In August 1979, Shearer was hired as a writer and cast member on Saturday Night Live, one of the first additions to the cast, and an unofficial replacement for John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, who were both leaving the show.

The halftime show was titled " Blues Brothers Bash " and featured actors Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman, and James Belushi as the Blues Brothers.

Aykroyd was born on July 1, 1952, at the Ottawa General Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

This would greatly interest Aykroyd, who stated: " All that stuff was hanging around the old farmhouse I grew up in, so I was kind of steeped in it.

Aykroyd was raised in the Roman Catholic Church, and had intended to become a priest until the age of seventeen.

Had I lived in a different town I don't think that this would have happened, because it was just the confluence of educated government workers, and then also all the colleges in the area, Ottawa University, Carleton, and all the schools — these people were interested in blues culture .< ref > Still on a mission from God ; interview with Dan Aykroyd by Roger Gatchet, May 18, 2007, www. austinsound. net.

Some assert that it was Ottawa artist Arthur II who joined the band to play drums and that, at best, Aykroyd was a member of the audience.

Aykroyd gained fame on the American late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live, where he was a writer and the youngest cast member for its first four seasons, from 1975 to 1979.

While Aykroyd was a close friend and partner with fellow cast member John Belushi and shared some of the same sensibilities, Aykroyd was more reserved and less self-destructive.

During his monologue, he did a musical bit with James Belushi that was similar to the Blues Brothers, but neither Aykroyd nor Belushi donned the famous black suit and sunglasses.

Aykroyd was good friends with John Belushi.

According to Aykroyd, it was his first meeting with Belushi that helped spark their popular Blues Brothers act.

When they met in a club Aykroyd frequented, Aykroyd put on a blues record to play in the background, and it stimulated a fascination with blues in Belushi, who was primarily a fan of heavy rock bands at the time.

Though devastated by his friend's death, Aykroyd presented the award alone, remarking from the stage " My partner would have loved to have been here to present this, given that he was something of a visual effect himself.

" In the biography " Belushi ", Aykroyd claims that Belushi was the only man he could ever dance with.

Aykroyd used to joke that the green ghost ( who would later come to be known as " Slimer ") was " the ghost of John Belushi ," based on the similar party animal personality.

Aykroyd was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1989's Driving Miss Daisy.

Daniel Edward " Dan " Aykroyd, ( born July 1, 1952 ) is a Canadian comedian, singer, actor and screenwriter.

Aykroyd wrote the liner notes for fellow Ottawa born blues musician JW-Jones ' album Bluelisted in 2008.

Devo also contributed two songs, " Theme from Doctor Detroit " and " Luv-Luv " to the 1983 Dan Aykroyd film Doctor Detroit, and produced a music video for " Theme from Doctor Detroit " featuring clips from the film with live action segments.

Aykroyd educated Belushi on the finer points of blues music and, with a little encouragement from then-SNL music director Paul Shaffer, it led to the creation of their Blues Brothers characters.

In 1992, Aykroyd, along with many other notable music and Hollywood personalities, founded the House of Blues.

Aykroyd still performs as Elwood back with Belushi's younger brother James Belushi, who plays " Brother Zee " on stage.

Concurrent with his work in Saturday Night Live, Aykroyd played the role of Purvis Bickle, lift operator at the fictitious office block 99 Sumach Street in the CBC Television series Coming Up Rosie.

After leaving Saturday Night Live, Aykroyd starred in a number of films ( mostly comedies ), with uneven results both commercially and artistically.

Aykroyd originally wrote the role of Dr. Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters ( 1984 ) with Belushi in mind, but rewrote the part for Bill Murray after Belushi died.

Ghostbusters became a huge success for Aykroyd as a co-creator, co-writer, and one of the lead actors ; the film's inspiration came from Aykroyd's fascination with parapsychology.

Other films that starred Aykroyd in the 1990s included Exit to Eden, Blues Brothers 2000, and Getting Away with Murder ; these were also poorly received.

In 2009, Aykroyd along with Harold Ramis, wrote and appeared in Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which also featured Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, William Atherton, and Brian Doyle-Murray.

" ( The two had co-starred in the film Spies Like Us, another film in which Aykroyd had hopes, which Belushi's death had dashed, that John Belushi would co-star with him.

Aykroyd described himself ( in a radio interview with Terry Gross ) as having mild Tourette syndrome that was successfully treated with therapy when he was a preteen, as well as mild Asperger syndrome.

As of 2006, Aykroyd has entered a partnership with Niagara Cellars, which owns four wineries in the Niagara region.

Aykroyd would carry his badge with him at all times.

* Aykroyd displaying his webbed toes which he prodded with a screwdriver to prove they were not make-up.

Aykroyd also contributes his voice to the weekly House of Blues Radio Hour, which he hosts in the character of Elwood Delaney aka Elwood Blues.

This book chronicled the family's historical involvement in the Spiritualist Movement, to which Aykroyd readily refers.

Playing on a stereotype of his famous TV role, he wore the trademark fedora and black suit when he made an appearance as guest host of a 1977 episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live that included a spoof of Highway Patrol, featuring Dan Aykroyd, a longtime fan of the original show, and one in which he portrayed FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, in a humorous send-up of Hoover's suspect sexuality.

Phoenix was an investor in the original House of Blues ( founded by his good friend and Sneakers co-star Dan Aykroyd ) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which opened its doors to the public after serving a group of homeless people on Thanksgiving Day 1992 .< ref >

Willow was also nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Screenplay, which lost to Cocktail and Worst Supporting Actor for Billy Barty, who lost to Dan Aykroyd for Caddyshack II.

The original story, as written by Aykroyd, was very different from what was eventually filmed ; in the initial version, a group of " Ghostsmashers " traveled through time, space, and other dimensions combating huge ghosts ( of which the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man was one of many ).

At Reitman's suggestion, the story was given a major overhaul, eventually evolving into the final screenplay which Aykroyd and Ramis hammered out over the course of three weeks in a Martha's Vineyard bomb shelter in May – June 1982.

This is an EP Release is the RIAA Gold certified second Digital Underground release, from which two songs, " Tie the Knot " and " Same Song " were featured in the film Nothing But Trouble starring Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Demi Moore, and John Candy.

Aykroyd regularly began his reply with " Jane, you ignorant slut ", which became another of the many SNL catch phrases ( Curtin frequently began her reply with " Dan, you pompous ass ").

The earliest of these was the Blues Brothers, the dark-suited alter egos of Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, which spawned two movies and an actual blues record.

Sheen played a gay aristocrat in an ensemble cast which included James McAvoy, Emily Mortimer, David Tennant, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Broadbent and Peter O ' Toole.

The concert was hosted by actor / singer Dan Aykroyd, and vendors sold Alberta beef in support of the Canadian beef industry, which had recently suffered because of a case of mad cow disease.

The film garnered a 89 % approval rating from 38 critics — an average rating of 7. 2 out of 10 — on the review-aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, which said, " featuring deft interplay between Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, Trading Places is an immensely appealing social satire.

He appeared much less at ease as the center of a " Failure to Surf " comedy sketch in which " surf cops " Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi pull Brian out of bed and force him to ride the waves outside.

In it, a 1974 Monaco which was formerly a Mount Prospect, Illinois police cruiser is purchased by Elwood Blues ( Dan Aykroyd ) and used as the brothers ' transportation.

This would take the form of a tacked-on ending for a different film each week, for example as extra final scene for Blues Brothers 2000 which saw Dan Aykroyd and John Goodman laughing and urinating on the grave of John Belushi before driving off in the Bluesmobile.

Cast member Dan Aykroyd was selected to portray the new president in the subsequent seasons, all of which overemphasized Carter's southern roots and the country twang in his voice.

Dan Aykroyd and wife Donna Dixon, a native of Northern Virginia, frequent the parade, and also own a summer house in Winchester, which they visit often.

The Coneheads is a sketch on Saturday Night Live ( SNL ) which originated on the January 15, 1977, episode, and starred Dan Aykroyd as father Beldar, Jane Curtin as mother Prymaat, and Laraine Newman as daughter Connie.