he was sort
of like a live grenade, and you had to just duck
down into the foxhole every once in a awhile, because
you never know when there was going to be shrapnel flying. Well, I do remember
getting thrown against a wall, a hard
wall, because John thought it was funny. And he got laughs
every time he did it, so he thought I
would welcome also being thrown against a wall. At the same time, he
was enormously graceful and could be very nuanced and
play very delicate things too. John played my date. And I was bringing him
home to meet my parents. First thing he says is-- the
character that he's playing-- says, where's the bathroom. So he disappears
in the bathroom. And I say to my
parents, no, no, no. I know he looks a
little eccentric, but you'll come to love him. And he comes out
of the bathroom. And you know how when
men who are fisherman describe the size of
fish they've caught, a bass this big or a salmon? So John comes out, and
this is all improvised. I have no idea what
he's going to say. He comes out and he says to
my parents, who I'm trying to impress, I just
took a shit this big, and I left a turd in the toilet. I can't even flush the toilet. You gotta come see it. I was so stunned. And you could hear the
audience just kind of-- the air got sucked out of the room. He was fearless, so
he would say shit like that no one else was
brave enough to say because we were a little politer. NARRATOR: Performances every
day, three at the weekend. And afterwards, the
company hit the bars. Drugs were everywhere,
on and off stage. Well, I'm telling you,
that era, everybody was experimenting with drugs. Everybody was. I personally think that
he changed Second City. Because all they
used to talk about is Descartes and
Kant and philosophy and their moral
dilemma and will and these intellectual concepts. And John would come in
there and play this hippie off the street who's
lost his memory from smoking too much pot. And the audience would go nuts. NARRATOR: New York City--
America's liberal metropolis on the east coast. It was in Manhattan
in the early '70s that "National Lampoon"
began its rise to success. For many years, it was the
most influential and popular satire magazine in the USA. In 1973, "National
Lampoon" was planning a Broadway show,
"Lemmings," a send-up of the Woodstock festival. I received this package from
Chicago, Second City from John. And in it was a tape of
John doing impressions. So I went to see a
show at Second City. We knew he was going
to be looking at John. We knew it was an audition
basically for John. So we tried to help him
out as much as possible. It was insane. I mean, I've been to a lot
of improvisational shows. But I'd never seen
one in which one actor just entered the scene
whenever he felt like it and took the scene off into
whatever direction he wanted. I mean, it was total anarchy. I've never seen
Second City like it. He was tough
competition on stage. He was really-- even if
it was unintentional, he'd steal a scene all the time. So OK, John, time to move on. Move up. OK, first of all,
I'd like to welcome you to the Woodchuck
Memorial Festival of peace, love, and death. What I found was the comedy
equivalent of rock and roll. He was like a comic
expression of rock n roll-- raw, new, young, noisy. I mean, he was
everything that rock n roll was except it was funny. [playing piano] Absolutely brilliant
parody of Joe Cocker, which was very scurrilous in those
days, because Joe Cocker was disabled and was
not-- but I just loved it. And it just hysterical. [applause] Hey. [inaudible] Uh-oh. [grunts] (SINGING) [inaudible]
One, two, three-- "National Lampoon's
Lemmings" was a huge success. John Belushi was the star of
the show, absolutely fearless on stage and in real life. TONY HENDRA: I have a
house out in the country, west of New York. And one of the things
we have in our property is this very fast
running mountain stream. And the little stream had
become like the Colorado River. You know I mean it was just
white water all the way. And John found an innertube
that my kids were playing with and said, I'm going to
jump in that stream. I said, don't be crazy. You'll die. But he didn't care. You know, he'd been
smoking dope all day. And he just jumped in the stream
and literally disappeared. I mean, right out of the water. And I was terrified,
because I didn't know-- I sort of ran down
the stream looking for him. Couldn't see him anywhere. And I eventually came
back to get the car and go and see if he'd ended
up five miles downstream. And he came walking
up the road and he said, wow, that was a trip. NARRATOR: Manhattan--
Rockefeller Plaza, the home of NBC,
one of America's biggest television channels. This is where a
cult comedy show was born, "Saturday Night Live." When "Saturday
Night Live" first came out in the late '70s, it
was incredibly influential. It was the television show that
a certain generation watched. The humor was what
I call bad boy-ism. They were sending
up their parents, sending up their teachers. This was the disillusionment
with the Vietnam War. Airline hostesses were
quoting "Saturday Night Live." It was very, very popular
because of its attitude. It was expressing the rebellion
that the ordinary person was feeling. NARRATOR: Rebellion on the small
screen-- Belushi was part of it from the first season in 1975. It was his nationwide
breakthrough, with an audience of over
20 million viewers a week. ANNOUNCER: Dan Aykroyd,
John Belushi, Bill Murray. What about your career? Can we look forward to
seeing you in a movie soon? How about Cleopatra too? It seems like such a natural. How would John feel about that? Would there be a career conflict
now that you are also the wife of a United States senator? [choking sounds] Well, thank you so much, Liz. It's been a real treat
for me to have you-- For millions of
people, John Belushi was a guest in their
living room every week. And people got to know
him through his remarkable performances and
characters that he did on "Saturday Night Live." NARRATOR: In four
seasons of the show, John played well over 50
characters and improvisations, every week a 90 minute show. Usually, you have
Sunday to recover. And you have a
throbbing headache because you've been to the
party the Saturday night before. So you're trying to sober
up and clear your head out, because you've worked
so hard that last week. Monday until Wednesday--
we had Wednesday at noon. So literally, we had 48
hours to write the show. It was crazy. It was fueled with manic energy. It was fueled with
cocaine-- whatever. Nobody wanted to
sleep, because you had 48 hours to get it together. And so there was a lot of
white powder floating around. And everybody was,
like, wired and manic. You go in Thursday and Friday. You block the scenes. There's no sets. You have tape on the floor. You block the scenes. Saturday the sets show up. You haven't really
rehearsed these scenes. You just kind of know what--
you're bumping into each other. There's cue cards. They're changing the scripts. It's madness. And you think, you can't go out
in front of a national audience with this little timing,
practice, training. This is nuts. We're going to die. It's very nerve-wracking. And usually, before the
show goes on the air, you just want to get on a
Greyhound bus to Nebraska. Get the hell out of
town, because you know it's going to stink. You're always
like, it can't fly. This ship will not fly. What's the title of this movie? "Animal House." "Animal House." Opening August, 1978. NARRATOR: After a
few supporting roles, John Belushi had his first
starring role in a feature film in "Animal House." He played Bluto Blutowski,
a freaked-out student at a fictitious college. Grabs you like this, picks
you up, and rams your head into the wall, repeatedly. Caving this whole side in the
brain, so that he's exposed. It's a cow's brain. Double for that? No, it's close up. You've got to do it. It'll be like
concrete or something. So then the makeup
guy comes in, takes this half of your head off. So the brain's exposed. So we can actually see-- That I can do. REPORTER: What kind of
a role is this for you? I understand it was written
pretty much for you. That true? I think every role
was written for me. With the most memorable
breakout performance of him. It just-- he did things-- I
mean, not just the food fight stuff, but the guy playing the
guitar, just taking the guitar, smashing it, handing it
back and going, "Sorry," (SINGING) I gave my love a
cherry that had no stone. I gave my love a
story that had no end. I gave-- Sorry. It was stuff that
people had wanted to do, the bad boy inside them. And it just tapped into it. And I mean, people had a
galvanic skin response to that. The reaction to his
character was like, [gasp]. It was-- they'd never
said anything like that. [music - "shout"] That was the point at
which I knew John was going to be a very big star. NARRATOR: 1978 was
John Belushi's year. "Animal House" became the most
successful comedy of all time. For "Saturday Night Live," he
had devised the Blues Brothers. Their records sold millions. He had the number
one television show, the number one movie, and
the number one record album. It was like, who has that? [MUSIC - ELLIOTT SMITH,
"ANGELES"] NARRATOR: Hollywood called, Los
Angeles-- the global capital of major movies. John Belushi got to know a
director who wanted to work with him-- Steven Spielberg. I met him here in
LA doing "1941." And he had his
character all drawn out. It was a good character. He'd played that pilot,
that crazy pilot. I'm lost. Steven wanted to do a comedy
because he was inspired by, of all things,
"Animal House," John's movie, which was a big success. "Animal House" just--
that put him on the map as far as-- even bigger
than "Saturday Night Live." So it was a great comedy. And Spielberg wanted to
do something like that. But he didn't quite
have that knack. Good at drama,
very good at drama. Comedy-- he was lost. He was always asking
us for advice. That felt weird. Steven would say, "What do
you think of this scene?" I thought, is this
Steven Spielberg asking me what I think of that scene? So, I'd tell him. So it didn't come
together very well. Well, you got the camera. NARRATOR: Belushi
and his wife Judy bought a house on
the celebrity island off the east coast,
Martha's Vineyard. John had been
drinking more and more in recent years, as
well as smoking dope and taking cocaine. On the island, he could
relax and recuperate. The thing about John
that interested me was he was always excessive. If he was clean
and off drugs, he was totally clean, soap clean. But he would always
embrace whatever he was doing to its
maximum-- little more, little more, little
more, little more, little more. Get out of my kitchen. Get out. NARRATOR: On Martha's Vineyard,
Judy could take care of John. She kept him level-headed,
on an even keel. Very good relationship--
she loved him. He loved her. NARRATOR: But the moments of
relaxation were all too short. There was something about
John that was really lonely. There was some deep kind
of unhappiness in him that certainly informed this--
I keep saying recklessness, but nihilism is a better
way to look at it, which he certainly had in his own way. And I think that was one
of the reasons in a way, tragically, that he
was so brilliant. NARRATOR: In 1980, John made
the film "Blues Brothers," co-starring his
friend Dan Aykroyd. I think for John Belushi,
making the movie in Chicago was kind of like a homecoming. The story was terrific. It was this soulful odyssey
about these two brothers who are brothers because they
were in the same orphanage. They're both adopted who are
on a quest, a mission from God to save the orphanage. The band. The band. The band! Do you see the light? What light? Have you seen the light? Yes! Yes! Jesus H. God-damnded Christ,
I have seen the light! NARRATOR: The film
featured rhythm and blues superstars, like
James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles. The band, Elwood. The band! The band? We did something
special to get all those stars to be in the movie. We asked them. And it really was amazing. You would think
it might be hard. But really, every person
we asked said yes, and that they would be
delighted to be in the movie. I think people forget
now that at that time, a lot of this rhythm and
blues music was not current. NARRATOR: Audiences
had never before seen such a mixture-- a
musical with crazy car chases. TIM KAZURINSKY: At
the time that they were doing "Blues Brothers,"
they bought an old bar. And it was just very ordinary. They had some kegs in there. They had some fridges. And they had some video games. But it was considered the
coolest clubhouse in the world. Everybody wanted
to get in there. NARRATOR: The film
cost $27 million, which made the "Blues
Brothers" in 1980 the most expensive comedy ever. This is Mr. John Belushi
and Mr. Dan Aykroyd. NARRATOR: A triumphant
return for John. This is Presley and this
is Larry, my daughters. Women would expose
their breasts to him as he passed by in the street. NARRATOR: But shooting was
overshadowed by Belushi's alcohol and drug excesses. John Belushi is known by
some as America's guest. He was famous for just showing
up to somebody's house, making himself to home, helping
himself to something to eat. And then the next
thing you know, he'll be passed
out on the couch. And he even would
do this with people who were essentially strangers. It was not unusual for him
to go to the refrigerator, open the door, and have a
four-course meal standing up at the refrigerator, opening
things up and eating and just kind of enjoying himself. He was like a tornado that
would come through the house. NARRATOR: More and more
alcohol, more and more drugs. Minders were hired for John. John had two
bodyguards at the time. He had Bill "Superfoot" Wallace,
who was a world champion karate expert, and
Smokey Wendell, a former Secret Service agent. He said he wanted to go to a
nightclub and hear some music. So the three of them go
to a nightclub in Chicago. John says, I want to go
outside and smoke a cigarette. So the three of them go
outside to smoke a cigarette. They're leaning up against
the building, sort of. And a car comes
up with some kids and they say, John Belushi. Oh, John Belushi. So John goes over to the
car, jumps in the window, and they don't see him
til Monday morning. [music - "sweet home chicago"] NARRATOR: John
Belushi's way of life was visibly taking its toll. His cocaine problem
was no secret. And his friends were worried. But I must tell
you that John never cost us a day of shooting. It wasn't that he
never showed up, but there was sometimes
a lot of anxiety. NARRATOR: John Belushi
could still control himself. His career was important to him. John was ambitious, but it
wasn't a negative ambition. He wanted to be a movie star. Let's go. There's this excess of
business, this wanting to go the last inch, the
last mile, the last script, the last movie. You think I got one
chance at this, one chance at the brass ring
on the carousel. And when you are young and
you're angry and you're hungry, you don't need to rest. You don't need sleep. Is there life after
"Saturday Night"? After "Animal House"? After Second City? After the Blues Brothers? After this introduction? John Belushi. There I am. GENE SHALIT: You
have a new movie out. It is called
"Continental Divide." It is, to me, a turning point
in your career, because it's sort of a grown-up movie. Why don't you describe, quickly? Well, the character's different
than the other characters I've played in the past. This character can
read and write. It's Bruno! He's alive! Bruno? Is that him? Hey, Bruno! When he was in town,
he'd come back into town and was doing
"Continental Divide." Then he was completely healthy,
completely substance-free. And I remember Bernie and I
going out to lunch with him, and he's telling us what to eat. And Bernie Sahlins
turned to me and said, John does everything to
excess, even moderation. NARRATOR: A romantic
comedy, but did audiences want a romantic John Belushi? Great idea. You can write a novel there. Yeah. I got a little surprise. I think that really
frustrated John, that he wanted to grow as a
performer, grow as an artist. And he had huge other interests. And he started to think,
they don't want that for me. They just want Bluto. They just want to see me fill
my mouth with mashed potatoes and go like that. And he wanted to
try other things. I had a great place on
the 37th floor overlooking the city and the park. I mean, the view
was sensational. And I had built
sort of a platform so my bed would be
right by the window so you could look out
onto this beautiful-- and he was lying there
and he said, wow. You know, I could
do this forever. And I think it was the
only peaceful moment that I remember seeing him. People who control
the money in Hollywood says, this guy has a certain
popularity and so forth. We will run the risk,
because we think that we know how to control him. And we'll end up making money. Because that's the
name of the game. It's called show business. Some guy disappeared down here. One of the linemen
for the power company. NARRATOR: Shooting
was a disaster. The star and the director
did not get on well. And John hated his role. Beck, please help me! Then one night, we got
into a yelling match about whatever it was. And we were out in the middle
of nowhere on Staten Island. And everybody had
run away and didn't want to be anywhere near the
two of us yelling at each other. And I said, but you've
got to be professional. He said, I don't want
to be professional. NARRATOR: "Neighbors"-- another
movie flop for John Belushi. It started as a great romance,
then the honeymoon was over. NARRATOR: John was
on his own in LA. His wife Judy and his
best friend Dan Aykroyd were in New York. Dan was busy writing the
screenplay for "Ghostbusters." One of the leading roles
was intended for John. EUGENIE ROSS-LEMING: And he
called me a couple times when he was out here and
he was really tired and I think a
little disappointed the way some things were going. And he wanted to get together
and just sort of, I think, unwind with someone who
knew him when he was maybe a little more innocent. GENE SHALIT: Does it
disturb you to be an idol? To be an idol? GENE SHALIT: Does it disturb
you that so many people know you and grab you and recognize you? Yeah, you feel like a freak. Yeah, but he has to
learn to deal with it. You've got to relate to it like
you're running for Congress. I love it. It's wonderful. GENE SHALIT: You really
don't like it, do you? No, I don't like it. I don't think anybody who's
in that-- who has that-- EUGENIE ROSS-LEMING: And
then one night he was going to come over to visit. He'd called. And he didn't show up, which
didn't hurt my feelings. I just felt like
something interfered. I mean, he got distracted. He wasn't as constant and as
organized as the old John. So I knew there was
some stuff going on. NARRATOR: During the day,
he had talks with producers about new film projects. At night, drugs. It was a vicious circle that
John couldn't get out of. ROBERT K. WEISS: I was
working on a television show called "Police Squad." On this television show,
like many television shows, we would show in
the opening credits the guest star for that week. Only what we did is we
killed the guest star right in the credits. So you got to see him. We got to say he starred
in it, and he was gone in the first 30 seconds. And so he came into my office. And he suggested
that for my death, why don't you show me-- you can
start at the end of the bed, and you see some legs but
you don't know who it is. And then you show me. I am dead with a needle in
my arm, from a drug overdose. I was shocked to hear
him suggest that. It wasn't really funny. I wasn't sure why
he would suggest it. And I said, well, of
course, we cannot do that. My birthday is March 3rd. And we were going to
go out for dinner. And Judy called me
and said, we can't go out for dinner because
John's not back from California. My birthday was March 3rd, and
March 5th was when John died. NARRATOR: A mixture
of cocaine and heroin killed John Belushi-- a rock
star's death in the film star capital, Hollywood. EUGENIE ROSS-LEMING: I think
what happened to him, I'm sure, was some ghastly accident. You can understand about danger
on the stage, so why would he understand about danger
in a pharmaceutical sense, really understand it, know
that you have to protect yourself at some point? Because I don't think he was
deliberately self-destructive. He was a really
exuberant person, just wanted to eat up life. NARRATOR: Dan Aykroyd
led the funeral cortege on his Harley-Davidson. On the 9th of March, 1982,
John Belushi was laid to rest on Martha's Vineyard. I think if he had been more
successful in the movies, he might have been less
dependent on drugs. But he was a disappointed
man at the end. His friends couldn't help him. NARRATOR: Wheaton, Illinois--
where everything began. John Belushi was always one
of the best-- at school, in the theater,
and on the screen. And he was a really smart
guy, and not at all blowed up. NARRATOR: John Belushi,
a life lived to excess. EUGENIE ROSS-LEMING: I
think people miss not only John, the real
John, but they miss that kind of madness
and mayhem that he brought to the cultural stage. [music playing]
