Biography of James Belushi
James Belushi is a talented American actor who showed by his own example that the same person can succeed both in comedic and dramatic roles. The filmography of our today’s hero consists of a huge number of bright works, each of which remains remarkable and interesting in its own way. But is it only possible to tell about this talented film actor? Of course not. Indeed, in the life of this person there were many curious moments that will surely be of interest to everyone.
Childhood and family of James Belushi
James Belushi was born on June 15, 1954, thus becoming the second son in a family of emigrants from Albania. His older brother’s name was John, and to a large extent it was his personality that predetermined the entire life and career path of our today’s hero. When James Belushi was still in high school in the town of Wheaton (a suburb of Chicago), the name of his older brother was already heard throughout the country. In the sixties, John Belushi actively toured the United States of America, starred in popular films and even, from time to time, worked as a screenwriter.
During this period, James took only the first steps on the theater stage, appearing with small roles in school plays and holiday productions. It is worth noting that at an early age, James did not stand out among other peers and could hardly talk about some remarkable talent. In many ways, this is why the general admiration for his older brother literally drove the future actor out of himself. Torn apart by jealousy and internal strife, James got involved with Chicago gangs and was subsequently taken to the police on numerous occasions for carjacking, fighting, and theft.
However, at some point, our today’s hero realized that he was fighting with his older brother with the wrong weapon and simply decided to beat him on his own field. With this thought, the future actor entered the theater department of the prestigious Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, where he began to seriously work on himself. It was at this moment that the actor’s life began to slowly improve, and he himself began to make serious progress in his chosen profession.
The first roles of James Belushi
In 1977, he began performing with The Second City theater troupe, and also made his television debut with Who’s Babysitting?, which, however, did not become very popular. In the next few years, the young actor began to appear frequently in the “big” cinema, appearing before the audience with several episodic roles in popular films. The most famous role of this period in the career of James Belushi was his acting work on the 1981 film The Thief.
At that moment, while the younger brother was content with only small roles, John Belushi conquered the heights of American cinema. The battle seemed lost, but at some point fate intervened in the correspondence dispute between the two brothers…
Films with James Belushi began to appear in 1977.
In the spring of 1982, the news spread across all US channels that the popular actor John Belushi had died of a drug overdose in one of the rooms of the Los Angeles Chateau Marmont hotel. At that moment, James’ life turned upside down. All of his early aspirations were put in huge question. The young actor began to experience depression, from which he managed to escape only with the help of new roles.
The success and further acting career of James Belushi
In the mid-eighties, after a protracted peak, James finally managed to pull himself together and get back to work in earnest. Despite the actual failure of the show “Saturday Night Live”, in which he was supposed to replace his brother, in 1985 and 1986, several directors still decided to entrust the actor with roles in their new projects. So, in the filmography of the actor appeared comedy tapes “Jumping Jack”, “About what happened last night …”, “Shop of Horrors”, as well as the Oscar-winning drama “Salvador”, which became the first serious success in Belushi’s career.
Realizing that alcohol and James’ constant sprees were a thing of the past, American directors became more willing to involve him in their films and television projects. And very soon the career of our today’s hero slowly went uphill. In the late eighties and early nineties, the actor became famous for his roles in the films Red Heat, K-9, Homer and Eddie, Curly Sue, Diary of an Assassin, Blood Trail, AAA! Real monsters”, “Sahara”. During this period, the actor managed to prove to himself and others that he could be interesting to the audience in a variety of ways, and could also cope equally well with both comedic and more serious roles.
From this moment on, the name of James Belushi has already ceased to be associated in the minds of the audience with the name of his star brother.
In the future, our today’s hero continued to often act in films, clearly establishing himself in the rank of one of the most popular comedians in Hollywood. During this period, a huge number of bright films with his participation were released, the most famous of which were the tapes of the K-911 franchise, as well as the series “As Jim Said”, which is still successfully broadcast on various channels in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
In addition, in adulthood, the actor often began to work on dubbing animated films, and also act as a musician. So, in 2003, the actor took part in the recording of The Sonics’ album “Have Love Will Travel”, and some time later he performed one of the title songs in the animated film “The True Story of Little Red Riding Hood”.
In the spring of 2006, James’ playful autobiographical book, titled Real Men Don’t Apologize, saw the light of day (published in Russian as I Know What Women Need! Seduction Lessons from a Tough Guy).
In 2008, in Albania, James Belushi was awarded the Order of Honor of the Nation. A year later, he became a citizen of this country.
Personal life of James Belushi
There were three marriages in the life of James Belushi. The first wife of a popular actor was a girl named Sandra Davenport. The lovers were married in 1980, but this marriage did not become too long. His family life turned out to be fleeting with a girl named Marjorie Bransfield, who became his second wife.
James Belushi with third wife Jennifer Sloan
He currently resides in Los Angeles with his third wife, Jennifer Sloan. Together they raise three children – two sons (Jared and Robert) and a daughter Jemison.
