Candy was one of Canada's greatest and funniest character actors. His well-known role as the big hearted buffoon earned him classics in _Uncle Buck and he himself never forgot his Canadian background.
The musical group Ween dedicated their 1994 LP, "Chocolate And Cheese", to him.
Interred at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, USA in the Mausoleum, Room 7, Block 1.
He was a co-owner of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.
He died while filming Wagons East in Mexico.
He was part of the group Northern Lights, which sang the song "Tears Are Not Enough" which was on the "We Are The World" album.
He has a cameo in Ray Parker Jr. s "Ghostbusters" music video.
Father of Jennifer Candy and Chris Candy.
He attended Holy Cross Catholic School up to grade 8 which was the same school attended by actress Natalie Higashi , several years later.
Graduated Neil McNeil Catholic Secondary School.
He was born in East York (which is a suburb of Toronto) and he attended high school in Scarborough (another suburb of Toronto).
Turned down repeated offers to join "Saturday Night Live" , citing devotion to his fellow "Second City TV" cast members.
At the time of his death, he had appeared in ten movies with "Saturday Night Live" alumni, more than any other non-SNL actor. That record has since been surpassed by Nick Swardson, who (as of 2016) has appeared in 18 movies with SNL alumni, including: Almost Famous , Grandmas Boy , The Benchwarmers , Reno 911!: Miami , Blades of Glory , I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry , Bedtime Stories , Just Go with It , Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star , Jack and Jill (2011/I) , Thats My Boy , A Haunted House , Grown Ups 2 , Pixels , Hotel Transylvania 2 , Hell and Back , The Ridiculous 6 , and The Do-Over .
He stayed in the notorious Whidden Hall residence during his years at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
His father, Sidney, died of a heart attack at age 35 in 1955 when John was only five years old.
Biography in: "Whos Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 87-88. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
Weighed over 300 pounds for most of his life.
Turned down the role of Louis Tully in Ghostbusters . It went to Rick Moranis. Candy, did however, appear in Ray Parker Jr. s music video "Ghost Busters", celebrating the soundtrack of the film, along with other individuals who either refused to be in or failed to make the final cut for casting of the film.
According to Catherine OHara , just before going to Mexico Candy talked to her on the phone and told her that he feared going to Mexico because he felt that "something bad is going to happen there".
Has appeared in more John Hughes movies than any other actor, starring or doing cameos in seven of them: National Lampoons National Lampoons Vacation , Planes, Trains & Automobiles co-starring Steve Martin , The Great Outdoors co-starring Dan Aykroyd , and appears in a cameo in Shes Having a Baby . Stars in Uncle Buck , co-starring a young Macaulay Culkin. Has a brief cameo in Career Opportunities and a bit part alongside "Second City TV" alumni and best friend Catherine OHara in Home Alone also starring Macaulay Culkin.
Sat in the front row for Super Bowl XXIII (49ers vs. Bengals). According to legend, right before the 49ers game-winning drive, quarterback Joe Montana pointed toward the stands and said to tackle Harris Barton , "Hey look over there. Isnt that John Candy?".
Was supposed to host "Saturday Night Live" with Eugene Levy in 1985 (he, Levy and Billy Crystal did a promo for it on SNL the week before it was supposed to happen), but that episode never happened, due to a writers strike shortly after the promo was aired.
Pictured on one of four 51 Canadian commemorative postage stamps honoring "Canadians in Hollywood", issued 22 May 2006. Others honored in this set are Fay Wray , Lorne Greene , and Mary Pickford.
Was a good friend of Wayne Gretzky and was co-owner of the Toronto Argonauts with him.
Was considered by many to be one of the most genuinely nice people in Hollywood/Show Business.
He played a member of law enforcement in at least 10 movies; It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time , The Clown Murders , Find the Lady , The Blues Brothers , Heavy Metal , Follow That Bird , Armed and Dangerous (although his character was a security guard for most of the film, he was wrongfully terminated as a police officer in the beginning of the movie), Only the Lonely , Nothing But Trouble , Canadian Bacon . This does not include National Lampoons Vacation , in which he played a rent-a-cop or Whos Harry Crumb? , in which he played a private investigator.
Was a fan of Doctor Who.
Was a part-owner of the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL with Bruce McNall and Wayne Gretzky. The group signed Raghib Ismail on the first day of the 1991 NFL draft, where he was projected the #1 overall pick.
In a 2004 interview Steve Martin stated that at the time of Johns death Steve was going through a divorce, so he briefly moved in with Johns widow and daughters to help them out through this tough time and to get away from his soon to be ex-wife.
His house near Newmarket, Ontario, Canada was just several blocks from the residence of fellow Canadian comedian Jim Carrey.
Many of his friends state that he never had anything bad to say about anyone.
He turned down Wayne Szalinski in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Louis Tully in Ghostbusters because he felt his good friend Rick Moranis was better suited for the parts.
In attendance at his funeral were Eugene Levy , Tom Hanks , Chevy Chase , Bill Murray , Martin Short , Rick Moranis , Mariel Hemingway , Rhea Perlman , Ed Harris , Catherine OHara and Dan Aykroyd (who delivered the eulogy).
Inducted into Canadas Walk of Fame in 1998 (charter member).
His original A&E "Biography" was actually a televised tribute to John Candy, called "A Tribute to John Candy", that was aired shortly after his death.
He was a heavy smoker for most of his adult life. He officially quit smoking cigarettes a few months before he passed away.
His production company was "Frostbacks Productions".
According to Eugene Levy , John Candy was so beloved that when the procession was heading to the cemetery where John was interred, he looked over and saw that there was no traffic on the 405 Freeway and that police officers were stationed at the on-ramps holding traffic. When he asked a police officer what was going on, he was informed that the decision to stop traffic was up to the LAPD. Further, the only other times they stopped traffic was for Presidential motorcades and when the Pope visited Los Angeles.
Johns mother was of Ukrainian and Polish ancestry. Johns maternal grandparents, Frank Michael Aker and Jozefa Stefaniuk, were both immigrants from Eastern Europe.
Lived in Los Angeles, California at the time of his death.
Repeatedly turned down offers to play Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle in several proposed biopics, mainly since he stated he simply wasnt interested in playing him.
When John Candy died one of his obituaries read hes been in more turkeys than stuffing mix but everybody loved him anyway!.
The Canadian screen awards (the combination of the Canadian Oscars and Emmy) is now called the Candy in honour of him.
Did the role of Gus Polinski in Home Alone for free.
Born nineteen days after Caroline Ellis , of The Bugaloos fame.
Two movies he appeared in The Rescuers Down Under and Home Alone were released on the same day November 16th 1990.
Was friends with Eugene Levy , and Steve Martin.
His performance as Dean Andrews in JFK is believed by many critics to be his best work.
During his screen-time as Dean Andrews in JFK , the nervous sweat seen on his face is real, as the thought of acting in a dramatic film opposite such heavyweight actors as Donald Sutherland and Gary Oldman made him very scared.
I think I may have become an actor to hide from myself. You can escape,into a character.
I should have been in Ghostbusters (1984) .
[on reading the script of Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) for,the first time] I just cried with laughter when I read it. Its like it,was written with me in mind, which makes a big difference. I could see,just see the movie in my mind.
