John Candy

According to the 1921 Canadian census records Candy's father Sidney was born to English parents who emigrated to Canada in 1913.

John Candy's mother was of Polish descent.

John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian who is best known for his work in Hollywood films.

Candy was born on October 31, 1950, in Toronto and grew up in Newmarket, Ontario.

The son of Sidney James Candy and Evangeline Candy, he was brought up in a working-class Catholic family.

His childhood home was at 217 Woodville Avenue in East York, Ontario.

His father died of complications of heart disease at age 35 in 1955 when John was five years old.

Candy attended Neil McNeil Catholic High School where he was the treasurer of the student council and played offensive tackle on the school's football team and participated in drama club.

Long before considering acting, Candy aspired to become a professional football player, but a knee injury during his high school football career prevented him from fulfilling his dream.

He later enrolled in Centennial College to study journalism, and then went to McMaster University.

He started acting while at college.

Candy first rose to national prominence in the 1970s as a member of the Toronto branch of the Second City and its SCTV sketch comedy series.

In 1971, Candy was cast in a small part as a Shriner in Creeps by David E. Freeman, a new Canadian play about cerebral palsy, in the inaugural season of the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto.

Candy became a member of Toronto's branch of The Second City in 1972.

He gained wide North America n popularity when he became a cast member on the influential Edmonton and later Toronto-based comedy-variety show Second City Television (SCTV).

Candy guest-starred on a Canadian children's television series, Cucumber, and made a small, uncredited appearance in Class of '44 (1973).

He had a small part in The ABC Afternoon Playbreak ("Last Bride of Salem") and had a regular role on the TV series Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins (1974–75).

In 1975 he played Richie, an accused killer, in the episode "Web of Guilt" on the Canadian TV show Police Surgeon.

He was in It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1975), shot in Canada, as well as the children's sitcom Coming Up Rosie (1975–78) with Dan Aykroyd.

Candy had a small role in Tunnel Vision (1976).

During the series' run he appeared in films such as The Clown Murders (1976) and had a lead in a low-budget comedy, Find the Lady (1976).In 1976, Candy played a supporting role (with Rick Moranis) on Peter Gzowski's short-lived late-night television talk show 90 Minutes Live.

In 1978, Candy had a small role as a bank employee (with Christopher Plummer and Elliott Gould) in the Canadian thriller The Silent Partner.

He guest starred on such shows as The David Steinberg Show and King of Kensington.

In 1979, Candy took a brief hiatus from SCTV and began a more active film career, appearing in a minor role in Lost and Found (1979) and playing a U.S. Army soldier in Steven Spielberg's big-budget comedy 1941.

He rose to international fame in the 1980s with his roles in comedic films such as Stripes, Splash, Brewster's Millions, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Spaceballs, The Great Outdoors, Uncle Buck, and Cool Runnings.

He also appeared in supporting roles in The Blues Brothers, National Lampoon's Vacation, Little Shop of Horrors, and Home Alone, and featured in dramatic roles in Only the Lonely and JFK.

He returned to Canada for roles in The Courage of Kavik, the Wolf Dog (1980) and the action thriller Double Negative (1980).

He had a supporting role as easygoing parole officer Burton Mercer in The Blues Brothers (1980), starring Aykroyd, and did an episode of Tales of the Klondike (1981) for Canadian TV.

In 1980, Candy hosted a short-lived NBC television program, Roadshow, described by The Washington Post as "improvisational journalism. " Appearing as himself, Candy and a video crew traveled in a tour bus to Baton Rouge, Louisiana (home of Louisiana State University), and Carbondale, Illinois, home of Southern Illinois University Carbondale), and interviewed college students amid party atmospheres such as the latter's Halloween street celebration. He also obtained backstage access to interview Midge Ure, the lead singer of the UK electronic band Ultravox, which performed a concert on the SIU campus the evening of 10/31/80. It is unknown if more than two episodes aired.

NBC picked the show up in 1981 and quickly became a fan favorite.

It won Emmy Awards for the show's writing in 1981 and 1982.

Among Candy's SCTV characters were unscrupulous street-beat TV personality Johnny LaRue, 3-D horror auteur Doctor Tongue, sycophantic and easily amused talk-show sidekick William B. Williams, and Melonville's corrupt Mayor Tommy Shanks.

Candy played the lovable, mild-mannered Army recruit Dewey Oxberger in Stripes (1981), directed by Canadian Ivan Reitman, which was one of the most successful films of the year.

He provided voices for multiple characters in the animated film Heavy Metal (1981), most notably as the title character in the "Den" segment, which was well-received, including by the character's creator, Richard Corben, who singled out Candy's humorously lighthearted interpretation of the title character as excellent.

From 1981 to 1983, Candy appeared in SCTV Network on television.

He made a cameo appearance in Harold Ramis' National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), his first collaboration with John Hughes, who wrote the script.

Candy appeared on Saturday Night Live twice (hosting in 1983) while still appearing on SCTV.

In addition to his work as an actor, Candy was a co-owner of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and the team won the 1991 Grey Cup under his ownership.

He died in 1994 at the age of 43.

His final two film appearances, Wagons East and Canadian Bacon, are dedicated to his memory.