James Belushi

Biography

Date of Birth 15 June 1954, Chicago, Illinois, USA Birth Name James Adam Belushi Height 5' 11" (1.80 m) Belushi was born in Chicago, Illinois but grew up in nearby Wheaton. He is the third of four children of Adam Belushi, an Albanian immigrant who left his native Qytezë village in 1934 at the age of 15, and Agnes, who was born in the U.S., and whose parents were also Albanian immigrants[citation needed]. (Belushi's Albanian heritage was later used as a minor plot point in a cameo appearance in Wag The Dog.) After graduating from Wheaton Central High School, Belushi attended College of DuPage and later Southern Illinois University and earned a degree in Speech and Theater Arts. From 1977 to 1980 Belushi, like his older brother, John Belushi, worked with the Chicago theater group The Second City. At one point, John called a director at Second City and instructed her that James was not to use any of John's old material. During this period, Belushi made his television debut in the 1978's Who's Watching the Kids and also had a small part in Brian De Palma's The Fury. His first significant role was in Michael Mann's Thief (1981). From 1983 to 1985 he appeared on Saturday Night Live; he portrayed characters such as Hank Rippy from "Hello, Trudy!", and "That White Guy." Belushi rose to greater prominence with his supporting roles in About Last Night..., Salvador, and Little Shop of Horrors (as Patrick Martin) (all 1986) which opened up opportunities for lead roles. He has starred in films including Real Men (1987), The Principal (1987), Red Heat (1988), Homer and Eddie, K-9 (1989), Dimenticare Palermo (1989), Taking Care of Business (1990), Mr. Destiny (1990), Curly Sue (1991), Wild Palms (1993), Royce (1994), Race the Sun (1996), Retroactive (1997), and Angel's Dance (1999). His voice work includes The Mighty Ducks, Babes in Toyland, and Hey Arnold!, and the more recent Hoodwinked and The Wild. On January 4, 2001, Belushi appeared on the ER episode "Piece of Mind". The episode focused on both Dr. Mark Greene's life-or-death brain surgery in New York and Belushi's character, who had been in a car accident with his son in Chicago. Belushi's performance contributed to his reemergence in the public eye, and the following year he was cast as the titular role in ABC's According to Jim, which has been panned by critics but has a stable viewer base. In 2003, Belushi and Dan Aykroyd released the album Have Love, Will Travel, and participated in an accompanying tour. He also performs at various venues nationwide as Zee Blues in an updated version of The Blues Brothers.