It's rare that an actor as lovable as John Candy comes around, one who feels like he's an old friend and makes audiences laugh when they need it the most. From beloved John Hughes films like Home Alone to cult classics like Spaceballs, these John Candy stories prove just how memorable a presence he was to friends and fans alike. And while we may have rewatched his films too many times to count, some of these behind-the-scenes moments give us a new perspective on the comedian and his biggest roles.
Candy passed in 1994, but these stories we heard in 2021 prove that while he may be gone, he is definitely not forgotten.
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- Armed and Dangerous
- Columbia Pictures
Eugene Levy and John Candy worked on TV shows and in films together, including Armed and Dangerous and National Lampoon's Vacation. In a 2019 interview with the Canadian newspaper The Hamilton Spectator, Levy described his co-star and good friend:
I loved John dearly... We were very, very close friends. I think I worked with John more than anybody else in TV, and on four or five movies. John was a lovely man, first of all, who cared deeply about people. And he was, I think, one of the most gifted comedic actors that honestly has ever been in the business. He made such an impact in his movies and people truly loved him... It always seems like John is still around. That's how much of an impact he made on your life, you know? You're still kind of waiting for a phone call.
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- Spaceballs
- MGM/UA Communications Co.
In 2017, actor Bill Pullman wrote a piece for The New York Times on how John Candy befriended him on the set of his first big Hollywood feature, Spaceballs. Prior to this 1987 film, Pullman had appeared only in a small role in one film. Pullman wrote that Candy, for reasons unknown to him, watched over him during the production.
Candy, who played Barf, introduced himself to Pullman by inviting him to eat lunch together, a routine that continued sporadically during filming. The moment that truly touched Pullman, however, occurred during a major scene with writer/director/actor Mel Brooks. Pullman wrote:
John was feeling that, as scripted, most of the funny lines were being given to Barf, and he suggested I might take one of the wisecracks. A certain silence suddenly dominated the sound stage. Mel paused...
“You think Pullman can make the line funny? Pullman? Okay. Back to one.”
We all went back to our start marks and ran through the three-minute sequence, crew and cast making for a lot of moving parts. After a silence following “Cut,” we heard Mel say: “Okay. We are cutting that line. Back to one.”
Later I was disappointed that I had allowed Mel’s snap to fill me with shame and frustration. In the moment, as we all reset for another take, I must have looked like I was stewing.
I felt the arm of the Mog drape around my shoulders. John leaned in. “Pullman, how about another doughnut?” He continued: “You’d better not look so red right now. And don’t go blue on me later.”
His chuckle and wink calmed me down. I did eventually manage to recalibrate. And the next day, Mel met me with a hug.
I have never forgotten John Candy’s generosity. He showed me how to be a gentle leader. He lightened my load.
He had my back.
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- SCTV
- NBC
Speaking to the Hudson Union Society, Martin Short said Candy was "adored. No one didn't love John." According to the comedian, Candy's on-screen persona wasn't far removed from how he was in real life:
He was affable, he was funny, he was a brilliant comedian, a brilliant actor... He was always larger than life, always picking up tabs.
Short said Candy's generosity preceded his rise to fame:
I remember driving home after we were in a restaurant. I said, "Wait a second, John picked up the tab again. He makes the same money I do, and we're hanging by a thread."
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- Splash
- Buena Vista Distribution
4He Showed Up Drunk On The 'Splash' Set Because Jack Nicholson Kept Him Out All Night
Most interviews with Candy's cast and crewmates contain nothing but glowing words for the former actor. To hear them tell it, he was almost always courteous, friendly, fun-loving, and above all, professional. Except that time he partied with Jack Nicholson.
In a 2020 retrospective for the movie Splash, director Ron Howard shared this intoxicating anecdote:
John, totally professional guy, but he’s late one day... And he finally pulls up and rolls out of the car and he says, "Ron, I’m so sorry."
I said, "It’s okay. You’re late, but we’ll get going."
He said, "No, no, no. Look, I’m drunk. Here’s what happened, I’m telling you the truth: I’m at the bar and Jack Nicholson is at the bar. Jack Nicholson knew my name, Ron! And he starts buying me drinks. I [Candy] said, 'But I’ve got to go shoot.' And he [Nicholson] said, 'You’re going to be all right, kid. Don’t worry about it.' And he kept buying me drinks. I never went to bed, Ron. I never went to bed."
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5Rawle D. Lewis Said Candy Knew 'Cool Runnings' Would Be A Hit
Rawle D. Lewis played Junior Bevil in 1993's Cool Runnings. In an interview with TheThings, he said John Candy knew they had made a genuine hit:
John Candy, at one point we were invited to his room and we were all listening to music, reggae and stuff [laughs], and he said, "Hey listen, I’m from Canada. I was there. They don’t know what they have on their hands. This thing’s going to be huge... But no one gets it because no one gets how big this is going to be."
I remember listening to him and going, "I knew I wasn’t crazy. I feel the same way."
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6A Painful Degree Of Ad-Libbing Took Place On 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles
On the whole, John Hughes was a fan of letting actors add their own lines and input into the roles he wrote for them. This was as true as ever during the filming of 1987's Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
But things got a bit out of hand when Steve Martin and John Candy started riffing off one another. According to Kirk Honeycutt, author of John Hughes: A Life in Film:
[Martin] and John Candy are shooting this scene in this broken-down car with no roof, and it’s minus 10 degrees outside. Every time they ad-libbed, you have to cover it [reshoot from a different camera angle] 50 times. It was getting ridiculous, the multiple coverage they needed for every line. Martin and Candy agreed not to ad-lib anymore because they were freezing to death.
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7He Made $1 Million After Lucking Into His Cameo In 'National Lampoon's Vacation'
Candy wasn't originally supposed to be a security guard at Walley World in 1983's National Lampoon's Vacation. In fact, the role didn't even factor into the original ending of the movie. The first version of the movie featured the Griswolds going to Roy Walley's home after they found their beloved theme park closed, but test audiences wanted something different.
As a result, a new ending - in which security guard Russ Lasky is taken hostage and the group runs free among the rides - came to fruition. Bill Murray was considered to play Lasky in the new ending, but he wasn't unavailable for reshoots. As a result, Candy got the role - and was paid $1 million for it.
Producer Matty Simmons even recalled teasing Candy about it, much to the actor's chagrin. Candy was upset when Simmons said, "You're spending three days here and getting a million dollars? My God, that's more than I got!"
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- Wagons East
- TriStar Pictures
8He Owned Horses Named Uncle Buck And Harry Crumb
According to Candy's daughter Jen:
My dad loved bringing home animals, and my mom was such a trooper because she is allergic to dogs and cats... He’d go to shelters and rescue them. We had [on the farm in Queensville, just outside of Newmarket] four Clydesdales: Peaches and Cream, Uncle Buck, and Harry Crumb. We had cows. The farm, for him, was creating something where he could just go and escape and not be bothered, and be with his family.
Uncle Buck and Who's Harry Crumb? were both released in 1989 and starred Candy.
Not all of Candy's interactions with animals - well, animal owners - were positive. In 1992, he reportedly bought a German shepherd for $19,000. The dog was ill and priced more than four times the normal cost of the breed. Candy sued the trainer for fraud and breach of contract.
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9He Filmed All Of His 'Home Alone' Scenes In Less Than A Day
John Candy made a special appearance in Home Alone as the self-declared "Polka King of the Midwest." His character helps bring Kevin's mom home and adds comedy to the story.
Most of Candy's lines were improvised, and he did it all in a single day. Director Chris Columbus recalled:
He was on the movie for only one day, but it resulted in so much great improvisation. None of that stuff was in the script. The funeral-parlor story, that was all improvised at 4:30 in the morning. We could barely keep a straight face on set just listening to John.
A recent Netflix documentary revealed that Candy was paid a mere $414 for his Home Alone appearance, which he was supposedly bitter about. After all, the film took in more than $476 million at the global box office.
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- Stripes
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10A Knee Injury Helped Determine His Career Path
Candy grew up in Ontario, Canada, and by all accounts was a standout on the football field. While attending Neil McNeil High School, Candy was a "formidable, intimidating" presence on the field, according to biographer Martin Knelman.
During his senior year, Candy suffered a knee injury so severe that he had to give up the game. It was also at McNeil that Candy got his first chance to act. He took drama classes and appeared in several school productions.
After high school, Candy enrolled in community college in Toronto. He also worked a variety of jobs, including Kleenex salesman and paint mixer. At school, Candy studied journalism and acting, dropping out in 1971 to pursue the latter as a career.
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At a party in 1976, Steven Spielberg reportedly laughed when Candy told him, "I liked your movie about the fish."
Jaws had come out the year before. Candy was visiting Hollywood with his fellow SCTV cast members, and ended up with a role in one of Spielberg's movies: His quip about the movie was followed by an offer from Spielberg to appear in 1941.
At first, Candy dismissed the idea, arguing, "There are any number of leeches around here who want the job more than I do." He took the part but ended up with very little screen time when 1941 came out in 1979.
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12When 'Nothing but Trouble' Flopped, Candy And The Cast Received An Apology Letter From The Director
The 1991 film Nothing but Trouble, written and directed by Dan Aykroyd, was a critical and financial failure. Candy played the twin sibling roles of Dennis Valkenheiser and his sister, Eldona, but twice the Candy did not equal twice the fun.
Aykroyd accepted total blame for the film's shortcomings. In Rena Fruchter's 2007 biography of Chevy Chase, she wrote:
In a letter to the other cast members, Dan graciously took full responsibility for the film's failure at the box office and with critics, and he didn't want anyone else to feel their work hadn't been sufficient.
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13Candy Was Intended To Voice A Talking Turkey In Disney's 'Pocahontas'
A handful of animal sidekicks are in 1995's Pocahontas - Percy the pug, Meeko the raccoon, and Flit the hummingbird - but none of them talk. Not in the final film, anyway.
When Disney was developing Pocahontas, all the animals were supposed to talk, including a character removed before production: Redfeather the turkey. Played by Candy, Redfeather was meant to be Pocahontas's sidekick (an early pencil test, not featuring the voice of Candy, can be seen here).
Vulture reported that before Candy's death, the actor had recorded a significant portion of his dialogue already. Redfeather was intended to be Pocahontas’s sidekick, but after Candy passed, the character was cut from the film completely.
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