John Belushi was born on January 24, 1949, in Chicago.

Belushi, one of four children, was raised in Wheaton and attended Wheaton Central High School. Taking to acting early, Belushi started his own comedy group in 1971 and was promptly asked to join the cast at The Second City. It was here that he would meet fellow “Blues Brothers” actor Dan Akroyd. After his work in “National Lampoon Lemmings,” Belushi and his girlfriend Judith Jacklin moved to New York to work for “National Lampoon” magazine, and the couple married in December of 1976.

In 1975, he became a cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” where he would eventually create characters like Samurai Futaba and the Blues Brothers. During his tenure with the show, Belushi developed a bad drug and alcohol addiction that affected his ability to perform, and caused him to be fired numerous times. In 1978, Belushi made the film Animal House where he played John Blutarsky, a drunken degenerate fraternity brother.

Eventually he left “Saturday Night Live” in 1981 to pursue a film career, and he created four movies of which three (“1941,” “Neighbors” and “The Blues Brothers”) co-starred fellow SNL-alum Dan Akroyd. Following these films, Belushi starred in the romantic comedy “Continental Divide” and pursued multiple other film projects. However, on March 5, 1982 John Belushi was found dead in his hotel room in Hollywood, California after overdosing on drugs the night before. Belushi was 33 years old.

Learn more:
John Belushi's IMDb profile
Soul Men: The Making of The Blues Brothers (Vanity Fair)