Dan Aykroyd

Birthday: 1 July 1952, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Birth Name: Daniel Edward Aykroyd

Height: 185 cm

Daniel Edward Aykroyd was born on July 1, 1952 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to Lorraine Hélène (Gougeon), a secretary from a French-Canadian family, and Samuel Cuthbert Peter Hugh Aykroyd, a civil engineer who advised prime minister Pierre Trudeau. Aykroyd attended Carleton University in 1969, where he majored in Criminology and Sociology, but he dropped out before completing his degree. He worked as a comedian in various Canadian nightclubs and managed an after-hours speakeasy, Club 505, in Toronto for several years. He worked with Second City Stage Troupe in Toronto and started his acting career at Carleton University with Sock'n'Buskin, the campus theater/drama club. Married to Donna Dixon since 1983, he has two daughters. His parents are named Peter and Lorraine and his brother Peter Aykroyd is a psychic researcher. Dan received an honorary Doctorate from Carleton University in 1994 and was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1998. Show less «

I get off on fantasy. I love fiction of all kinds. I've always been a big fan of science fiction and...Show more »

I get off on fantasy. I love fiction of all kinds. I've always been a big fan of science fiction and of the worlds of the spiritual and the mystic. I think those areas are a never-ending source for story ideas. Show less «

Chevy Chase was the first to make it huge - people would recognize him in the street: 'Hey Chubby Ch...Show more »

Chevy Chase was the first to make it huge - people would recognize him in the street: 'Hey Chubby Chase, look at Chubby Chase'. Everybody knew who he was. He was the first to start on a movie career and maybe [John Belushi] was a little jealous. But I liked Chevy and was sorry to see him leave Saturday Night Live (1975)]. He's one of the master physical comedians. I think you can place Buster Keaton and Chevy in the same sentence and be pretty safe there. Show less «

[on Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)] Basically they gave us the budget to make the film. We got paid zero...Show more »

[on Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)] Basically they gave us the budget to make the film. We got paid zero. I wanted Jim Belushi to play the part Joe Morton did, but he was doing a TV show and couldn't do it. But Morton did a great job and John Goodman did a good job. I think it's a good companion piece to the first film. Show less «

[when asked if he ever gets recognized for anything] I have this young female demographic that recog...Show more »

[when asked if he ever gets recognized for anything] I have this young female demographic that recognizes me as the dad from My Girl (1991) and this older female demographic that recognizes me as the son from Driving Miss Daisy (1989). Show less «

[on Ghostbusters (1984)] I knew we were making something people would come to see, like they came to...Show more »

[on Ghostbusters (1984)] I knew we were making something people would come to see, like they came to Animal House (1978) and Stripes (1981). I knew it would open. But I didn't know it would stay at the US box-office number-one slot for 13 weeks. It was like we'd hit a gusher in the oil business. Show less «

If it hadn't been for Carleton [University], The Blues Brothers (1980) would never have been made.

My attitude has always been, "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if -." If this makes me laugh, maybe somebod...Show more »

My attitude has always been, "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if -." If this makes me laugh, maybe somebody else will laugh at it, too. That's really where I've always come from. My whole thing is to entertain, make people laugh and to forget about the real world for awhile. It's not always easy doing that. I'm never completely happy with anything I've done. If I've been successful with 80 percent of everything I've done, then I'm doing all right by the audience and myself. Show less «

I have this kind of mild nice-guy exterior, but inside my heart is like a steel trap. I'm really qui...Show more »

I have this kind of mild nice-guy exterior, but inside my heart is like a steel trap. I'm really quite robotic. Show less «

[on Ghostbusters II (1989)] There are some tremendous sequences. The river of slime, Vigo, the whole...Show more »

[on Ghostbusters II (1989)] There are some tremendous sequences. The river of slime, Vigo, the whole baby thing, the possessed Ghostbusters...I'd say it holds up to the first movie about 75 per cent. If there's a deficiency, it's the ending - it's hard to follow up Mr Stay Puft. But I consider it a great companion to the first movie. And it was a hit. Show less «

The entertainment business is not the be-all and end-all for me.

'Ghostbusters 3' will never happen. Unless Bill Murray agrees. Everyone else would love to do it--Co...Show more »

'Ghostbusters 3' will never happen. Unless Bill Murray agrees. Everyone else would love to do it--Columbia, [Harold Ramis], myself, [Ivan Reitman]. It's a five-way rights situation and Bill is locking up his piece of the rights because he feels that was work he just wants preserved and he doesn't want it diluted. As an artist I can respect that. Show less «

[eulogizing his good friend and fellow Blues Brother, the late great John Belushi] "...A good man, b...Show more »

[eulogizing his good friend and fellow Blues Brother, the late great John Belushi] "...A good man, but a bad boy." Show less «

Dan Aykroyd

Dan Aykroyd's FILMOGRAPHY

Dan Aykroyd'S roles

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