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.

Aykroyd was born with syndactyly, or webbed toes, which was revealed in the movie Mr. Mike's Mondo Video and in a short film on Saturday Night Live titled " Don't Look Back In Anger.

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.

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.

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.

The Chambers were used as part of the location for The House of Mirth an adaptation of the novel by Edith Wharton by Terence Davies starring Gillian Anderson and Dan Aykroyd.

Parodies of Popeil's infomercials were done on the comedy show Saturday Night Live by Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy and the " Veg-O-Matic " may have provided comedian Gallagher inspiration for the " Sledge-O-Matic " routine since the 1980s.

Aykroyd and Belushi were scheduled to present the Academy Award for Visual Effects in 1982, but Belushi died only a few weeks prior to the ceremony.

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.

In February 2007, Aykroyd revealed that he would be providing voice-acting for a Ghostbusters III CGI project, though these rumours were clarified later on, that the CGI project was a next-gen video game that was currently in production.

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

In 2009, Aykroyd contributed a series of reminiscences on his upbringing in Canada for a charity album titled Dan Aykroyd's Canada.

On March 20, 2012, Aykroyd said he is about to work on a script for a comedy that would also star Chevy Chase.

Aykroyd also received a dubious honour in 1997, when the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal awarded him the Snuffed Candle award, for " contributing to the public's lack of understanding of the methods of scientific inquiry.

Aykroyd also read the introduction for the audio version of the book.

Shaffer occasionally teamed up with the Not Ready for Prime-Time Players off the show as well, including work on Gilda Radner's highly successful Broadway show and as the musical director for John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd whenever they recorded or performed as The Blues Brothers.

French director Louis Malle adapted the Abscam story into a film script entitled Moon Over Miami, with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi set to star, with Belushi playing a fictionalized version of Weinberg ; Belushi's death in March 1982 scuttled plans for the film.

Aykroyd and Ramis initially wrote the script with roles written especially for Belushi, Eddie Murphy, and John Candy ; but Belushi died during the writing of the screenplay, and neither Murphy nor Candy would commit to the movie, so Aykroyd and Ramis made some changes and polished a basic, science-fiction-oriented screenplay for their final draft.

He had a role in the 1981 Belushi / Aykroyd comedy Neighbors, and played the role of Carl Sweetchuck in three of the Police Academy films.

Aykroyd had major roles in several hit comedies and even earned an Academy Award nomination.

The remaining five nominations included: Best Actor ( Morgan Freeman ), Best Supporting Actor ( Dan Aykroyd ), Best Art Direction ( Bruno Rubeo, Crispian Sallis ), Best Costume Design, and Best Film Editing.

* Actor Dan Aykroyd and his wife Donna Dixon reside on the land originally settled by his great-grandfather Samuel-Cuthbert Aykroyd in the mid-19th century.

Actor Dan Aykroyd was once part-owner.

In 1948, after a driving mishap where her automobile is wrecked, Miss Daisy ’ s son, Boolie ( Dan Aykroyd ), tells her she will have to get a chauffeur because no insurance company will cover her.

Popular comedy stars in the 1980s included Dudley Moore, Tom Hanks, Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd.

Many of the original cast of Saturday Night Live came from The Second City and the franchise has produced such comedy stars as Mike Myers, Tina Fey, Bob Odenkirk, Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Eugene Levy, Steve Carell, Chris Farley, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.

Dan Aykroyd portrays Mack Sennett in the 1992 movie Chaplin.

" Later in the film, when the brothers are driving rapidly through Chicago, Elwood ( Dan Aykroyd ) comments " If my estimations are correct, we should be very close to the Honorable Richard J. Daley Plaza.

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

He grew up in the Canadian capital, where his father, Samuel Cuthbert Peter Hugh Aykroyd, a civil engineer, worked as a policy adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

Aykroyd's great-grandfather, Samuel Augustus Aykroyd ( 1855 – 1933 ), a dentist, had been a mystic and had been involved in Spiritualism.

This recollection of Aykroyd is subject to challenge.

Aykroyd brought a unique sensibility to the show, combining youth, unusual interests, talent as an impersonator and an almost lunatic intensity.