Dan Aykroyd
Biography
Life Story
Daniel Edward Aykroyd was born on July 1, 1952 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to Lorraine Hélène (Gougeon), a secretary from a French-Canadian family, and Samuel Cuthbert Peter Hugh Aykroyd, a civil engineer who advised prime minister Pierre Trudeau. Aykroyd attended Carleton University in 1969, where he majored in Criminology and Sociology, but he dropped out before completing his degree. He worked as a comedian in various Canadian nightclubs and managed an after-hours speakeasy, Club 505, in Toronto for several years. He worked with Second City Stage Troupe in Toronto and started his acting career at Carleton University with Sock'n'Buskin, the campus theater/drama club. Married to Donna Dixon since 1983, they have three daughters. His parents are named Peter and Lorraine and his brother Peter Aykroyd is a psychic researcher. Dan received an honorary Doctorate from Carleton University in 1994 and was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1998.
Family
Trivia
As an avid blues fan, he hosted a nationally syndicated radio show "House of Blues" as his The Blues Brothers (1980) character Elwood Blues.
A police buff, he rides an Ontario Provincial Police motorcycle, collects police badges, sometimes rides shotgun with detectives in squad cars, and owns a business in partnership with several Toronto police officers.
Was good friends with John Belushi.
Is very interested in the supernatural and has an extensive collection of books on the subject.
His grandfather was a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Was once engaged to Carrie Fisher.
Daughters with Donna Dixon: Danielle Alexandra (Danielle Aykroyd) (born November 18, 1989), Belle Kingston (born June 9, 1993), and Stella Irene August (April 5, 1998, weighing 6 lb at birth).
Worked as a mail sorter for Canada's national postal service before he became an actor.
Older brother of Peter Aykroyd. Like Peter, an alumnus of the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto.
He is a Roman Catholic, and is of English, Irish/Scottish, Dutch, French, and French-Canadian ancestry. On his father's side, he can trace his ancestry to the 15th century.
Is a victim of syndactylism, a birth defect where several digits are fused together. In Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (1979), he takes his shoes and socks off on-screen, to reveal this anomaly.
Co-owns House of Blues with friend Isaac Tigrett
On his passport, he lists his occupation as "Writer".
Has played harmonica since he was 17 years old.
Holds an advisory commission with the Police Department in Payne City, Georgia.
Once helped to subdue a drunk and disorderly passenger on a Montreal-to-Los Angeles flight.
Was offered the role of "D-Day" in Animal House (1978), but turned it down due to his commitment to Saturday Night Live (1975). According to John Landis, Lorne Michaels threatened to fire Aykroyd if he took the role.
Personal Quotes
If it hadn't been for Carleton [University], The Blues Brothers (1980) would never have been made.
'Ghostbusters 3' will never happen. Unless Bill Murray agrees. Everyone else would love to do it--Columbia, [Harold Ramis], myself, [Ivan Reitman]. It's a five-way rights situation and Bill is locking up his piece of the rights because he feels that was work he just wants preserved and he doesn't want it diluted. As an artist I can respect that.
[on Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)] Basically they gave us the budget to make the film. We got paid zero. I wanted Jim Belushi to play the part Joe Morton did, but he was doing a TV show and couldn't do it. But Morton did a great job and John Goodman did a good job. I think it's a good companion piece to the first film.
Chevy Chase was the first to make it huge - people would recognize him in the street: 'Hey Chubby Chase, look at Chubby Chase'. Everybody knew who he was. He was the first to start on a movie career and maybe [John Belushi] was a little jealous. But I liked Chevy and was sorry to see him leave Saturday Night Live (1975)]. He's one of the master physical comedians. I think you can place Buster Keaton and Chevy in the same sentence and be pretty safe there.
[when asked if he ever gets recognized for anything] I have this young female demographic that recognizes me as the dad from My Girl (1991) and this older female demographic that recognizes me as the son from Driving Miss Daisy (1989).
[eulogizing his good friend and fellow Blues Brother, the late great John Belushi] "...A good man, but a bad boy."
The entertainment business is not the be-all and end-all for me.
I have this kind of mild nice-guy exterior, but inside my heart is like a steel trap. I'm really quite robotic.
I get off on fantasy. I love fiction of all kinds. I've always been a big fan of science fiction and of the worlds of the spiritual and the mystic. I think those areas are a never-ending source for story ideas.
My attitude has always been, "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if -." If this makes me laugh, maybe somebody else will laugh at it, too. That's really where I've always come from. My whole thing is to entertain, make people laugh and to forget about the real world for awhile. It's not always easy doing that. I'm never completely happy with anything I've done. If I've been successful with 80 percent of everything I've done, then I'm doing all right by the audience and myself.
