Early life
Jim Belushi was born in Chicago. He is the son of Agnes (née Samaras), who was of Albanian descent, and Adam Belushi (1918–1996), an Albanian immigrant and restaurant operator who left his native village, Qytezë, in 1934 at the age of sixteen. He was raised in a Chicago suburb, along with his three siblings: older brother John, his sister, Marian, and a younger brother, Billy. After graduating from Wheaton Central High School, James Belushi attended the College of DuPage and graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with a degree in Speech and Theater Arts.
Career
From 1977 to 1980, Belushi, like his older brother John Belushi, worked with the Chicago theater group The Second City. During this period, Belushi made his television debut in 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). After his elder brother John's death, 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 also appeared in the film Trading Places as a drunk man in a gorilla suit during a New Year's Eve party. He made a guest appearance in Faerie Tale Theatre's third season episode Pinocchio, starring Paul Reubens as the titular puppet.
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, The Principal, Red Heat, Homer and Eddie, K-9, Dimenticare Palermo, Taking Care of Business, Mr. Destiny, Only the Lonely, Curly Sue, Once Upon A Crime, Wild Palms, Royce, Race the Sun, Separate Lives, Retroactive, Gang Related, Angel's Dance and Joe Somebody (2001). K-9 produced two sequels that were released straight to video, K-911, featuring Mac, Sonto & Reno as "Jerry Lee", K-9: P.I., featuring King as "Jerry Lee", and The George Lopez Show as the building inspector in "George's Extreme Makeover: Holmes Edition".
His voice work includes The Mighty Ducks, Babes in Toyland, Gargoyles and Hey Arnold!, and the more recent Hoodwinked and The Wild. He also lent his vocal talents for 9: The Last Resort (a PC game released in 1995), in which he portrayed "Salty", a coarse yet helpful character. 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 re-emergence in the public eye, and the following year he was cast as the title role in ABC's According to Jim. His first animation voice-over was as a pimple on Krum's head in Aaahh!!! Real Monsters on Nickelodeon. That performance led him to be cast in the continuing role as Simon the Monster Hunter in that series, where he ad-libbed much of his own dialogue.
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. He released his first book, Real Men Don't Apologize, in May 2006.
Recently, Belushi was a narrator of an NFL offensive linemen commercial. Belushi also introduced the starting lineups for the University of Illinois football team during ABC's telecast of the 2008 Rose Bowl.
Belushi started to grow interest in his ancestry in Albania. During his visit to Tirana on November 11, 2008, Belushi received the order Honor of the Nation from the President of Albania, H.E. Bamir Topi. On October 10, 2009, he finally received the Albanian citizenship.
Belushi appeared in MC Hammer's video "Too Legit to Quit" in 1991 (in the extended full-length version). He also hosted a celebration rally for the Chicago Cubs playoff series in Chicago prior to the 2008 World Series. Steve Dahl has dubbed him "The Funniest Living Belushi."
In 2010, Belushi was cast in a pilot for CBS called The Defenders a series about defense lawyers. The one-hour series premiered on September 22, 2010. In two episodes in 2011, Belushi was paired with Blues Brothers partner Dan Aykroyd.
Personal life
Belushi has been married three times and has three children. He married Sandra Davenport on May 17, 1980 and had a son, Robert James (born October 23, 1980), with her before they divorced. He was married to Marjorie Bransfield from 1990 to 1992. He has been married to Jennifer Sloan since May 2, 1998, with whom he has a daughter, Jamison Bess (born July 28, 1999), and a son, Jared James (born February 8, 2002). They live in Brentwood, Los Angeles.
Belushi is closely linked to his Albanian heritage and recently received the Albanian honorary citizenship by the President of Albania, Bamir Topi.
Belushi is an avid fan of the Chicago Blackhawks, the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Fire Soccer Club.
Filmography
1979 Working Stiffs Ernie O'Rourke 9 episodes
1981 Thief Barry
1983 Trading Places Harvey
1983–1985 Saturday Night Live Various 33 episodes
1985 The Man with One Red Shoe Morris
1986 Little Shop of Horrors Patrick Cameo Appearance
Salvador Doctor Rock
Jumpin' Jack Flash Cab driver, police officer, Sperry repair man
About Last Night... Bernie Litgo
1987 The Principal Rick Latimer
Real Men Nick Pirandello
1988 Red Heat Det. Sgt. Art Ridzic (Ridžić)
1989 K-9 Detective Michael Dooley
Homer and Eddie Homer Lanza
Who's Harry Crumb? Man on Bus uncredited
1990 Taking Care of Business Jimmy Dworski
Mr. Destiny Larry Joseph Burrows
Masters of Menace Gypsy
Dimenticare Palermo Carmine Bonavia
Wedding Band Reverend
1991 Curly Sue Bill Dancer
Diary of a Hitman Shandy
Only the Lonely Salvatore Buonarte
Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe Principal Latimer
1992 Traces of Red Jack Dobson
Once Upon a Crime Neil
1993 Wild Palms Harry Wyckoff (mini-series)
Last Action Hero Himself
1994 Royce Shane Royce Television
Parallel Lives Television
1995 Sahara Sergeant Joe Gunn Television
Canadian Bacon Charles Jackal
Separate Lives Tom Beckwith
Gargoyles Fang 3 episodes, 1995–1996
The Pebble and the Penguin Rocko Voice
Destiny Turns on the Radio Tuerto
Irving Gay Vampire #2
1996 Jingle All the Way Mall Santa
Race the Sun Frank Machi
Gold in the Streets Mario
Pinky and the Brain Additional voices 3 episodes
Mighty Ducks Phil Palmfeather 3 episodes
Hey Arnold! Coach Wittenberg 4 episodes, 1996–1999
1997 Gang Related Frank Divinci Alongside Tupac Shakur
Retroactive Frank Lloyd Time travel
Living in Peril Harrison/Oliver
Disney's Bad Baby Dad Voice
Wag the Dog Himself (as Jim Belushi)
Total Security Steve Wegman 13 episodes
1998 Overnight Delivery Overnight Delivery Boss scenes deleted
1999 Angel's Dance Stevie 'The Rose' Rosellini
Made Men Bill "The Mouth" Manucci
K-911 Detective Michael Dooley Video
My Neighbors the Yamadas Takashi voice: English version
The Florentine Billy Belasco
2000 Return to Me Joe Dayton
2001 Joe Somebody Chuck Scarett
According to Jim James "Jim" Orenthal 182 episodes, 2001–2009
2002 Snow Dogs Demon Voice (small role)
Pinocchio The Farmer (English voice)
K-9: P.I. Detective Michael Dooley
2003 Easy Six Elvis
2004 DysEnchanted Doctor (The Shrink)
Less Than Perfect Eddie Smirkoff
2005 Hoodwinked! Woodsman Voice
2006 Casper's Scare School Alder Voice
The Wild Benny Voice
Tugger The 4x4 Jeep That Wanted to Fly Tugger Voice
2007 Underdog Dan Unger (Father)
Once Upon a Christmas Village Santa Claus Voice
2008 Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King Goblin Voice
Snow Buddies rescue dog Voice
2010 The Ghost Writer John Maddox
2010 The Defenders Nick Morelli Television
2011 Cougars, Inc. Dan Fox
2012 Dorothy of Oz The Cowardly Lion Voice (Pre-production)
Ice Age: Continental Drift Captain Marco Voice
Bronko
No comments:
Post a Comment