Dan Aykroyd

Daniel Edward Aykroyd (born July 1, 1952), is a Canadian actor, producer, comedian, musician, and filmmaker who was an original member of the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” on Saturday Night Live (1975–1979), with John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Lorraine Newman, and Gilda Radner. He also appeared on the sitcom Coming Up Roses (1975-1978), with John Candy and Catherine O’Hara.

A musical sketch he performed with Belushi on SNL, the Blues Brothers, turned into an actual performing band (consisting of Lou Marini, Tom Malone, Steve Cropper, Donald “Duck” Dunn, and Paul Shaffer), and then the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, directed by John Landis. The cast also included Carrie Fisher, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles.

Aykroyd would collaborate with Landis on many other films including Trading Places (1983), with Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis; Into the Night (1985), with Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer; Spies Like Us (1985), with Chevy Chase; Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), with John Goodman; and Susan’s Plan (1998), Nastassja Kinski, Billy Zane, Rob Schneider, Lara Flynn Boyle and Michael Biehn.

He conceived and starred in Ghostbusters (1984), directed by Ivan Reitman, co-starring Bill Murray, Harold Ramis (who also co-wrote), Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts, and Rick Moranis, which spawned a sequel in 1989 and eventually an entire media franchise.

He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Bruce Beresford’s adaptation of Driving Miss Daisy (1989), with Jessica Tandy (who won Best Actress) and Morgan Freeman (who was nominated for Best Actor). The film also won Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture.

Other notable films include Steven Spielberg‘s epic ensemble WWII comedy 1941 (1979), with Ned Beaty, Belushi, John Candy, Christopher Lee, Tim Matheson, Toshiro Mifune, Slim Pickens, and Robert Stack; John G. Avildsen’s Neighbors (1981), with Belushi (his last role), Cathy Moriarty, and Kathryn Walker; Doctor Detroit (1983), with Howard Hesseman, Lynn Whitfield, Fran Drescher, and Donna Dixon (whom he married soon after release); Dragnet (1987), with Tom Hanks, a comedic spin on the popular police series; the Couch Trip (1988), with Walter Matthau, Charles Grodin and Dixon; The Great Outdoors (1988), with Candy, Stephanie Faracy and Annette Bening; and Richard Benjamin‘s My Stepmother Is an Alien (1989), with Kim Basinger, Jon Lovitz, Alyson Hannigan, and Seth Green.

Later film roles include Bob Clark’s Loose Cannons (1990), with Gene Hackman, Dom DeLuise, and Ronny Cox; My Girl (1991), with Anna Chlumsky, Macaulay Culkin, and Curtis; Richard Attenborough’s Chaplin (1992), with Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Penelope Ann Miller, Kevin Kline, and Anthony Hopkins; Sneakers (1992), with Robert Redford, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier, and David Strathairn; Tommy Boy (1995), with Chris Farley and David Spade; My Fellow Americans (1996), with Jack Lemmon, James Garner, and Lauren Bacall; Sgt. Bilko (1996), with Steve Martin; Getting Away with Murder (1996), with Lily Tomlin and Lemmon; Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), with John Cusack, Minnie Driver, and Alan Arkin; and Diamonds (1999), with Kirk Douglas.

Films in the 2000s include Woody Allen‘s The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001), with Allen, Helen Hunt, Wallace Shawn, David Ogden Stiers, and Charlize Theron; Reitman’s Evolution (2001), with David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott, Julianne Moore, and Ted Levine; 50 First Dates (2004), with Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Schneider, Sean Astin, and Blake Clark; Stephen Fry‘s Bright Young Things (2003), with Emily Mortimer, Michael Sheen, James McAvoy, David Tennant, Jim Broadbent, and Peter O’Toole; Steven Soderbergh’s Behind the Candelabra (2013) with Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Rob Lowe, and Debbie Reynolds, and Tammy (2014), with Melissa McCarthy, Susan Sarandon, Allison Janney, Gary Cole, Mark Duplass, Kathy Bates, and Sandra Oh.

Aykroyd also directed and co-starred the dark comedy Nothing But Trouble (1991), with Chase, Demi Moore, and Candy; and starred in his own sitcom, Soul Man (1997–1998). He is also a businessman, having co-founded the House of Blues chain of music venues and the Crystal Head Vodka brand.

Each review will be lined to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(*seen rereleased in theaters)

Love at First Sight (1977) – directed by Rex Bromfield
Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video (1979) – directed by Michael O’Donoghue
1941 (1979) – directed by Steven Spielberg
The Blues Brothers (1980) – directed by John Landis – also co-writer
Neighbors (1981) – directed by John G. Avildsen
It Came from Hollywood (1982) – directed by Malcolm Leo & Andrew Solt – documentary
Doctor Detroit (1983) – directed by Michael Pressman
Trading Places (1983) – directed by John Landis
Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) – directed by John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, & George Miller – anthology
1984
Ghostbusters (1984)* – directed by Ivan Reitman – also co-writer
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)** – directed by Steven Spielberg – cameo
Nothing Lasts Forever (1984) – directed by Tom Schiller
Into the Night (1985) – directed by John Landis
Spies Like Us (1985) – directed by John Landis – also co-writer
Dragnet (1987) – directed by Tom Mankiewicz – also co-writer
The Couch Trip (1988) – directed by Michael Ritchie
The Great Outdoors (1988) – directed by Howard Deutch
Caddyshack II (1988) – directed by Allan Arkush
My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988) – directed by Richard Benjamin
Driving Miss Daisy (1989) – directed by Bruce Beresford
Ghostbusters II (1989) – directed by Ivan Reitman – also co-writer
Loose Cannons (1990) – directed by Bob Clark
Masters of Menace (1990) – directed by Daniel Raskov
My Girl (1991) – directed by Howard Zieff
Nothing but Trouble (1991) – also director, writer
Chaplin (1992) – directed by Richard Attenborough
Sneakers (1992) – directed by Phil Alden Robinson
This Is My Life (1992) – directed by Nora Ephron
Coneheads (1993) – directed by Steve Barron – also co-writer
A Century of Cinema (1994) – directed by Caroline Thomas – documentary
Exit to Eden (1994) – directed by Garry Marshall
My Girl 2 (1994) – directed by Howard Zieff
North (1994) – directed by Rob Reiner
Canadian Bacon (1995) – directed Michael Moore – uncredited cameo
Casper (1995)* – directed by Brad Silberling – uncredited cameo
The Random Factor (1995) – directed by Bryan Michael Stoller
Tommy Boy (1995) – directed by Peter Segal
Rainbow (1996) – directed by Bob Hoskins
Celtic Pride (1996) – directed by Tom DeCerchio
Feeling Minnesota (1996) – directed by Steven Baigelman
My Fellow Americans (1996) – directed by Peter Segal
Getting Away with Murder (1996) – directed by Harvey Miller
Sgt. Bilko (1996) – directed by Jonathan Lynn
Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) – directed by George Armitage
Antz (1998)* – directed by Eric Darnell & Tim Johnson
Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) – directed by John Landis – also co-writer, co-producer
Susan’s Plan (1998) – directed by John Landis – straight-to-video
Diamonds (1999) – directed by John Mallory Asher
The House of Mirth (2000) – directed by Terence Davies
Loser (2000) – directed byAmy Heckerling
Stardom (2000) – directed by Denys Arcand
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) – directed by Woody Allen
Evolution (2001)* – directed by Ivan Reitman
The Frank Truth (2001) – directed by Rick Caine – himself – documentary
On the Nose (2001) – directed by David Caffrey
Pearl Harbor (2001) – directed by Michael Bay
Crossroads (2002) – directed by Tamra Davis
Unconditional Love (2002) – directed by P.J. Hogan
Bright Young Things (2003) – directed by Stephen Fry
Shortcut to Happiness (2003) – directed by Alec Baldwin (credited as Harry Kirkpatrick)
Christmas with the Kranks (2004) – directed by Joe Roth
50 First Dates (2004) – directed by Peter Segal
Intern Academy (2004) – directed by Dave Thomas – aka White Coats
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007) – directed by Dennis Dugan
War, Inc. (2008) – directed by Joshua Seftel
Yogi Bear (2010) – directed by Eric Brevig
The Campaign (2012) – directed by Jay Roach
The Ultimate Sacrifice (2012) – directed by Octavian O. – short
Behind the Candelabra (2013) – directed by Steven Soderbergh – TV movie
Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return (2014) – directed by Daniel St. Pierre & Will Finn
Tammy (2014) – directed by Ben Falcone
Get on Up (2014) – directed by Tate Taylo
Pixels (2015) – directed by Chris Columbus – cameo
Ghostbusters (2016)* – directed by Paul Fieg – cameo – also executive producer
Cleanin’ Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) – directed by Anthony Bueno – himself – documentary
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)* – directed by Jason Reitman – also executive producer

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