John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian comedian and actor. Candy rose to fame as a member of the Toronto, Canada branch of The Second City, often playing lovable losers and characters with bad luck but big hearts. While his film roles were mostly comedic, he had dramatic roles in movies such as Only the Lonely, Cool Runnings and JFK.
Candy, the younger of two sons, was born in Newmarket, Ontario, to Sidney James Candy and Evangeline Aker. He was raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His father died quite young from a heart attack. He attended the Neil McNeil Catholic High School, an all-boys, public, Catholic school in Toronto, where he played football.
Candy's first movie role was in the 1973 film Class of '44, in which he made a small uncredited appearance. He then appeared in several other low-budget films in the 1970s. In 1976, Candy played a supporting role (with Rick Moranis) on Peter Gzowski's short-lived, late-night television talk show, Ninety Minutes Live. That same year, as a member of Toronto's branch of The Second City, he gained wide North American popularity, which grew when he became a cast member on the influential Toronto-based comedy-variety show Second City Television (SCTV). NBC picked the show up in 1981 and it quickly became a fan favourite.
Among Candy's memorable characterizations for SCTV were unscrupulous street-beat TV personality Johnny LaRue, 3-D horror auteur Doctor Tongue, sycophantic and easily amused talk-show sidekick William B. Williams, and quiescent Melonville Mayor Tommy Shanks. Other characters included cheerful Leutonian clarinetist Yosh Shmenge, who was half of the Happy Wanderers and the subject of the mockumentary The Last Polka, folksy fishin' musician Gil Fisher, handsome if accent-challenged TV actor Steve Roman, hapless children's entertainer Mr. Messenger, corrupt soap opera doctor William Wainwright and smut merchant Harry, "the Guy With the Snake on His Face".
Mimicry was one of Candy's talents, which he used often at SCTV. Celebrities impersonated by Candy include Jerry Mathers, Divine (Glen Milstead), Orson Welles, Julia Child, Richard Burton, Darryl Sittler, Luciano Pavarotti, Jimmy the Greek, Tip O'Neill, Don Rickles, Curly Howard, Merlin Olsen, Jackie Gleason, Tom Selleck, Gordon Pinsent, Ed Asner, Doug McGrath and Hervé Villechaize.
In the early 1990s, Candy's career went into decline after he appeared in a string of critical and commercial failures, including Nothing But Trouble, Delirious and Once Upon A Crime although he did appear in major successes such as Rookie of the Year and Cool Runnings. Candy also appeared as a supporting actor as Gus: The Polka King of the Mid-West in the Christmas comedy Home Alone.
Candy attempted to reinvigorate his acting career by broadening his range and playing more dramatic roles. In 1991, Candy appeared in a light romantic comedy-drama, Only the Lonely which saw him as a Chicago cop torn between his overbearing mother (Maureen O'Hara) and his new girlfriend (Ally Sheedy). The same year and in rare form, Candy played a dramatic role as Dean Andrews, a shady Southern lawyer in Oliver Stone's JFK.
In 1991, Bruce McNall, Wayne Gretzky, and Candy became co-owners of the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts. The celebrity ownership group attracted a lot of attention in Canada and the team spent a significant amount of money, even signing some highly-touted National Football League players. Candy worked on drafts for a character, "Redfeather", for Pocahontas.
