Speaking Volumes | Learn more about comedy maverick John Candy at your library

Halloween marks what would have been John Candy’s 71st birthday. This beloved comedian made us laugh in such classics as “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” and “The Great Outdoors.”

Born in Ontario, Canada, to Sidney and Evangeline Candy, he initially planned to be a football player, but a knee injury ended those plans. By the time he entered college, he decided to study journalism and started acting there.

He made small uncredited appearances in film and television beginning in the early 1970s. In the meantime, he joined the cast of SCTV (Second City Television) in Toronto. Due to its popularity in Canada, NBC picked up the show in 1981, giving Candy exposure in the United States.

He was cast in a small role in “Stripes” (1981) with Bill Murray and finally made his mark with “Splash” (1984) with Tom Hanks. Candy co-starred with Richard Pryor in “Brewster’s Millions” (1985) and also appeared in the 1986 film musical of “Little Shop of Horrors”, and even scored a dramatic role as a shady lawyer in Oliver Stone’s “JFK” (1991).

Candy suffered from a variety of health issues that led to his premature death in 1994. Canada has honored Candy in a variety of ways, from its Walk of Fame to the city of Toronto proclaiming “John Candy Day” last year on what would have been his 70th birthday.

Your library has several of John Candy’s films, including “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” (1987); “John Candy Comedy Favorites” which contains “Uncle Buck” (1989) and “The Great Outdoors” (1988); “Who’s Harry Crumb?” (1989) starring and produced by Candy; the black comedy “Nothing But Trouble” (1991), which was directed by Dan Aykroyd, who also starred along with Chevy Chase, and one of his last films, the comedy-western “Wagons East” (1994), which was released posthumously. We also have “SCTV: Best of the Early Years,” a collection of episodes from the Canadian television classic, available on DVD.

If you’re interested in reading about Candy and his career, check out “Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the ‘80s Changed Hollywood Forever”, by Nick De Semlyen, which explores the world of comedy in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, particularly the behind-the-scenes antics on Saturday Night Live and movie comedies of the time.

We also have books on “SCTV” that might be of interest. Sheldon Patinkin’s “The Second City: Backstage of the World’s Greatest Comedy Theater” includes CDs with classic audio clips of Candy and other comedians who performed on the show and Mike Thomas’ “The Second City Unscripted: Revolution and Revelation at the World-Famous Comedy Theater”.

You can find these items and more at your local library. Your library is online: www.mymanatee.org/library. Free masks are available at all library locations. Manatee Libraries are fine free! Please note that lost/damaged fees still apply.

David Breakfield is a librarian with the Bradenton Central Library.