The Tragedy of March 5 (Part 2)

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As I mentioned in part 1, March 5 is a day of remembering lives lost in the world of entertainment. On March 5, 1963, a plane crashed near Camden, Tennessee, killing three country music stars and their manager. Then there was March 5, 1982. For those who are younger, you may not fully grasp the excitement of staying up late on Saturday to watch the original “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” on Saturday Night Live. A group of comedians and writers who had been on various comedy tours such as Second City in Chicago and the National Lampoon Radio Hour, the original SNL was brilliant, unorthodox, and had some innovative musical guests. Although Chevy Chase quickly became the “star” (probably because of his good looks at the time), one of the most talented was John Belushi. A Chicago native, Belushi honed his craft at both Second City and National Lampoon, where he played the MC of the “Woodchuck Festival of Peace, Love, and Death” in the Woodstock parody Lemmings. Watching Belushi was hilarious. He had a way of raising one eyebrow that would cause laughter. If you watch his breakthrough movie, Animal House, you will see a master of physical comedy. Belushi also had a love of music, and would combine the two (most memorably, when he impersonated Joe Cocker with Joe Cocker on SNL). A skit on SNL morphed into the Blues Brothers, where Belushi and Dan Aykroyd played the frontmen, Jake and Elwood Blues. It was no joke: they were backed by one of the best collection of musicians you’d ever hope to find. That eventually led to the classic 1980 film The Blues Brothers, music and comedy genius from start to finish. Unfortunately, like many of the other SNL cast members, Belushi loved what many people in the 70s loved: drugs. And, like many in that era, he had a hard time controlling his appetite. Even before he left SNL he was frequently in the dog house of producer Lorne Michaels because of his drug use, which rendered him unable to perform (or even show up). Eventually the drugs took their toll on his search for movie roles. On March 5, 1982, Belushi’s fitness trainer and friend arrived at Belushi’s rented bungalow in the Hollywood hills, bringing some items that Belushi had requested to help him work on a film script. He found the 33-year-old comedian and musician dead. The cause of death was an accidental drug overdose caused by what was known as a “speedball,” a mixture of cocaine and heroin injected intravenously. Later, a woman would give a “tell-all” interview to the National Enquirer about how she was the one who administered the fatal drug dose to Belushi, resulting her her conviction for involuntary manslaughter. The thing I remember most about the immediate aftermath of Belushi’s death was an editorial cartoon. It was four panels long, the first three panels filled with exaggerated but obvious caricatures of Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin, along with the words, “By now we would have realized what the senseless overuse of drugs has cost us, and the talent it has robbed us of.” The fourth panel was empty, save for one of Belushi’s SNL catchphrases: “But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Belushi as Joliet Jake Blues during a Blues Brothers concert: