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25 Fun Facts About John Candy And The Comedian’s Legendary Career

Originally published on Cinemablend

May 25, 2023 at 9:32 AM

We would have bought him Orange Whip.

John Candy And Dan Aykroyd Were Friends Before Both Pursuing Comedy Careers

He Based SCTV’s Johnny LaRue On People He’d Seen On TV, Met In Real Life

John Candy Turned Down Offers To Join SNL

Jack Nicholson Got John Candy Drunk Before He Had To Show Up To The Splash Set

Armed And Dangerous Was Almost John Candy’s Third Movie With Tom Hanks

His Refusal To Insult Meg Ryan’s Character Caused Armed And Dangerous’ Director To Quit

John Candy Was Offered Rick Moranis’ Ghostbusters Role

Ghostbusters Producers Crashed The Brewster’s Millions Set To Film John Candy’s Music Video Cameo

Conan O’Brien Was John Candy’s Escort When He Visited Harvard

The Actor’s Barf Costume Caused Problems For Him On The Spaceballs Set

He Brought Exercise Equipment To The Planes, Trains & Automobiles Set

John Candy’s Own Parenting Methods Inspired His Uncle Buck Performance

John Candy Hosted His Own Radio Show

John Candy Turned Down Multiple Offers To Play Fatty Arbuckle

Much Of John Candy’s Home Alone Dialogue Was Improvised

Kevin Costner Prevented John Candy’s JFK Role From Being Cut

John Candy Bought The Toronto Argonauts Football Team With Wayne Gretzky

“One Look” At John Candy Convinced Maureen O’Hara To Star In Only The Lonely

His Camp Candy Role Was Based On Him Before He Was Even Cast

John Candy’s Kids Lent Their Voices To His Animated Series, Camp Candy

John Candy Improvised Much Of His Dialogue In The Rescuers Down Under

He Was Considered To Play Fred In 1994’s The Flintstones

John’s Daughter, Jennifer, Directed A Theatrical Production Of Little Shop Of Horrors As Her Senior Thesis

John Candy’s Son Received A Lyft Ride From A Former Stuntman Who Once Worked With His Dad

The LAPD Closed The 405 Freeway For John Candy’s Funeral Procession

We would have bought him Orange Whip.

There are few comedy icons as widely beloved as John Candy. The late Canadian actor starred in many acclaimed films such as Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Spaceballs, and plenty more classics made all the better, and funnier, by his talent and his warm and charming presence. You might assume there could not be anymore reasons to love the guy until you read some of these interesting stories behind his impressive filmography and from his personal life.

By Jason Wiese

Universal

The late, beloved John Candy's impressive comedy career only gets more interesting with these behind-the-scenes facts.