John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 - March 4, 1994) was a Canadian comedian and actor.

Candy was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, to Sidney Candy, who was of Scottish descent, and Evangeline, who was of mixed Scottish and Polish descent. His father died quite young from a heart attack. He attended Neil McNeil Catholic High School, an all boys school in Toronto, where he played football.

Career

Candy played a supporting role (together with Rick Moranis) on Peter Gzowski's short-lived late night television talk show, 'Ninety Minutes Live', in 1976, and a member of Toronto's The Second City comedy troupe, gaining wide North American popularity when, in 1976, he became a cast member on the influential Toronto-based T.V. comedy-variety show Second City Television (S.C.T.V.).

Among his more memorable characterizations for that show were venal street-beat tv personality Johnny LaRue, 3-D horror auteur Dr. Tongue, sycophantic and easily amused talk-show sidekick William B. Williams, quiescent Melonville Mayor Tommy Shanks, cheerful Leutonian clarinetist Yosh Shmenge, folksy fishin' musician Gil Fischer, handsome if accent-challenged tv actor Steve Roman, hapless children's entertainer Mr. Messenger, corrupt soap opera doctor William Wainwright and smut merchant Harry, the Guy With the Snake on His Face.

From there, Candy went on to star in such Hollywood films as Stripes, Splash, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, The Great Outdoors, Spaceballs, Brewster's Millions and Uncle Buck. He typically played characters who, whilst they lived somewhat seedy lives, often had their hearts in the right place. Candy was lauded by some as a true comic genius and this lay in his ability to portray an 'everyman', with which the audience could identify.

In 1985, Candy appeared in an HBO mockumentary titled The Canadian Conspiracy about the supposed subversion of the United States by Canadian-born media personalities.

Candy starred in a short-lived animated series in 1989 entitled Camp Candy. The show, which was broadcast on Saturday mornings and was set in a fictional summer camp run by Candy, also featured his children Jennifer and Christopher Candy in supporting roles. The animated series also spawned a brief comic book series, based on the show and again starring Candy, also entitled Camp Candy. It was published by Marvel Comics' Star Comics imprint.

Candy also moved into dramatic roles by appearing in films like JFK in a very effective role as a shady fatcat lawyer from the south, and semi-dramatic roles with the 1993 dramedy Cool Runnings in which he played a disgraced former Olympic athlete who trains four Jamaicans in the sport of bobsleding and eventually leads them to the 1988 Winter Olympics. Candy (who also produced the film) received positive reviews for the role.

Candy's final completed movie was "Canadian Bacon", a comedy by Michael Moore in which America started a war with Canada. Candy played the American sheriff Bud Boomer who led the "attack" against Canada (which is ironic considering his Canadian heritage).

In 1991, Candy, along with Bruce McNall and Wayne Gretzky became co-owner of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. The celebrity ownership group attracted a lot of attention in Canada and the team spent a significant amount of money, even signing highly touted National Football League players.

In the early 1990s, Candy returned to animation to record a voice for the T.V. film The Magic 7. However, this film remained in production for a very long time, due to animation difficulties and production delays. It was shelved for some time, but is now due to be released in 2006, more than 10 years after the actor's death.

Death

Candy died of a massive heart attack in his sleep at the age of 43 during filming on location in Durango, Mexico, for the film Wagons East which was completed and released a few months after his death. Doctors found that one of the arteries in John's heart was completely blocked, which caused the heart attack. He had quit smoking at the time and was losing weight, and fellow cast and crew even commented on him looking healthier than ever. He had previously been warned by doctors to lose weight due to a genetic predisposition to heart disease, from which his father had died at the age of 35; he refused, reportedly stating that his portly frame was what gave him his film roles. Despite this, there was public evidence that he was self-conscious about his appearance when, a few years before his death, he cancelled his appearance as host of an awards show for the CBC because the advertising campaign for the special poked fun at his weight.

He is survived by his widow, the former Rosemary Margaret Hoban, whom he married in 1979, and their two children.

His funeral Mass, held at St. Michael's Cathedral, was broadcast live, on television, across Canada. He is interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California.

He is an inductee of Canada's Walk of Fame. In May 2006, Candy became one of the first four entertainers to ever be honored by Canada Post by being featured on a postage stamp.

Filmography

• Class of '44 (1973)
• It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1975)
• Tunnel Vision (1976)
• The Clown Murders (1976)
• Find the Lady (1976)
• The Silent Partner (1978)
• Lost and Found (1979)
• 1941 (1979)
• Double Negative (1980)
• The Blues Brothers (1980)
• Stripes (1981)
• Heavy Metal (1981) (voice)
• It Came from Hollywood (1982) (documentary)
• National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
• Going Berserk (1983)
• Splash (1984)
• Brewster's Millions (1985)
• Follow That Bird (1985)
• Summer Rental (1985)
• Volunteers (1985)
• Tears Are Not Enough (1985) (documentary)
• Armed and Dangerous (1986)
• Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
• Spaceballs (1987)
• Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
• She's Having a Baby (1988) (Cameo)
• The Great Outdoors (1988)
• Hot to Trot (1988) (voice only)
• Who's Harry Crumb? (1989) (also executive producer)
• Speed Zone! (1989)
• Uncle Buck (1989)
• Masters of Menace (1990) (Cameo)
• Home Alone (1990)
• The Rescuers Down Under (1990) (voice)
• Nothing But Trouble (1991)
• Career Opportunities (1991)
• Only the Lonely (1991)
• Delirious (1991)
• JFK (1991)
• Once Upon a Crime... (1992)
• Boris and Natasha (1992)
• Rookie of the Year (1993)
• Cool Runnings (1993)
• Wagons East (1994)
• Canadian Bacon (1995)
• The Magic 7 (archive footage) (2006)

Trivia

Celebrities impersonated by Candy on SCTV include: Jerry Mathers, Divine, Orson Welles, Julia Child, Richard Burton, Darryl Sittler, Luciano Pavarotti, Jimmy the Greek, Tip O'Neill, Don Rickles, Curly Howard, Merlin Olsen, Jackie Gleason, Tom Selleck, Gordon Pinsent, Ed Asner, Doug McGrath and Herve Villechaize.