Dan Aykroyd
Highest Rated: 100% Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019)
Lowest Rated: 0% Getting Away with Murder (1996)
Birthday: Jul 1, 1952
Birthplace: Ottawa, Canada
One of the most vibrant comic personalities of the 1970s and '80s, as well as a noted actor and screenwriter, Dan Aykroyd got his professional start in his native Canada. Before working as a standup comedian in various Canadian nightclubs, Aykroyd studied at a Catholic seminary from which he was later expelled. He then worked as a train brakeman, a surveyor, and studied Sociology at Carleton University in Ottawa, where he began writing and performing comedy sketches. His success as a comic in school led him to work with the Toronto branch of the famed Second City improvisational troupe. During this time -- while he was also managing the hot nightspot Club 505 on the side -- Aykroyd met comedian and writer John Belushi, who had come to Toronto to scout new talent for "The National Lampoon Radio Hour." In 1975, both Aykroyd and Belushi were chosen to appear in the first season of Canadian producer Lorne Michaels' innovative comedy television series Saturday Night Live. It was as part of the show that Aykroyd gained notoriety for his dead-on impersonations of presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter. He also won fame for his other characters, such as Beldar, the patriarch of the Conehead clan of suburban aliens, and Elwood, the second half of the Blues Brothers (Jake Blues was played by Belushi). Aykroyd made his feature-film debut in 1977 in the Canadian comedy Love at First Sight, but neither it nor his subsequent film, Mr. Mike's Mondo Video, were successful. His first major Hollywood screen venture was as a co-lead in Steven Spielberg's 1941 (1979). But Aykroyd still did not earn much recognition until 1980, when he and Belushi reprised their popular SNL characters in The Blues Brothers, a terrifically successful venture that managed to become both one of the most often-quoted films of the decade and a true cult classic. Aykroyd and Belushi went on to team up one more time for Neighbors (1981) before Belushi's death in 1982. Aykroyd's subsequent films in the '80s ranged from the forgettable to the wildly successful, with all-out comedies such as Ghostbusters (1984) and Dragnet (1987) falling into the latter category. Many of these films allowed him to collaborate with some of Hollywood's foremost comedians, including fellow SNL alumni Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and Eddie Murphy, as well as Tom Hanks and the late John Candy. In such pairings, Aykroyd usually played the straight man -- typically an uptight intellectual or a latent psycho. He tried his hand at drama in 1989 as Jessica Tandy's son in Driving Miss Daisy and received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. During the '90s, Aykroyd's career faltered just a bit as he appeared in one disappointment after another. Despite scattered successes like My Girl (1991), Chaplin (1992), Casper (1995), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), and Antz (1998), the all-out flops -- The Coneheads (1993), Exit to Eden (1994), Sgt. Bilko (1996) -- were plentiful. Likewise, the long-awaited Blues Brothers sequel, Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), proved a great disappointment. Aykroyd, however, continued to maintain a screen profile, starring as Kirk Douglas' son in the family drama Diamonds in 1999. During the next few years, he found greater success in supporting roles, with turns as a shifty businessman in the period drama The House of Mirth (2000), Woody Allen's boss in The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001), pop star Britney Spears' father in her screen debut, Crossroads (2002), and (in a particularly amusing turn) as Dr. Keats in the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore comedy 50 First Dates. Aykroyd also appeared in the 2005 Christmas with the Kranks, alongside Tim Allen and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry with Adam Sandler in 2006. He also provided the voice of Yogi Bear in the big screen adaptation of the titular cartoon -- but none of these projects did particularly well with fans. Aykroyd soon planned to revive the smashing success of the Ghostbusters franchise, collaborating with Harold Ram
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
Movies
| Credit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet | Defend, Conserve, Protect | Narrator | — | 2019 |
| 100% | Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters | Actor | — | 2019 |
| 78% | Good Fortune | Actor | — | 2017 |
| 74% | Ghostbusters | Executive Producer Cabbie | $128.4M | 2016 |
| No Score Yet | Ghostheads | Actor | — | 2016 |
| 71% | I Am Chris Farley | Actor | — | 2015 |
| 16% | Pixels | 1982 Championship MC | $66.5M | 2015 |
| 52% | Live From New York! | Actor | — | 2015 |
| No Score Yet | Untitled John Belushi Project | Executive Producer | — | 2015 |
| 79% | Get On Up | Ben Bart | $22.9M | 2014 |
| 24% | Tammy | Don | $51.1M | 2014 |
| 17% | Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return | Scarecrow | $6.5M | 2014 |
| 95% | Behind the Candelabra | Actor | $1.7M | 2013 |
| No Score Yet | Tales from the Warner Bros. Lot | Actor | — | 2013 |
| 66% | The Campaign | Wade Motch | $86.9M | 2012 |
| No Score Yet | Sunset Strip | Actor | — | 2012 |
| 13% | Yogi Bear | Yogi Bear | $100.2M | 2010 |
| No Score Yet | Unbeaten 28 | Actor | — | 2010 |
| No Score Yet | Unbeaten | Actor | — | 2009 |
| No Score Yet | Monty Python Almost the Truth Obligatory Making of Special | Actor | — | 2009 |
| No Score Yet | Saturday Night Live Presidential Bash '08 | Actor | — | 2008 |
| 30% | War, Inc. | Mr. Vice President | $0.6M | 2008 |
| 14% | I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry | Captain Tucker | $119.8M | 2007 |
| No Score Yet | Shortcut to Happiness (The Devil and Daniel Webster) | Julius Jenson | — | 2007 |
| No Score Yet | Let's All Hate Toronto | Actor | — | 2007 |
| No Score Yet | Intern Academy | Dr. Cyrill Kipp | — | 2006 |
| No Score Yet | Comedy Gold: The Hilarious Story of Canadian Comedy | Actor | — | 2006 |
| No Score Yet | Dan Aykroyd Unplugged on UFOs | Actor | — | 2005 |
| No Score Yet | Dan Aykroyd Unplugged on UFOs | Actor | — | 2005 |
| No Score Yet | Ronnie Hawkins: Still Alive and Kickin' | Actor | — | 2005 |
| No Score Yet | James Brown: Soul Survivor | Actor | — | 2004 |
| 5% | Christmas With the Kranks | Vic Frohmeyer | $73.8M | 2004 |
| 65% | Bright Young Things | Lord Monomark | $0.9M | 2004 |
| 45% | 50 First Dates | Dr. Keats | $120.8M | 2004 |
| No Score Yet | Evidence: The Case for NASA UFOs | Actor | — | 2002 |
| 14% | Crossroads | Pete | $37.1M | 2002 |
| 14% | Unconditional Love | Max Beasley | — | 2002 |
| No Score Yet | Earth vs. the Spider | Det. Insp. Jack Grillo | — | 2002 |
| No Score Yet | On The Nose | Dr. Davis | — | 2001 |
| 46% | The Curse of the Jade Scorpion | Chris | $6.8M | 2001 |
| 43% | Evolution | Gov. Lewis | $37.6M | 2001 |
| 24% | Pearl Harbor | Capt. Thurman | $197.8M | 2001 |
| 82% | The House of Mirth | Gus Trenor | — | 2000 |
| 43% | Stardom | Barry Levine | — | 2000 |
| 24% | Loser | Mr. Tannek | — | 2000 |
| No Score Yet | Susan's Plan | Bob | — | 2000 |
| 26% | Diamonds | Lance | — | 1999 |
| No Score Yet | Saturday Night Live: The Best of Steve Martin | Actor | — | 1999 |
| 93% | Antz | Chip | — | 1998 |
| 46% | Blues Brothers 2000 | Producer Screenwriter Elwood Blues | — | 1997 |
| 79% | Grosse Pointe Blank | Mr. Grocer | — | 1997 |
| No Score Yet | The Arrow | Actor | — | 1997 |
| 47% | My Fellow Americans | William Haney | — | 1996 |
| 14% | Feeling Minnesota | Ben | — | 1996 |
| 27% | My Girl 2 | Harry Sultenfuss | — | 1996 |
| 9% | Celtic Pride | Jimmy Flaherty | — | 1996 |
| 0% | Getting Away with Murder | Prof. Jack Lambert | — | 1996 |
| 31% | Sgt. Bilko | Col. Hall | — | 1996 |
| 14% | Canadian Bacon | Highway Patrolman (uncredited) | — | 1995 |
| 46% | Casper | Doctor Raymond Stantz (uncredited) | — | 1995 |
| 42% | Tommy Boy | Zalinsky | — | 1995 |
| No Score Yet | Random Factor | Dexter | — | 1995 |
| 6% | Exit to Eden | Fred | — | 1994 |
| 14% | North | Pa Tex | — | 1994 |
| No Score Yet | Saturday Night Live - Best of the Coneheads | Actor | — | 1994 |
| 35% | Coneheads | Screenwriter Beldar | — | 1993 |
| No Score Yet | The Best of the Blues Brothers | Actor | — | 1993 |
| 60% | Chaplin | Mack Sennett | — | 1992 |
| 78% | Sneakers | Mother | — | 1992 |
| 38% | This Is My Life | Arnold Moss | — | 1992 |
| 53% | My Girl | Harry Sultenfuss | — | 1991 |
| 5% | Nothing but Trouble | Judge Alvin 'J.P' Valkenheiser/Bobo Screenwriter Director | — | 1991 |
| No Score Yet | Masters of Menace | Johnny Lewis | — | 1990 |
| 0% | Loose Cannons | Ellis Fielding | — | 1990 |
| 53% | Ghostbusters 2 | Dr. Raymond Stantz Screenwriter | — | 1989 |
| 81% | Driving Miss Daisy | Producer Boolie Werthan | — | 1989 |
| 19% | My Stepmother Is an Alien | Dr. Steven Mills | — | 1988 |
| 4% | Caddyshack II | Capt. Tom Everett | — | 1988 |
| 40% | The Great Outdoors | Roman Craig | — | 1988 |
| 38% | The Couch Trip | John W. Burns, Jr. | — | 1988 |
| No Score Yet | Will Rogers: Look Back in Laughter | Actor | — | 1988 |
| 51% | Dragnet | Friday Screenwriter | — | 1987 |
| No Score Yet | One More Saturday Night | Executive Producer Producer | — | 1986 |
| 32% | Spies Like Us | Screenwriter Austin Millbarge | — | 1985 |
| 38% | Into the Night | Herb | — | 1985 |
| No Score Yet | Nothing Lasts Forever | Buck | — | 1984 |
| 97% | Ghostbusters (1984 Original) | Dr. Raymond Stantz Screenwriter | — | 1984 |
| 85% | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | Weber | — | 1984 |
| 58% | Twilight Zone: The Movie | Passenger | — | 1983 |
| 87% | Trading Places | Louis Winthorpe III | — | 1983 |
| 33% | Doctor Detroit | Clifford Skridlow Screenwriter | — | 1983 |
| No Score Yet | It Came from Hollywood | Actor | — | 1982 |
| 63% | Neighbors | Vic | — | 1981 |
| 84% | The Blues Brothers | Elwood Blues Screenwriter | — | 1980 |
| 42% | 1941 | Sgt. Frank Tree | — | 1979 |
| No Score Yet | Mr. Mike's Mondo Video | Actor | — | 1979 |
| No Score Yet | Grateful Dead: The Closing of Winterland | Actor | — | 1978 |
| 91% | All You Need Is Cash | Brian Thigh | — | 1978 |
| No Score Yet | Love at First Sight (Love is Blind) | Roy | — | 1977 |
| No Score Yet | Gift of Winter | Actor | — | 1974 |
TV
| Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 89% |
The Conners 2018 |
Buddy |
2019 |
| No Score Yet |
The Big Interview With Dan Rather 2013 |
Guest |
2018 |
| No Score Yet |
Jimmy Kimmel Live 2003 |
Guest |
2016 |
| No Score Yet |
Jay Leno's Garage 2015 |
Appearing |
2016 2015 |
| No Score Yet |
Inside Comedy 2012-2015 |
Guest |
2015 |
| No Score Yet |
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon 2014 |
Guest |
2014 |
| No Score Yet |
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 2009-2014 |
Guest |
2013 2010 |
| 50% |
Happily Divorced 2011-2013 |
2012 2011 |
|
| No Score Yet |
Born to Explore 2011-2016 |
Appearing |
2011 |
| 74% |
The Defenders 2010-2011 |
Judge Max Hunter |
2011 |
| 71% |
Family Guy 1999 |
Voice |
2009 |
| No Score Yet |
According to Jim 2001-2009 |
Danny Danny Michalski |
2009 2004 2003 2002 |
| 0% |
Living with Fran 2005-2006 |
Judge |
2006 |
| No Score Yet |
The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 1992-2014 |
Performer |
2003 |
| No Score Yet |
Saturday Night Live 1975 |
Host Guest Performer |
2003 1998 1995 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 |
| No Score Yet |
Soul Man 1997-1998 |
Mike Weber |
1998 1997 |
| No Score Yet |
Home Improvement 1991-1999 |
Father Mike |
1997 |
| 82% |
Tales from the Crypt 1989-1996 |
Guest |
1992 1991 |
| No Score Yet |
The Movies That Made Us 2019 |
QUOTES FROM Dan Aykroyd CHARACTERS
Friday says: Look out, Muppets.
Mr. Vice President says: The first was ever to be outsourced to private enterprise.
Scarecrow says: With all of Oz at risk, I need you two to stand guard.
Scarecrow says: Hiya, kiddo! An evil Jester is threatening us, and you are the only one who can help us!
Scarecrow says: Scarecrow to Dorothy! Come in, Dorothy!
Miss Daisy Werthan says: I've never been prejudiced in my life and you know it.
Boolie Werthan says: (talking about the Martin Luther King dinner) Okay, then why don't you ask Hoke to go with you?
Boolie Werthan says: Okay, then why don't you ask Hoke to go with you?
Miss Daisy Werthan says: Hoke? Don't be ridiculous. He wouldn't go.
Boolie Werthan says: How are you, Idella?
Idella says: Livin'.
Boolie Werthan says: Where's the vacuum cleaner I brought over here?
Idella says: In the closet.
Boolie Werthan says: (turning to Hoke) She won't touch it.
Boolie Werthan says: She won't touch it.
Idella says: I would if it didn't give me a shock every time I come near it!
Boolie Werthan says: It works for me!
Idella says: Fine... you clean and I'll go down and run your office!
Boolie Werthan says: You're a doodle, Mama.
Boolie Werthan says: Don't worry, Katie Bell, it's not QUITE the end of the world.
Boolie Werthan says: Don't worry, Katie Bell, it's not quite the end of the world.
Billy Ray Valentine says: That's my Harvard tie! Like, oh sure, he went to Harvard!
Louis Winthorpe III says: That's my Harvard tie! Like, oh sure, he went to Harvard!
Miss Daisy Werthan says: (looking at her watch) It's seven sixteen
Miss Daisy Werthan says: It's seven sixteen.
Boolie Werthan says: You should have a job on the radio announcin' on time.
Elwood says: Illinois Nazis
Joliet Jake says: I hate Illinois Nazis!
Sgt. Joe Friday says: Just the facts ma'am.
Elwood says: It wasn't lies, it was just billshit
Elwood says: It wasn't lies, it was just billshit.
Elwood says: Wasn't lies, it was just... bullshit.
Zalinsky says: What the American public doesn't know, is what makes it the American public.
Zalinsky says: What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public, alright?
Yogi Bear says: Check the safety manual!!
Yogi Bear says: Check the safety manual!
Boo-Boo says: It's just a picture of us screaming!!
Boo-Boo says: It's just a picture of us screaming!
Elwood says: There's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark out, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Joliet Jake says: Hit it!
Elwood says: That's just great Elwood, the day I get out of prison, my own brother picks me up in a police car.
Ranger Smith says: Boo Boo, I don't think we need the narration.
Yogi Bear says: But I like were you were going with it, Boo Boo!
Beldar Conehead says: [Furious to be kept waiting over his car repair] What choice do I have? It is as if you have grabbed me by the base of my snarglies!
Beldar Conehead says: [furious to be kept waiting over his car repair] What choice do I have? It is as if you have grabbed me by the base of my snarglies!
Joliet Jake says: How often does the train run by here?
Elwood says: So often, you won't even notice.
Joliet Jake says: We need this gig!
Elwood says: Were on a mission from God.
Elwood says: What kind of music do you usually have here?
Cocktail Waitress says: Oh, we got both kinds. We got Country AND Western!
Raymond Stantz says: Everything was fine with our system until the power grid was shut off by dickless here.
Walter Peck says: They caused an explosion!
Mayor says: [to the Ghostbusters] Is this true?
Peter Venkman says: Yes, it's true: this man has no dick.
Mrs. Tarantino says: Are you police?
Elwood says: No mam, we're musicians.
Raymond Stantz says: Looks like a giant Jell-O mold.....
Winston Zeddmore says: I hate Jell-O.
Peter Venkman says: Oh come on, there's always room for Jell-O!
Egon Spengler says: Don't cross the streams.
Peter Venkman says: Why?
Egon Spengler says: It would be bad.
Peter Venkman says: I'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, "bad"?
Egon Spengler says: Try to image all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.
Raymond Stantz says: Total protonic reversal.
Peter Venkman says: Right. That's bad. Okay. Alright, important safety tip. Thanks Egon.
Raymond Stantz says: You know, it's just occurred to meâ?¦we really haven't had a completely successful test of this equipment.
Raymond Stantz says: You know, it's just occurred to me we really haven't had a completely successful test of this equipment.
Egon Spengler says: I blame myself.
Peter Venkman says: So do I.
Raymond Stantz says: No sense in worrying about it now.
Peter Venkman says: Why worry? Each of us is wearing an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back.
Raymond Stantz says: Symmetrical book stacking...just like the Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947.
Raymond Stantz says: Symmetrical book stacking... just like the Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947.
Peter Venkman says: You're right. No human being would stack books like this.
Gozer says: [after Ray orders her to re-locate] Are you a God? [Ray looks at Peter and he nods]
Raymond Stantz says: .......No.
Raymond Stantz says: No.
Gozer says: Then... DIE! [Lightning flies from her fingers, driving the Ghostbusters to the edge of the roof and almost off; people below scream]
Gozer says: Then... DIE! [lightning flies from her fingers, driving the Ghostbusters to the edge of the roof and almost off; people below scream]
Winston Zeddmore says: Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say "YES"!
Winston Zeddmore says: Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say 'YES'!
Peter Venkman says: All right! This chick is TOAST!
Yogi Bear says: Picanic baskets may be delicious on the lips, but they're a lifetime on the hips!
Zalinsky says: Went a little heavy on the pine tree perfume there, kid?
Tommy Callahan III says: Sir, it's an taxicab air freshener.
Zalinsky says: Good, you've pinpointed it. Step two is washing it out.
Elwood says: You promised you'd visit the penguin the day you got out of prison.
Joliet Jake says: Yeah... so I lied to her.
Elwood says: You can't lie to a nun, Jake. We're gonna go in, and see the penguin.
Joliet Jake says: No. Fucking. Way.
Raymond Stantz says: You never even had a Slinky?
Egon Spengler says: We had part of a Slinky, but i straightened it.
Louis Tully/The Key Master says: Who are you guys?
Raymond Stantz says: We're the Ghostbusters.
Louis Tully/The Key Master says: Who does your taxes?
Raymond Stantz says: It's the Stay Puft Marshmallow man.
Gozer says: Are you a God?
Raymond Stantz says: No.
Gozer says: Then Die! [Attacks Ghostbusters]
Gozer says: Then Die! [attacks Ghostbusters]
Winston Zeddmore says: Ray, if someone asks you if your a God you say "Yes"!
Winston Zeddmore says: Ray, if someone asks you if your a God you say 'yes'!
Raymond Stantz says: Ok i'm opening the trap, don't look directly at the trap!
Egon Spengler says: I looked at the trap Ray!
Peter Venkman says: Come in Ray
Raymond Stantz says: Venkman, i saw it, i saw it, i saw it!
Raymond Stantz says: Venkman, I saw it, I saw it, I saw it!
Peter Venkman says: It's right here Ray, it's looking at me.
Raymond Stantz says: It's an ugly little spud isn't it.
Peter Venkman says: I think it can hear you Ray.
Raymond Stantz says: Don't move, it won't hurt you if you-
Peter Venkman says: AAHH!
Peter Venkman says: AHH!
Raymond Stantz says: Venkman, Venkman, Venkman what happend are you ok?!
Peter Venkman says: He slimed me.
Raymond Stantz says: I think we better split-up.
Egon Spengler says: Ya, good idea.
Peter Venkman says: Ya we can do more damage that way.
Man at Elevator says: What are you suppost to be some kind of Cosmonaut?
Peter Venkman says: No we're exterminators, somebody saw a cockroach up on twelve.
Man at Elevator says: That's gotta be some cockroach.
Peter Venkman says: Bite your head off man.
Raymond Stantz says: [Elevator arrives] Going up?
Raymond Stantz says: [elevator arrives] Going up?
Man at Elevator says: I'll take the next one.
Raymond Stantz says: Listen! [pause] you smell something?
Raymond Stantz says: Listen... do you smell something?
Elwood says: Illinois Nazis
Elwood says: Illinois Nazis.
Joliet Jake says: I hate Illinois Nazis
Joliet Jake says: I hate Illinois Nazis.
Elwood says: Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, don't fail me now.
Raymond Stantz says: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Egon Spengler says: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes...
Winston Zeddmore says: The dead rising from the grave!
Peter Venkman says: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!
Raymond Stantz says: Powergrid was shut off by dickless here.
Raymond Stantz says: Everything was fine with our system until the power grid was shut off by dickless here.
Walter Peck says: They caused an explosion!
Walter Peck says: They caused an explosion!
Mayor says: Is this true?
Mayor says: Is this true?
Peter Venkman says: Yes, it's true. This man has no dick.
Peter Venkman says: Yes it's true. [pause] This man has no dick.
Yogi Bear says: I'm so smart and it hurts.
John Burns says: What are those?
Donald Becker says: Swans.
John Burns says: Are they dangerous?
Mr. Grocer says: bang bang bang bang popcorn!
Mr. Grocer says: Hey, hey, bing bing bing bing bang! POPCORN!
Yogi Bear says: Do you think he noticed the pie
Yogi Bear says: I wonder if he noticed the pie.
Elwood says: We're on a mission from God.
Man at Elevator says: What are you supposed to be some kind of cosmonaut?
Raymond Stantz says: Somebody saw a cockroach up on twelve.
Man at Elevator says: That must be some cockroach.
Peter Venkman says: Bite your head off man.
Yogi Bear says: What the heck was that?
Elwood says: There are 106 miles to Chicago, we have a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses.
Elwood says: There are 106 miles to Chicago. We have a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.