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Jim Belushi

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Jim Belushi
Belushi in 1982
Born
James Adam Belushi

(1954-06-15) June 15, 1954 (age 70)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Other namesJames Belushi, "The Belush", Zee Blues
EducationSouthern Illinois University Carbondale
Occupation(s)Actor, voice actor, comedian, musician
Years active1977–present
Spouse(s)
Sandra Davenport
​
​
(m. 1980; div. 1988)​

​
​
(m. 1990; div. 1992)​

Jennifer Sloan
​
(m. 1993)​
Children3; including Robert Belushi
RelativesJohn Belushi (brother)
Websitejimbelushi.ws

James Adam "Jim" Belushi (born June 15, 1954)[1] is an American actor, voice actor, comedian and musician. He is the younger brother of late comic actor John Belushi and father of actor Robert Belushi, best known for playing the role of James "Jim" Orenthal on the long-running sitcom According to Jim (2001-2009).

Belushi has also been a prominent figure in cinema, performing in films such as Thief (1981), Little Shop of Horrors (1986),Trading Places (1983), Salvador (1986), Red Heat (1988), Who's Harry Crumb? (1989), Mr. Destiny (1990), Last Action Hero (1993), Jingle All the Way (1996), Wag the Dog (1997), Return to Me (2000), The Wild (2006), Underdog (2007), The Ghost Writer (2010), Home Sweet Hell (2015) and The Whole Truth (2016).

Early life

Belushi was born in Chicago [1] to Adam Anastos Belushi an Albanian from the city of Korçë[2] and Agnes Demetri Samaras Belushi.[3] He was raised in Wheaton, a Chicago suburb, along with his three siblings: older brother John, his older sister, Marian, and a younger brother, Billy.[3][4][5][6] After graduating from Wheaton Central High School, Jim 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 The Man with One Red Shoe (1985), 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, Jingle All The Way, Separate Lives, Retroactive, Gang Related, Angel's Dance and Joe Somebody (2001).

His voice work includes The Mighty Ducks, The Pebble and the Penguin, Babes in Toy land, Gargoyles and Hey Arnold!, and the more recent Hoodwinked, Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King 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. In 1997, he portrayed the "Masked Mutant" in the Goosebumps PC video game, alongside Adam West as "The Galloping Gazelle". 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.[7] 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.

Belushi in House of Blues in Houston, 2008

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 take interest in his Albanian ancestry. During his visit to Tirana on November 11, 2008, he received the order Honor of the Nation from the President of Albania, H.E. Bamir Topi. On October 9, 2009, he received Albanian citizenship.[8][9][10] He 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.[11] The one-hour series premiered on September 22, 2010.[12] In two episodes in 2011, Belushi was paired with Blues Brothers partner Dan Aykroyd.[13][14] On May 15, 2011, The Defenders was canceled by CBS.[15] In 2011, he was cast as corrupt businessman Harry Brock in Born Yesterday, which opened on Broadway in late April.[16]

Personal life

Belushi has been married three times and has three children. He married Sandra Davenport on May 17, 1980, and the couple had a son, Robert James (also an actor, born October 23, 1980). Belushi was married to actress Marjorie Bransfield from 1990 to 1992. He has been married to Jennifer Sloan since May 2, 1998. The couple has a daughter, Jamison Bess (born July 28, 1999), and a son, Jared James (born February 8, 2002). Belushi is closely linked to his Albanian heritage and received honorary Albanian citizenship from the President of Albania, Bamir Topi.[10] Belushi is an avid fan of the Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Bears, Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Fire Soccer Club.[17]

In 2011, Belushi announced that he suffered from gout, and became a spokesman for Savient Pharmaceuticals' educational campaign "Check Out Your Gout".[18][19] He has also appeared on the cover of and been interviewed by Cigar Aficionado magazine.[20]

Belushi endorsed the re-election campaign of Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012. On a Fox News interview, he explained, "When you talk to the President in private, he's a cool guy, that knows what he's doing. Besides, I'm from Chicago too."[21]

Filmography

Film and television roles
Year Title Role Notes
1978 The Fury Beach Bum Uncredited
1979 Working Stiffs Ernie O'Rourke 9 episodes
1981 Thief Barry
1983 Trading Places Harvey
1983–85 Saturday Night Live Various 33 episodes; also writer
1985 The Man with One Red Shoe Morris
1986 Little Shop of Horrors Patrick Martin Cameo
1986 Salvador Doctor Rock
1986 Jumpin' Jack Flash Sperry Repair Man
1986 About Last Night... Bernie Litgo
1987 The Principal Principal Rick Latimer
1987 Real Men Nick Pirandello
1988 Red Heat Det. Sgt. Arthur Ridzik
1989 K-9 Detective Michael Dooley
1989 Homer and Eddie Homer Lanza
1989 Who's Harry Crumb? Man on Bus Uncredited cameo
1990 Taking Care of Business Jimmy Dworski
1990 Mr. Destiny Larry Joseph Burrows
1990 Masters of Menace Gypsy
1990 Dimenticare Palermo Carmine Bonavia
1990 Wedding Band Reverend
1991 Curly Sue Bill Dancer
1991 Diary of a Hitman Shandy
1991 Only the Lonely Salvatore Buonarte
1991 Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe Principal Rick Latimer
1992 Traces of Red Jack Dobson
1992 Once Upon a Crime Neil
1993 Wild Palms Harry Wyckoff 5 episodes
1993 Last Action Hero Himself Cameo
1994 Royce Shane Royce Television film
1994 Parallel Lives Television film
1994–97 Aaahh!!! Real Monsters Simon the Monster Hunter Voice role, 8 episodes
1995 Sahara Sergeant Joe Gunn Television film
1995 Canadian Bacon Charles Jackal
1995 Separate Lives Tom Beckwith
1995 The Pebble and the Penguin Rocko Voice role
1995 Destiny Turns on the Radio Tuerto
1995 Irving Gay Vampire #2 Cameo
1995–96 Gargoyles Fang Voice role, 3 episodes
1996 Jingle All the Way Mall Santa
1996 Race the Sun Frank Machi
1996 Gold in the Streets Mario
1996 Pinky and the Brain Additional characters Voice role, 3 episodes
1996–97 Mighty Ducks Phil Palmfeather Voice role, 23 episodes
1996 9: The Last Resort Salty Voice role
1996–99 Hey Arnold! Coach Jack Wittenberg Voice role, 4 episodes
1997 Gang Related Frank Divinci
1997 Retroactive Frank Lloyd
1997 Living in Peril Harrison/Oliver
1997 Disney's Bad Baby Dad Voice role
1997 Wag the Dog Himself (as Jim Belushi)
1997 Total Security Steve Wegman 13 episodes
1998 Overnight Delivery Overnight Delivery Boss Scenes deleted
1999 Angel's Dance Stevie 'The Rose' Rosellini
1999 Made Men Bill "The Mouth" Manucci
1999 K-911 Detective Michael Dooley
1999 My Neighbors the Yamadas Takashi English dub
1999 The Florentine Billy Belasco
1999 The Nuttiest Nutcracker Reginald the Mouse King Voice role
2000 Return to Me Joe Dayton
2000 Who Killed Atlanta's Children? Pat Laughlin
2001 Joe Somebody Chuck Scarett
2001 ER Dan Harris Episode: "Piece of Mind"
2001–09 According to Jim James "Jim" Orenthal 182 episodes; also Executive producer
2002 Snow Dogs Demon Voice cameo
2002 Pinocchio The Farmer English voice role
2002 One Way Out Harry Wooltz
2002 K-9: P.I. Detective Michael Dooley
2003 Easy Six Elvis
2003 Ozzy & Drix Captain Quinine Voice role, episode: "The Conqueror Worm"
2004 DysEnchanted Doctor (The Shrink)
2004 Less Than Perfect Eddie Smirkoff
2005 Hoodwinked! Kirk the Woodsman Voice role
2006 Casper's Scare School Alder Voice role
2006 The Wild Benny Voice role
2006 Tugger: The Jeep 4x4 Who Wanted to Fly Tugger Voice role[22]
2007 Underdog Dan Unger
2007 Once Upon a Christmas Village Santa Claus Voice role
2008 Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King Glob Voice role
2008 Snow Buddies Saint Bernie Voice role
2010 The Ghost Writer John Maddox
2010 The Defenders Nick Morelli 18 episodes
2011 Cougars, Inc. Dan Fox
2011 New Year's Eve Building Super
2012 The Secret Lives of Dorks Bronko
2012 Thunderstruck Coach Amross
2012 Doc McStuffins Glo-Bo Voice role, 6 episodes
2014 Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return Lion Voice role
2014 Home Sweet Hell Les
2015 Show Me a Hero Angelo R. Martinelli 3 episodes
2015 Building Belushi Himself 6 episodes
2015 Urban Cowboy Pilot
2016 Undrafted Jim
2016 The Whole Truth Boone Lassiter
2016 The Hollow Point Diaz
2017 Twin Peaks
2017 Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie Coach Wittenberg Voice role[23]
2017 Untitled Woody Allen project Filming

Characters on Saturday Night Live

  • Hank Rippy (Hello, Trudy!)
  • Man on the Street Jesse Donnelly
  • That White Guy, a stereotypical Caucasian man who can rap

Celebrity impersonations

References

  1. ^ a b "Jim Belushi". TVGuide.com. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  2. ^ http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/m/a/h/Denny-Mahoney/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0528.html
  3. ^ a b http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/m/a/h/Denny-Mahoney/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0531.html
  4. ^ "Saturday Night Live Bio". NBC. Archived from the original on February 6, 2009.
  5. ^ "John Belushi Biography (1949–1982)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  6. ^ Broyard, Anatole (June 2, 1984). "Close-Up of John Belushi". The New York Times.
  7. ^ "Jim Belushi stars as suburban father in According to Jim". Biography.com. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  8. ^ Presidenti Topi i dorëzon aktorit të mirënjohur holliudian, Xhejms Belushi, dekretin për marrjen e nënshtetësisë shqiptare., Presidency of Albania, 2009-10-09
  9. ^ DEKRET PËR DHËNIE TE SHTETËSISË SHQIPTARE NR. 6274., Presidency of Albania
  10. ^ a b "Xhejms Belushi merr shtetësinë shqiptare". Shekulli (in Albanian). Tirana. October 10, 2009. Archived from the original on October 12, 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Ausiello, Michael. "Pilot Intel: Jim Belushi eyes CBS' 'Defenders'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  12. ^ "'The Defenders' stars Jerry O'Connell, Jim Belushi chat with CBS 6". WRGB. September 16, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
  13. ^ "Dan Aykroyd to Reunite with Jim Belushi on The Defenders". TVGuide.com. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
  14. ^ "TV Highlights: Dan Aykroyd on 'The Defenders'; Dina Lohan on '20/20'; 'Gold Rush: Alaska' finale". The Washington Post. February 18, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
  15. ^ "The Defenders Cancelled by CBS; $#*! My Dad Says Cancelled by CBS; Mad Love Cancelled by CBS – Ratings | TVbytheNumbers". Tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com. May 15, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  16. ^ "Born Yesterday, Starring Jim Belushi and Nina Arianda, Sets Dates at Broadway's Cort Theatre". Broadway.com.
  17. ^ "Jim Belushi loves his teams—and his haters". RedEye Chicago. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  18. ^ "Savient Pharmaceuticals and Jim Belushi Launch 'Check Out Your Gout' Educational Campaign" (Press release). Savient Pharmaceuticals. November 7, 2011.
  19. ^ Dougherty, Christopher (December 6, 2012). "'King of comedy' Jim Belushi speaks out about gout". FoxNews.com. Fox News Network, LLC. Retrieved March 7, 2016. Belushi found relief from his gout by taking the medicine allopurinol, which eliminated his high levels of uric acid. However, for people suffering from RCG, conventional treatment such as this may be ineffective. Belushi has partnered with the website http://checkoutyourgout.com/ in hopes of sending a message to gout sufferers that they don't have to live in pain. {{cite web}}: External link in |quote= (help)
  20. ^ Rhodes, Joe (March 1, 1994). "Jim Belushi's Big Year". Cigar Aficionado.
  21. ^ "Obama Courts Campaign Donors on West Coast". Huffington Post. February 16, 2012.
  22. ^ Tugger
  23. ^ Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold! movie gets title; 19 original voice actors returning Entertainment Weekly, Retrieved June 13, 2016
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