Jim Belushi
A native of Chicago, Belushi began his career as a resident member of the famed Second City, from 1976-80. In 1979 he left for Hollywood, when writer-producer Garry Marshall cast him in the Paramount Television series Who's Watching the Kids, and later in Working Stiffs with Michael Keaton. Among Belushi's other television credits as an actor and writer are Saturday Night Live, Parallel Lives, the Oliver Stone/ABC miniseries Wild Palms, the movie Sahara for Showtime and the critically acclaimed series Beggars and Choosers.
In 2000 Belushi co-starred in MGM's Return to Me, directed by Bonnie Hunt and starring David Duchovny and Minnie Driver, and he received rave reviews for his work with Gregory Hines in Showtime's Who Killed Atlanta's Children? It was his work in Edward Zwick's About Last Night, with Rob Lowe and Demi Moore, that brought Belushi his first serious attention as a film star. In the 1986 feature, he reprised the role he had played on stage in David Mamet's Obie Award-winning Sexual Perversity in Chicago, from which the film was adapted. His feature credits since then show an extraordinary range: he was James Woods' spacey DJ buddy, Dr. Rock, in Oliver Stone's Salvador; the mentally handicapped dishwasher befriended by Whoopi Goldberg in the Andrei Konchalovsky film, Homer and Eddie; and the defiant high school principal standing up to drug dealers in The Principal.
Other starring roles include Joe Somebody, theK-9 franchise, Red Heat, Curly Sue, Taking Care of Business, Once Upon a Crime, Mr. Destiny, Only the Lonely, Michael Mann's Thief, The Man with One Red Shoe, Real Men, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Jingle All the Way, Retroactive and Gang Related. Belushi has performed on Broadway in Herb Gardner's acclaimed Conversations with My Father at the Royal Theatre, off-Broadway in True West, at the Cherry Lane Theatre in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of John Guare's Moon Over Miami, and for Joseph Papp as the Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance. In addition he does numerous voiceovers for film, television and for commercials.
Besides acting, Belushi loves music. The Sacred Hearts are a rhythm-and-blues band who have been together for years, performing 40 nights a year at clubs, casinos and corporate events all over the country. They are the official house band for The House of Blues, in which Belushi is a partner, and have entertained former President Clinton and Vice President Gore. Big Men Big Music is a project that Belushi is doing with his friend, Dan Aykroyd. They performed at the SARS benefit in Toronto for over 400,000 people with the Rolling Stones, and their CD was number one on the blues chart last summer. Belushi currently has three CD's out: Blues Brothers Live from Chicago, The Sacred Hearts' 36 x 22 x 36, and the recently released Big Men Big Music CD, Have Love Will Travel.
Jim Belushi Facts
Birth Name | James Belushi |
Occupation | Actor |
Birthday | June 15, 1954 (69) |
Sign | Gemini |
Birthplace | Chicago, Illinois, USA |
Height | 5' 11" (1m80) How tall is Jim Belushi compared to you? |
Selected Filmography
Hoodwinked | ||
Trading Places | ||
Underdog | ||
The Whole Truth | ||
The Hollow Point | ||
Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return | ||
The Wild | ||
About Last Night | ||
The Man With One Red Shoe | ||
Snow Buddies | ||
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