While the world mourns the recent death of actor Luke Perry due to complications from his recent stroke, today also marks 26 years since comedian John Candy passed away from a heart attack. The Canadian actor was known for his roles in hit films such as Stripes, Blues Brothers, Splash, Home Alone, Uncle Buck and Spaceballs to name a few and his cheerful smile and presence is still remembered fondly today. To commemorate his life and career, we've assembled 20 fun and hilarious facts about Candy that'll make you smile and remember whichever movie of his was your favorite growing up.
1. Improvised product placement in The Blues Brothers. At the bar, John Candy's Burton Mercer ordered three orange whips. The line was not in the script but one Candy improvised, referencing a cocktail that provided refreshment to the crew during the long, all-night shoots for the film. The costumer Sue Dugan was the daughter of Orange Whip's director of Sales and she requested that the brand be mentioned in the film.
2. The Mud Wrestling scene in Stripes was improvised on set. The famous scene where Bill Murray's John Winger convinced Candy's Dewey "Ox" to mud wrestle a group of women was made up on the spot by director Ivan Reitman. Candy was extremely uncomfortable filming the entire scene but fortunately Reitman was able to talk him through until it was completed.
3. Psycho and Ox in Stripes became real friends during filming. Actor Will Conrad had fond memories of portraying Francis " Psycho" Soyer and had nothing but fond memories of his co-star Candy. He recalled the actor inviting the entire platoon of actors to his place during filming for a homemade spaghetti dinner before watching the famous Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Duran fight. He also remembered that only him and Candy knew the lyrics to "Doo Wah Diddy" and taught them to the entire company for the film's use of the song as military cadence.
4. Candy's role in National Lampoon's Vacation happened due to poor audience reaction with the original ending. Director Harold Ramis had to remedy the horrible audience reaction to the original ending for his 1983 film. He remembered Candy's character Wally Wpyzypychwk from his stand-up and television appearances which Candy used as a basis for the nervy security guard Lasky who accompanies the Griswold family when they finally reach Wallyworld in the new ending. He was paid $1 million dollars for his role in the film.
5. The racquetball scene in Splash was done in one. In the 1984 film Splash, Candy's Freddie Bauer's scene at the racquetball court where he serves and the ball hits him in the head was completed in one take.
6. In Summer Rental, John Candy was compared to a famous Oakland Raiders Coach. In the film when the lifeguards next door are going to the beach, one of them mentions Candy's Jack Chester "looks like John Madden". Unfortunately, he is not referring to their face or personality but drawing parallels to their physical resemblance.
7. Candy's character in Volunteers was one driven by ideals instead of emotion. In the film which reunited Candy with his Splash co-star Tom Hanks, his character Tom Tuttle was described by the writers as " a true believer who buys all the myths and 60's rhetoric without question. But at the first sign of trouble, he changes."
8. Candy was originally offered the role of Mr. Mushnik in Little Shop of Horrors. Although he was originally offered the role of Mr. Mushnik in Frank Oz's Little Shop of Horrors, Candy asked if there were other smaller roles available. He was more interested in portraying the loud radio host Wink Winklson who interviews Seymour about his Audrey II plant early in the film.
9. John Candy could have been Louis Tully in Ghostbusters. In the original script for Ghostbusters, Candy was to play nerdy accountant Louis Tully but the actor left the project after he got frustrated that nobody agreed with his interpretation of the character. He imagined Louis having a German accent and owning a pair of schnauzer dogs. When these ideas were rejected, Candy left and the role was filled by actor Rick Moranis. Candy would cameo in Ray Parker Jr's "Ghostbusters" music video and his interpretation of the Louis Tully character would make an appearance years later in the IDW Ghostbusters comic book.
10. The character Barf in Spaceballs took three people to operate during filming. Although Candy was the actor portraying Lone Starr's faithful companion Barf, it took two additional people to help make Candy's Maug believable. Candy operated Barf's tail using a hidden control in his paw while two assistants each controlled one of his ears. Barf's overall costume was powered by a thirty-pound battery that the actor wore on his back during scenes.
11. Candy's Del Griffith impersonates Elvis in the bathroom and doesn't let a little hair stop him from enjoying a brownie. In Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, which was one of both actors favorite movies they ever made, there is a scene during their meal on the plane where a passenger in front lets their hair down, completely covering Martin's brownie. Seeing as his neighbor isn't going to eat the dessert, Del fishes through the hair in order to retrieve and eventually eat it. The scene didn't make it to the theatrical version but sometimes appears in the television version. Another scene that was featured in the trailer but not in the finished film features Candy's character impersonating Elvis with a hairbrush. He sings while doing other things in the bathroom of the first motel the mismatched pair stays in together.
12. A Ghostbusters line was used during a scene with Candy and Dan Aykroyd in The Great Outdoors. In the scene where Roman and Chet are attempting to catch and subdue the rogue Bat, it lands on Chet's face in which Roman nails it with a broom and the stunned creature falls to the floor. Roman yells " We got it, We got it", which is the same line Aykroyd's character Ray Stantz used in Ghostbusters when they emerged victorious with a smoking trap following their battle with Slimer in the Sedgewick hotel ballroom.
13. In the interrogation scene during Uncle Buck, Candy helped his co-star Macaulay Culkin remember his lines. During the scenes where Miles hilariously interrogates his Uncle Buck in a back and forth round of consecutive questions, it was revealed that Candy wrote out the scripts dialouge and wore it on his head to help Culkin read his lines. This helped the young actor read them at a quick pace that fit the pace of the scene.
14. Every single line of John Candy's character in Home Alone was improvised. Keeping true to director John Hughes encouragement of improvisation, Candy filmed his scenes as Gus Pulanski in one, 23-hour day and improvised everything, including his memorable monologue about forgetting his son at a funeral home. He also filmed the role for free.
15. John Candy voiced the albatross Wilbur in Disney's Rescuer's Down Under. When the sequel to 1977's The Rescuers was made with the insistence that all the original actors reprise their roles, they hit a slight speed bump with the albatross Orville whose voice actor Jim Jordan had died two years before the films release. John Candy was cast as Orville's brother Wilbur which was also completed the previous reference to the Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur.
16. Candy in drag inspired his friend Dan Aykroyd to write the film Nothing But Trouble. According to Aykroyd, the idea came to him one day when he imagined Candy dressed in drag which would make him burst into laughter. This image and the accompanied laughter would continue for several weeks until he finally decided to write a movie that incorporated that idea. Unfortunately, the movie was a critical and commercial failure at the box office.
17. Maureen O'Hara refused to agree to star in Only the Lonely until she met Candy in person. Although she loved the script, she refused to agree to sign the contract for the movie until she met her co-star John Candy. Of course, O'Hara and Candy immediately created a strong rapport that not only continued throughout the film but also had O'Hara commit to the film without hesitation.
18. Although he was a big guy, John Candy was quite a dancer. In the 1991 film Delirious, John Candy and Emma Samms' characters Jack and Rachel danced without the use of stunt doubles. Although the technique of how the scene was filmed makes this difficult to tell, Samms later complimented Candy for being a graceful and talented dancer despite his size.
19. Candy couldn't stop sweating during his scenes in JFK. That wasn't some movie magic when you see John Candy's face during his scenes with Kevin Costner's Jim Garrison. The actor was reportedly petrified working in a serious film with actors such as Gary Oldman and Donald Sutherland. He sweat through every scene he had in the Oliver Stone directed film about the famous John F. Kennedy assasination.
20. Upon his passing, his funeral procession got presidential treatment. According to frequent collaborator Eugene Levy, John Candy was so well-liked by the public that when the procession was heading to the cemetery where John was to be interred, Levy looked and noticed there was no traffic on the 405 Freeway. He saw Police officers sanctioned at the on-ramps where they held traffic which upon asking, he found it was a decision made by the LAPD. The only other times the LAPD did such a thing was for Presidential motorcades or when the Pope was visiting L.A.
In the end, John Candy was one of the best comedians ever to grace the big screen and his work continues to make generations laugh to this day. All hail the King of Polka.
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