John Candy was born in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada in 1950 to Evangeline and Sidney James Candy. His mother was of Ukrainian and Polish ancestry. Candy discovered his passion for drama while attending a community college and made his TV debut in 1971 in an episode of Police Surgeon. He then found bit parts in other Canadian television shows and small films.
However, his big success came at the age of 27 when he became part of the comedy group "Second City" in Toronto. Alongside future stars like Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, and Harold Ramis, Candy was part of the television show SCTV, earning him a reputation for his quirky humor and uncanny imitations of others.
After SCTV, Candy appeared in the Steven Spielberg film 1941, followed by a successful role in The Blues Brothers. He then played a dopey recruit in the smash hit Stripes, and returned to Second City with the other former stars in SCTV Network.
Candy hosted Saturday Night Live and landed a role in the romantic comedy Splash, playing a sleazy brother to Tom Hanks' character. The film was a bigger success than Stripes and is often cited as his breakout role.
He continued making films, including Brewster's Millions, Armed and Dangerous, and Spaceballs. In 1987, he starred in two classic roles: Barf the Mawg in Spaceballs and the bumbling salesman Del Griffith in Planes, Trains & Automobiles, which is considered one of his greatest films.
Candy's other notable roles include Uncle Buck, The Great Outdoors, and Home Alone. He was known for his size, standing at six feet two and weighing around 300 pounds, but was sensitive about the subject and tried to lose weight and quit smoking in the 1990s.
Candy's career fell into a slump in the early 1990s, but he bounced back with serious roles in JFK and Cool Runnings. He was well-known for his classic antics in Splash and The Great Outdoors, and never forgot his Canadian background.
Sadly, Candy passed away in March 1994 after suffering a heart attack while filming Wagons East in Mexico. His last film, Canadian Bacon, was released a year after his death. Candy was loved by thousands of people for his classic roles and will always be remembered as one of Canada's greatest and funniest character actors.
