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" Final Resting Place of John Belushi"

 

John Belushi
24th January 1949 - 5th March 1982
Actor Comedian starred in "The Blues Bros" and "Animal House". Died of a drugs overdose in Los Angeles.
Abel's Hill Cemetery, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American actor and comedian most notable for his work on Saturday Night Live, National Lampoon's Animal House, and The Blues Brothers.

Biography
Belushi was born in the United States to Adam Belushi, an Albanian immigrant who left his native village, Qytezë, in 1934 at the age of 15, and to Agnes. He grew up outside of Chicago in Wheaton, Illinois, where he was a high school football player, and attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and the College of DuPage near Chicago. Belushi's brother James Belushi is also a successful actor and comedian. He met his future wife, Judy, while a sophmore in high school, and stayed together with her until his death.

Belushi's first big break as a comedian occurred in 1971, when he joined The Second City comedy troupe in Chicago, Illinois. Thanks to his uncanny caricature of singer Joe Cocker's intense and jerky stage presence, he participated in National Lampoon's Lemmings stage show in 1972 (which also featured future Saturday Night Live performer Chevy Chase).

From 1973 to 1975 the National Lampoon aired the Radio Hour, a half-hour comedy program syndicated across the country on approximately 600 stations. When original director Michael O'Donoghue quit in 1974, Belushi took over the reins until the show was canceled. Other players on the show included future SNL regulars Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Chevy Chase. Belushi married Judy Jacklin, an associate producer of the Radio Hour. A number of comic segments first performed on the Radio Hour would be translated into SNL sketches in the show's early seasons.

Belushi achieved national fame for his work on Saturday Night Live, which he joined as one of the original cast members in 1975. Between seasons of the show, he made one of his best-known movies, Animal House.

As several Belushi biographies have noted, on John's 30th birthday (in 1979), he had the number one film in the U.S., (Animal House), the number one album in the U.S., The Blues Brothers "Briefcase Full Of Blues", and Saturday Night Live was the highest-rated late night television program, and one of the most highly-regarded television programs of the day. Being at the top of three different forms of public media (T.V., movies, and music), is considered to be one of Belushi's foremost feats, career-wise, and is one that is often overlooked in the wake of his drug exploits.

He left Saturday Night Live in 1979 to pursue a film career. Belushi would make four more movies in his career, and three of them, 1941, Neighbors, and most notably The Blues Brothers were made with former SNL alumnus Dan Aykroyd.

At the time of his death, Belushi was pursuing several movie projects, including "Noble Rot," an adaptation of a script by former The Mary Tyler Moore Show writer/producer Jay Sandrich entitled "Sweet Deception." Belushi was working with former Saturday Night Live colleague Don Novello, (known for his character Father Guido Sarducci), on rewriting the script. In addition, Belushi was also considering the lead roles in "The Joy Of Sex," a comic adaptation of the Dr. Alex Comfort sex manual, as well as a part in a Louis Malle movie called "Moon Over Miami." These projects were abandoned in the wake of his death.

In addition, the role of Dr. Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters was written (by Aykroyd) with Belushi in mind. The role wound up being played by Belushi's former SNL castmate Bill Murray.

Death
Belushi was known to indulge in drinking bouts and drug abuse, which eventually cost him his life. Belushi was found dead on March 5, 1982, age 33, in bungalow 3 at the Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The cause of death was a speedball, an injection of cocaine and heroin. The night of his death he was accompanied by friends Robin Williams & Robert DeNiro, but they (later) left the premises, and 'Belushi' in the company of 'Cathy Smith.' His death was investigated by forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, among others, and while the findings were disputed, it was eventually officially ruled a drug-related accident.

The case was reopened two months later, when Cathy Smith, a former groupie for The Band, admitted in an interview with the National Enquirer that she had been with Belushi the night of his death and had given him the fatal speedball shot. She was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. A plea bargain arrangement reduced the charges to involuntary manslaughter, and she served 18 months in prison.

Belushi's life is detailed in the 1985 biography Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi by Bob Woodward, which was adapted into a feature film. Many friends and relatives of Belushi, including his wife, Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi, boycotted the film, even though they agreed to be interviewed at length for the book.

John Belushi is interred in Abel's Hill Cemetery in Chilmark, Massachusetts. 

The Grateful Dead song "West L.A. Fadeaway" is about Belushi's death. Belushi was a good friend to the band, especially Jerry Garcia. He even performed with them on occasion in the late 1970's.

His widow later remarried and is now Judy Belushi Pisano. Her biography (with co-biographer Tanner Colby) of her late husband, Belushi, a collection of first-person interviews and photographs, was published in 2005.