October 31 - John Candy

On this day, in 1950, comedian John Franklin Candy was born in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. After graduating high school, John enrolled at Centennial Community College to study journalism. Instead he was bitten by the acting bug.

In 1973, John made his big screen debut in a completely forgettable film, Class of '44 (the only notable thing about the film is, in fact, that it's John's debut). Several other bit parts in Canadian films would follow that one, the most impressive of which would be in The Silent Partner starring Elliott Gould. John's career wouldn't really get started until 1976 when he joined the Toronto branch of a little theater group called Second City.

Performing alongside the likes of Rick Moranis, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Harold Ramis and many others, John began to gain national acclaim. When the television series SCTV hit the airwaves, and NBC began broadcasting it in 1981, he gained international acclaim. John's gift for mimicry led to dozens of impersonations on the show, everyone from Julia Child to Orson Welles to Tip O'Neill. His original characters, like Leutonian clarinetist Yosh Shmenge, would not only delight on television but occasionally spill over onto the big screeen. John would also share in two Emmy wins for his writing contributions to the show.

During the run of SCTV, John's film career also ramped up. He made appearances in 1941, The Blues Brothers, Stripes, National Lampoon's Vacation and Going Berserk. After SCTV's last curtain fell, John's television days would be few and far between as he  moved onto the big screen almost exclusively. The remainder of the Eighties would be busy for John, if not always successful. His better roles would include Spaceballs, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Great Outdoors and Uncle Buck. His misses include Speed Zone, Hot to Trot and Volunteers.

John's contributions to the Disney family were consistently good. His first role for the studio was in 1984 for the very first film to be released under the Touchstone Pictures name, Splash. Playing Freddie Bauer, the womanizing older brother of Tom Hanks, John provided some of the best humor in the movie (I'm thinking of the scene where he impersonates a Swedish scientist). In 1990, he would be the voice of Wilbur in The Rescuers Down Under. Wilbur was the brother of Orville, the albatross in the original Rescuer movie who had been voiced by the late Jim Jordan. John's last turn with Disney was also the last film released during his lifetime: Irv Blitzer, the disgraced coach of the Jamaican bobsled team, in 1993's Cool Runnings.

Throughout the early Nineties, John's career kept chugging along. From small roles in films like Home Alone and JFK, to starring in Only the Lonely, he kept trying to prove he was more than just a lovable oaf. Unfortunately, his final two films wouldn't successfully prove that. On March 4, 1994, John's body would be discovered one morning during the filming of Wagon's East! in Mexico. Having suffered from weight issues his entire life, John had apparently had a fatal heart attack, although an autopsy was never performed. The makers of Wagons insist that they were nearly done filming John's parts, but, if you've ever had the misfortune to see it, he's barely in it and his character is mostly seen from far away and from the rear. The minute bits with John in it are fine; the film as a whole is so terrible it enjoys a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. John's final film to be released, Canadian Bacon, was only marginally better (a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and basically convinced its director, Michael Moore, to stick to documentaries. Thankfully, John's legacy was already cemented by this point and we'll all fondly remember him as a shower curtain ring salesman or as the Polka King.