On October 11, 1975, the trend-setting "Saturday Night Live" TV series made its historic debut. In one of the premiere's highlights, Dan Aykroyd plays a home-security expert who invades a household, then seels his crime-busting protection devices to the terrified family. Among the intruder's bizarre offerings: a Toilet Bowl piranha ("a toothy surprise for any thief who craves relief") and for the kitchen, a .357 Magnum Mixmaster--in a wide choice of colors!
Since then, Aykroyd's astounding--and astoundingly funny--array of offbeat "Saturday Night Live" characters has kept millions of viewers laughing. Beldar the Conehead, a wild-and-crazy Festrunk brother from Czechoslovakia desperately seeking "foxes," a snooty bad-art enthusiast Leonard Pinth-Garnell, nature buff E. Buzz Miller, a treble-voiced Julia Child, certain highly-places political figures and TV talk-show hosts, a latenight TV pitchman demonstrating how the Bass-O-Matic means "you'll never have to scale, cut or gut again...." and many more colorful personalities are all part of the Aykroyd gallery, a gallery known for its devastating parodies, mind-boggling juxtapositions and satirical insights.
Fourteen of Aykroyd's classic creations, glimpsed in memorable skits--each among his personal favorite--and several other nutty characters can be enjoyed again and again in "The Best of Dan Aykroyd"...(promotional babble snipped!)
Born in Ottawa, Canada, Aykroyd later studied criminology at the city's Carelton College (sic). Upon graduation, the 20-year-old Aykroyd engaged in numerous jobs, among them truck driving and bartending, before he auditioned for and won a spot in the Toronto company of the famed Second City comedy troupe. While with the Second City company in Pasadena, California, the gifted 22-year-old was asked by "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels to join his show's original roster of performers and writers. Aykroyd remained at "Saturday Night Live" for five years (sic), winning an Emmy Award in 1977 for his writing contributions.
While at "Saturday Night Live," Aykroyd launched a successful recording career and a feature film career that remains one of today's brightest. He teamed with "Saturday Night Live" co-star John Belushi to from the Blues Brothers, the funky, rock-'n'-blues duo which performed live before SRO crowds everywhere and recorded four hit albums that rang up more than 2.3 million units in sales and yielded severa; Top-40 singles. He co-wrote and starred in "Ghostbusters," the highest-grossing movie comedy ever. Among his other film credits are "1941," "The Blues Brothers," "Neighbors," "Twilight Zone--The Movie," "Dr. Detroit," "It Came From Hollywood," "Trading Places" and "Spies Like Us." Total worldwide box-office receipts for these movies exceed one-half-billion dollars.
Aykroyd is quick to share the credit for his success with others. "I never wanted to be a solo act," he says. "My strength is in collaboration, and I feel a kinship with an ensemble to make a project whole."
His criminology studies will come in handy for his current project: a big-screen remake of the Jack Webb classic "Dragnet," which Aykroyd co-wrote with Alan Zwiebel and will star in alongside Tom Hanks. Filming begins next month.
In 1983, Aykroyd married Donna Dixon, the actress who played the role of Sonny Lumet on the ABC-TV series "Bosom Buddies" and who has gone on to work in feature films alongside her husband in "Dr. Detroit," "Twilight Zone--The Movie" and most recently "Spies Like Us."
"The Best of Dan Aykroyd" stars Dan Aykroyd and special guests John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Shelley Duvall, Madeline Kahn, Margot Kidder, Garrett Morris, Bill Murray, Laraine Newman and Gilda Radner. Aykroyd serves as supervising producer.