John Belushi Died 40 Years Ago Today & I Thought The World Was Going to End

There are certain dates which stand out in the collective mind and usually for less than joyous reasons. January 6th, September 11th, November 22nd and December 7th spring immediately to mind. I would also add December 8th to that list.

Then there is March 5th. I shall always associate this day with the death of comedian John Belushi. He was only 33 when he died of a drug overdose 40 years ago today in 1982. 

I was 9-years old when Belushi passed. He was a larger than life figure whom once you saw, even from a distance, you could not forget. An original cast member of Saturday Night Live, a breakout movie star in Animal House and his iconic collaboration with fellow SNL alum Dan Aykroyd in The Blues Brothers made a lasting impression. 

His death also made a very lasting impression. While I was alive when Elvis Presley died, but I was a bit too young to have a full appreciation of the magnitude of his passing. The first death that hit me hard was the assassination of John Lennon followed by the death of Terry Fox (something shared mostly by Canadians), the assassination of Anwar Sadat and then Belushi's passing. 

Belushi died just over two months after the release of his last film Neighbors with Dan Aykroyd in which Belushi was cast against type as a meek, passive suburban husband. Alhough Neighbors was badly received and performed poorly at the box office, there was a lot of advertising for the movie and seem to remember Belushi on just about every magazine cover. And then he was gone.

What I also remember about that time was that a few days after Belushi's death came the alignment of the planets on one side of the sun. A couple of renowned astronomers had predicted this would mean the end of the world. When this was mentioned on ABC News, I actually thought the world was going to end. I don't why I believed it so fervently except for the fact that we were only a few days removed from Belushi's death which I had a difficult time processing. 

Not knowing what else to do, I asked my Dad to make some popcorn since I figured it would be the last time I would have a chance to enjoy it. Dad made popcorn and the world did not come to an end. 

With Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it is possible the world might come to an end within my lifetime. If I have learned anything over the past 40 years is that the end of the world is beyond my control and that I can buy popcorn just about anywhere. 

As for Belushi, perhaps the greatest tribute which could be made is a viewing of Tom Schiller's "Don't Look Back in Anger". Occasionally, SNL would air short films made by Schiller and his best was a scene imagining Belushi as the last surviving cast member of the original SNL. John Belushi might have been the first SNL cast member to leave this world but he was a dancer. R.I.P.