Bits & Pieces
This section will include quotes and small bits of information that are either parts of articles that don't feature Dan but which have sections or small blurbs of info about him or articles that are so small that they don't really need their own pages
Look Who's Coming to Dinner
From "Look Who's Coming to Dinner", E!Online's list
of interesting celebrities who should be invited to dinner parties.
The Blues Brother (and TV Soul Man) isn't just an expert on
the blues--but believe us, he's an expert on America's purest musical
form. (He even hangs at his own House of Blues--something you won't find
Sly or Bruce doing at their Planet Hollywoods.) But don't get him started
on the supernatural. He's got an extensive collection of books on the
subject--in fact, it was this interest that ignited the idea for
Ghostbusters. And if that's not enough, he's a big law-enforcement
buff--likes to ride shotgun in squad cars and collect badges.
Aykroyds Have Third Daughter
It's another girl for actor Dan Aykroyd and wife Donna Dixon.
The couple's third daughter -- Stella Irene Augustus Aykroyd -- was born
April 5 in New York and weighed 6-pounds, 14-ounces, publicist Susan
Patricola said yesterday in Los Angeles.
The Aykroyds, who married in 1983, have two other girls, Danielle, 8, and
Belle, 4. They live in New York.
The former "Saturday Night Live" comic and ex-Blues Brothers member
currently stars in the ABC series "Soul Man." Miss Dixon appeared on
the "Bosom Buddies" TV series.
Soul Man
Most appealing and least cloying of the lot is ABC's unassuming Soul
Man, starring Dan Aykroyd (the title trades a tad cheaply on Aykroyd's
fame as one of the Blues Brothers). Aykroyd portrays Mike Warner, a
motorcycle-riding, single-parent (widowed) Episcopal priest, and he
plays the role just about right: he takes the religious responsibility
seriously while expressing normal uncertainties and irreverence. Soul
Man portrays the common conflicts of parish life, but without getting
self-righteous like Nothing Sacred. Warner spars good-heartedly with
the church secretary over her vacuous New Age spirituality and
encourages an old army buddy to bring his troubles to Christ, but
doesn't hesitate to express annoyance at an antagonist in the
congregation or to stop by a local pub to hear the band. This is not a
profound show, but it has balance and charm.
Brigitte Pailet, on Interviewing Dan
Brigitte Pailet, Occupation: Entertainment reporter
What's one of your most memorable moments on the air?
I was getting ready to go on live at the NATPE (National Association
of Television Programming Executives) convention, and I had a snake
wrapped around me, which I was going to talk about. Thirty seconds
before I went live, Dan Aykroyd walked by. I pulled him into the shot
-- completely spontaneous. I said, "We're about to go live in 30
seconds, and he just went with it. He asked me to put the snake
around his neck. We did --and then the snake started going into my
face, with his little tongue. I was trying to be composed, but I was a
little scared with a snake in my face. (Aykroyd) said, I think he
really likes you.
Penny Marshall and Carrie Fisher Discuss Dan
CF: We are pieces of work, that's what we are. That's why we've been
such close friends for so many years.
PM: Since birth.
CF: Instant friends, from the moment we met. You were getting a
divorce, and I was going with Paul. Or was I leaving Paul?
PM: Going to leave him.
CF: And then you started going with Artie [Garfunkel]. And then there
was a minute there when I broke up with Paul and went out with Dan
Aykroyd and you started going out with a friend of his. Then at some
point we were all in the Caribbean together, and in a way we were
responsible for Simon and Garfunkel getting back together, right?
There have been some freaky moments when you and I would ...
PM: . . . double-date people who were friends ...
Harper's Bazaar, Dec 1996
Warhol of fame, Dan on Andy Warhol
Look/Glamour Style Fashion' at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Warhol's spirit seemed to permeate the exhibit upstairs, which
included fashions by Versace and Halston that had been influenced by
Warhol, as well as his own well-worn favorites, such as "Striped
pullover shirt, C. 1965. Cotton." Dan Aykroyd perused the items with
his wife, actress Donna Dixon, and recalled a chance meeting with the
artist. "He spun me around in a bar one night and took my Polaroid. I
was honored." Debi Mazar claimed a more intimate connection. "I used
to cut his hair," she confided. Wasn't it a wig? "We never discussed
that it wasn't growing back," she said.
InStyle, Jan 1998
By Shelley, Alexandra
The suffering of a fool, Dan on Chris Farley
His friends had always given him "the Talk." Sheldon Patinkin,
artistic consultant of the famed Second City comedy troupe, where
Farley got his start, says, "He seemed to be hell-bent. I told him,
'You're drinking yourself to death. You're destroying your brain
cells, and pretty soon you'll find it hard to be funny.'" Says
Patinkin: "He knew it, and he'd agree, but he couldn't stop." Equally
concerned was Farley's mentor Dan Aykroyd, who worried about the young
comedian's idolization of another self-destructive SNL comic,
Aykroyd's friend John Belushi, who died of a cocaine-and-heroin
overdose in 1982, also at 33. Aykroyd says, "When I saw him in bad
shape, I brought up John and River [Phoenix]." Meeting Farley in
Toronto last summer, Aykroyd says, "I laid into him about what kind of
pills and powders show up at nightclubs that are lethal. I said it
many times to him: he was playing with death if he did this, and look
who went before him." But, says Aykroyd, "I can't buy that he wanted
to emulate Belushi this much."
Time Canada
12/29/97-01/05/98
By Ginia Bellafante and Kim Masters
Antz: Dan Aykroyd as Chip and Muffy
These stuffy upper-class twits flit about with their noses in the air but expose a more charitable side when they take a stranded Z and Bala under their wings. "It's amazing how many people don't get that they are WASP-y wasps," says Darnell. "I imagine them drinking Manhattans and listening to opera."
The pair provided a reunion opportunity for Saturday Night Live alumni Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd, who haven't worked together since the ill-fated 1993 Coneheads movie. "They're county club wasps," Curtin says. "They came from a privileged nest."
Actually, the comics didn't really work with each other, since they recorded their lines separately. Not that it mattered. "I've worked with Dan so long and I know his rhythms so well," Curtin says. "A playback of Dan was just like having him in the room." Chip has a voice similar to Aykroyd's preening preppie in Trading Places. "Chip is hale and hearty," Curtin says, "sort of like Dan."
Dan on Junior Wells
I look at Junior in Blues Brothers 2000 and say it was worth all the trouble to make the movie. He was among the last of the electric harmonica players. We did 'Looking for a Fox.' I can't think of a more difficult song to put a harp to, and he just nailed it on the first try. His peformance was one of blues history. It was a real honor to work with him, and I'm sorry I'll never get to see him or hang out with him again. I would hope that he gets recognized by one of the foundations or even the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."--actor Dan Aykroyd
"Tributes."
People, 12/28/98-01//4/99
Dan on Antz
"I've always loved ants," says Dan Aykroyd, with just a hint of a smile. "They crawl across my desk and they're really like dogs, you know? They'll stop, they'll stand on your finger, they'll look at you, and if you put a paper clip on them, they'll carry it away. I've always loved ants!"
"Learning Life Lessons from a Colony of Antz"
From Christian Science Monitor, 10/02/98
By David Sterritt
Dan Aykroyd, who provided the voice of a love-struck wasp in the movie Antz, says there are pluses and minuses to that kind of work. The good news: "You don't have to worry about weight loss--or gain," says Aykroyd, 46. "You're really able to hide behind the character." The bad news: You have no control over how you look. Regarding his own transformation into an insect, Aykroyd is bugged by only one thing: "I thought they made my stinger too short."
"Ant-imation"
From People, 10-26-98.
By Chuck Arnold
Dan, on Wife Donna
"She has a wonderful quality of always challenging herself. She believes you must risk failure to learn who you are--which you'll never know unless you try. She's always looking for the next mountain to climb. I love and admire that."
"What Made Me Fall in Love with Her"
From Cosmopolitan, February 1992
Dan on His Harley
"My 1971 Harley-Davidson police motorcycle. I bought it in 1972--I was 20 years old--for $2,500. It's now worth $15,000. But that's not what makes it so valuable. The real value is that it's taken me everywhere. I rode it down from Canada when I came to the United States to do Saturday Night Live. Now, it's been with me through two TV series."
"My Best Deal"
From Money, July 1998.
Dan, On Canada
Dan Aykroyd, an Ottawa native and an actor in Los Angeles. For my money, I would vote Yes. If the referendum is defeated, it is a clear signal to Quebec that it might be free to secede. If it passes, it sends a signal that we want to preserve the country, with Quebec as a distinct part. If that doesn't happen, then Canada is going the way of the rest of the world, which is back to being like Prussia in 1830: all these principalities having their own self-interests, rivalries and competitions. If Quebecers want independence, I hope they pop their heads out of the groundhog hole long enough to see how rough it is out there, to see the shrapnel flying. But if they do vote No, then we must do all we can to make it an amicable split, however painful.
"Voices of the Nation: Prominent Canadians Reveal their Positions for the Oct. 26 Referendum"
From Maclean's, Special Issue 1992
Dan, on River Phoenix
The one person River would listen to was Sneakers costar Dan Aykroyd, who realized the young actor had a problem and took him in hand. After having seen his partner, John Belushi, overdose on a lethal speedball combination of heroin and cocaine, Aykroyd warned of the dangers, and River agreed to lay off heroin
River found an instant rapport with Aykroyd, and they kept the rest of the cast entertained with their antics. One of River's favorite tricks was to creep up behind Aykroyd and blow on his bald spot or playfully pinch the "love handles" around his waist.
"Just complete, absolute, total irreverence," says Aykroyd. "And he could get away from it."
"Lost in Hollywood"
Cosmopolitan, February 1992
Dan, on Aliens
Original Saturday Night Live cast member Dan Aykroyd is finally ready for prime time. On the new ABC sitcom Soul Man, premiering April 15, he plays a biker-gang member turned Episcopalian minister. So, is Aykroyd, who is filming the long-awaited sequel Blues Brothers 2000 with John Goodman and Jim Belushi next month--a religious man? "I don't have a traditional view of the Supreme Being. I call him the Cosmic Engineer," says Aykroyd, 44, who, as host of Psi Factor, a syndicated series about paranormal phenomenon, has also done some research into close encounters of the extraterrestrial kind. "There are definitely different types of species visiting this planet," he maintains. However, unlike Beldar, the friendly beer-guzzling alien Aykroyd played in hte 1993 movie Coneheads, these intergalactic tourists "are here to exploit us biologically," he claims. "We've got to be ready to defend ourselves. Independence Day--I buy it."
"E.T., Go Home."
People, April 21, 1997
By Chuck Arnold
