John Candy
Highest Rated: 93% Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Lowest Rated: 0% Wagons East! (1994)
Birthday: Oct 31, 1950
Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Canadian comic actor John Candy was geared toward a performing career even while studying for a journalism degree in college. Candy's bulky frame and built-in likability enabled him to secure small roles in Canadian film and TV productions. In the early '70s, Candy joined Canada's Second City Troupe, sharing the spotlight with such potent talent (and subsequent close friends) as Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Andrea Martin, and Catherine O'Hara. Second City TV, popularly known as SCTV, entered the Canadian TV airwaves in 1975 and was syndicated to the United States two years later. Candy scored an instant hit with such characters as porcine poseur Johnny LaRue, overly unctuous talk show sidekick William B., and ever-grinning "Lutonian" musician Yosh Shmenge. So popular did Candy become that suddenly many of his obscurer pre-starring Canadian films (It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, The Clown Murders) became hot properties on the video rental circuit. Candy stayed with the various SCTV syndicated and network programs until 1983, earning two Emmys in the process. One of the few genuine nice guys in the realm of comedy, Candy was beloved by both co-workers and fans -- even when this lovability was stretched to the breaking point in substandard films. He scored in supporting roles (Splash [1984], Brewster's Millions [1985]), but such thinnish starring features as Summer Rental (1985) and Who's Harry Crumb (1989) seemed to suggest that Candy couldn't carry a film by himself. Then he starred in Uncle Buck (1989), a disarming comedy about a ne'er-do-well with hidden nobility. Receiving relatively little promotion, Uncle Buck was a surprise hit, and stands today as perhaps Candy's best-ever vehicle after Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Unfortunately, most of his follow-up films were on a par with the disastrous Nothing but Trouble (1990) and Delirious (1992). At the same time, Candy's leading role in Only the Lonely (1991) and his supporting performance in JFK (1992) proved that a major talent was being squandered by the film industry. Candy was as frustrated as his fans, manifesting this frustration in excessive eating, drinking, and smoking. The actor's superlative seriocomic turn as a disgraced Olympic star in Cool Runnings (1993), which Candy also co-produced, seemed to point toward a career upswing. But while filming Wagons East in Mexico, 43-year-old John Candy suffered a heart attack and died in his sleep. Wagons East was released in the summer of 1994, utilizing Candy's existing footage as well as possible; it proved, sadly, an inadequate epitaph for one of film comedy's funniest and most ingratiating stars.

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Highest Rated Movies

Filmography

MOVIES

CREDIT
No Score Yet Comic Relief: The Greatest...and The Latest Actor — 2008
14% Canadian Bacon Sheriff Bud Boomer — 1995
0% Wagons East! Harlow — 1994
14% North Actor — 1994
No Score Yet Hostage for a Day Executive Producer Yuri Petrovich Director — 1994
77% Cool Runnings Irv Blitzer — 1993
35% Rookie of the Year Jeff Murdoch — 1993
No Score Yet Boris and Natasha Kallishak — 1992
No Score Yet Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories Actor — 1992
No Score Yet Rabbit Ears: Stormalong Actor — 1992
84% JFK Dean Andrews — 1991
44% Delirious Jack Gable — 1991
0% Once Upon a Crime Augie — 1991
64% Only the Lonely Danny — 1991
38% Career Opportunities Store Manager — 1991
5% Nothing but Trouble Sheriff/Eldona — 1991
69% The Rescuers Down Under Wilbur — 1990
65% Home Alone Gus Polinski — 1990
No Score Yet Masters of Menace Beer Truck Driver — 1990
No Score Yet The Rocket Boy The Hawk — 1989
61% Uncle Buck Uncle Buck — 1989
27% Who's Harry Crumb? Executive Producer Harry Crumb — 1989
0% Speed Zone Charlie Cronyn — 1989
40% The Great Outdoors Chet Ripley — 1988
40% She's Having a Baby Actor — 1988
0% Hot to Trot Don — 1988
93% Planes, Trains and Automobiles Del Griffith — 1987
No Score Yet Quote Alongs: Spaceballs Actor — 1987
58% Spaceballs Barf — 1987
90% Little Shop of Horrors Wink Wilkinson — 1986
11% Armed and Dangerous Frank Dooley — 1986
58% Volunteers Tom Tuttle from Tacoma — 1985
13% Summer Rental Jack Chester — 1985
92% Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird State Trooper — 1985
36% Brewster's Millions Spike Nolan — 1985
No Score Yet The Last Polka Actor — 1985
No Score Yet Big City Comedy Show Actor — 1985
90% Splash Freddie Bauer — 1984
No Score Yet Going Berserk John Bourgignon — 1983
93% National Lampoon's Vacation Lasky — 1983
No Score Yet It Came from Hollywood Actor — 1982
61% Heavy Metal Desk Sergeant/Dan Den/Robot — 1981
86% Stripes Ox — 1981
No Score Yet Second City Insanity Actor — 1981
83% The Blues Brothers Burton Mercer — 1980
No Score Yet Kavik, the Wolf Dog Pinky — 1980
No Score Yet Double Negative John — 1980
39% 1941 Foley — 1979
No Score Yet Lost and Found Carpentier — 1979
No Score Yet The Silent Partner Simonsen — 1978
No Score Yet The Clown Murders Ollie — 1976
No Score Yet It Seemed Like a Good Idea Actor — 1975
No Score Yet It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time Kopek — 1975
No Score Yet Find the Lady Kopek — 1975

TV

CREDIT
No Score Yet Saturday Night Live
1975
Host Guest
  • 1983
No Score Yet SCTV
1976-1981
Performer

QUOTES FROM John Candy CHARACTERS