| Jim Belushi | |
| Other Names: | James Belushi "The Belush" Zee Blues |
| Birth Name: | James Adam Belushi |
| Birth Date: | 15 June 1954 |
| Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Citizenship: | United States |
| Education: | Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (BA) |
| Years Active: | 1977–present |
| Spouse: | |
| Children: | 3, including Robert |
| Relations: | John Belushi (brother) |
James Adam Belushi[1] (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor and comedian. His television roles include Saturday Night Live (1983–1985), According to Jim (2001–2009), and Good Girls Revolt (2015–2016).
Belushi appeared in films such as Thief (1981), Trading Places (1983), The Man with One Red Shoe (1985), Salvador (1986), Red Heat (1988), K-9 (1989), Taking Care of Business (1990), Destiny Turns on the Radio (1995), Angel's Dance (1999), Joe Somebody (2001), Underdog (2007), The Ghost Writer (2010), The Secret Lives of Dorks (2013), Wonder Wheel (2017), and Song Sung Blue (2025).
He is the younger brother of late comedy actor John Belushi and the father of actor Robert Belushi.
James Adam Belushi was born June 15, 1954, in Wheaton, Illinois,[1] to Adam Anastos Belushi, an Albanian from Qytezë, Korçë, and Agnes Demetri Samaras, who was born in Ohio to ethnic Albanian immigrants from Korçë, south Albania.[2] He was raised in Wheaton, a Chicago suburb, along with his three siblings: older brother John, older sister Marian, and younger brother Billy.[3] [4] [5] After graduating from Wheaton Central High School in 1972, Jim Belushi attended the College of DuPage, and graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with a bachelor's degree in Speech and Theater Arts in 1978.[6]
From 1977 to 1980, Belushi, like his older brother John, worked with the Chicago theater group The Second City. During this period, Belushi made his television debut in 1978's Who's Watching the Kids and also had a small part in Brian De Palma's The Fury. His first significant role was in Michael Mann's Thief (1981). After John's death, from 1983 to 1985 he appeared on Saturday Night Live; he portrayed characters such as Hank Rippy from "Hello, Trudy!", Man on the Street Jesse Donnelly, and "That White Guy". Belushi also appeared in the film Trading Places as a drunk man in a gorilla suit during a New Year's Eve party. He made a guest appearance in Faerie Tale Theatre's third-season episode "Pinocchio", starring Paul Reubens as the titular puppet.
Belushi rose to greater prominence with his supporting roles in The Man with One Red Shoe (1985), About Last Night..., Salvador, and Little Shop of Horrors (as Patrick Martin) (all 1986), which opened up opportunities for lead roles. He has starred in films including Real Men, The Principal, Red Heat, Homer and Eddie, K-9, Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe, Dimenticare Palermo, Taking Care of Business, Mr. Destiny, Only the Lonely, Curly Sue, Once upon a Crime, Wild Palms, Race the Sun, Separate Lives, Retroactive, Gang Related, and Angel's Dance.
His voice work includes The Mighty Ducks, The Pebble and the Penguin, Babes in Toyland, Gargoyles and Hey Arnold!, and Hoodwinked, Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King and The Wild. He also lent his vocal talents for (a PC game released in 1995), in which he portrayed "Salty", a coarse yet helpful character. In 1997, he portrayed the "Masked Mutant" in the Goosebumps PC video game, alongside Adam West as "The Galloping Gazelle". On January 4, 2001, Belushi appeared on the ER episode "Piece of Mind". The episode focused both on Dr. Mark Greene's life-or-death brain surgery in New York and on Belushi's character, who had been in a car accident with his son in Chicago. Belushi's performance contributed to his re-emergence in the public eye, and the following year he was cast as the title role in ABC's According to Jim.[7]
His first animation voice-over was as a pimple on Krumm's head in Aaahh!!! Real Monsters on Nickelodeon. That performance led him to be cast in the recurring role as Simon the Monster Hunter in that series, where he ad-libbed much of his dialogue.
In 2003, Belushi and Dan Aykroyd released the album Have Love, Will Travel, and participated in an accompanying tour. The concert was made available on video on demand by Bob Gold & Associates.[8] [9] He also performs at various venues nationwide as Zee Blues in an updated version of The Blues Brothers. He released his first book, Real Men Don't Apologize, in May 2006. Belushi was a narrator of an NFL offensive linemen commercial. Belushi also introduced the starting lineups for the University of Illinois football team during ABC's telecast of the 2008 Rose Bowl.
He appeared in MC Hammer's video "Too Legit to Quit" in 1991 (in the extended full-length version). He also hosted a celebration rally for the Chicago Cubs playoff series in Chicago prior to the 2008 World Series. Steve Dahl has dubbed him "The Funniest Living Belushi".
In 2010, Belushi was cast in a pilot for CBS called The Defenders, a series about defense lawyers.[10] The one-hour series premiered on September 22, 2010.[11] In two episodes in 2011, Belushi was paired with Blues Brothers partner Dan Aykroyd.[12] [13] On May 15, 2011, The Defenders was canceled by CBS.[14] In 2011, he was cast as corrupt businessman Harry Brock in Born Yesterday, which opened on Broadway in late April.[15]
In August 2020, Discovery Channel started airing a series about Belushi and his cannabis farm in Oregon, called Growing Belushi.[16]
In August 2022, Belushi appeared as Brother Zee, with Aykroyd and The Blues Brothers Band, at the first Blues Brothers Con event held at Old Joliet Prison Historical Site. The two day festival also featured a screening of the film and performances from Mondo Cortez & The Chicago Blues Angels, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials and Dave Weld & The Imperial Flames.[17] [18]
Belushi has been married three times. On May 17, 1980, he married Sandra Davenport, who gave birth to their son, Robert James, on October 23, 1980. Belushi and Davenport divorced in 1988.[19] Belushi was married to actress Marjorie Bransfield from 1990 to 1992.[19] He married Jennifer Sloan on May 2, 1998; they share a daughter and a son.[20] On March 5, 2018, Sloan filed for divorce from Belushi.[20] [21] The two later reconciled.[22] Belushi filed for divorce from Sloan in 2021.[23]
Belushi is closely linked to his Albanian heritage and received honorary Albanian citizenship, as well as the "Honor of the Nation" Decoration from the President of Albania, Bamir Topi, in 2008.[24] [25] He is Eastern Orthodox Christian, visiting with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2010.[26] Belushi is a fan of the Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Bears, Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Fire.[27]
Belushi had a legal battle and publicized feud with his neighbor, actress Julie Newmar. She claimed their conflicts stemmed from Belushi's attempt to "build a second house in the back", which she claimed was illegal in their R-1 neighborhood, since there can be only one house per lot. In 2004, Belushi filed a $4million lawsuit against Newmar, alleging "she harassed and defamed him". He also claimed she destroyed his fence, which Newmar denied. They ended the feud amicably in 2006, when Belushi invited Newmar to guest-star on According to Jim on an episode that satirized their conflict.[28]
In 2011, Belushi announced he was suffering from gout, and became a spokesman for Savient Pharmaceuticals' educational campaign "Check Out Your Gout".[29] [30] He appeared on the cover of and was interviewed by Cigar Aficionado magazine.[31]
Belushi endorsed the re-election campaign of Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012. On a Fox News interview, he explained "When you talk to the President in private, he's a cool guy, who knows what he's doing. Besides, I'm from Chicago too."[32]
Belushi built a getaway home in Eagle Point, Oregon, in 2015[33] where he now grows cannabis.[34] [35] By 2018, the size of his Eagle Point property had been expanded to 93acres.[35] He is involved with fundraising for projects in Eagle Point and elsewhere in Southern Oregon, including the planned rebuilding of the Butte Creek Mill and the restoration of the Holly Theatre, in Medford. In 2018, he was living in Los Angeles "most of the time", The Oregonian reported,[35] and living in Oregon part of the year. Per a 2018 article, Belushi indicated he planned on opening a pop-up cannabis dispensary in downtown Portland.[35]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | data-sort-value="Fury, The" | The Fury | Beach Bum | |
| 1980 | data-sort-value="Cleansing, The" | The Cleansing | Bobby | Short |
| 1981 | Thief | Barry | ||
| 1982 | Sugar or Plain | Bobby | Short | |
| 1983 | Trading Places | Harvey | ||
| 1985 | data-sort-value="Man with One Red Shoe, The" | The Man with One Red Shoe | Morris | |
| 1986 | Salvador | Dr. Rock | ||
| About Last Night... | Bernie Litko | |||
| Jumpin' Jack Flash | Sperry Repair Man | |||
| Little Shop of Horrors | Patrick Martin | |||
| 1987 | data-sort-value="Principal, The" | The Principal | Principal Rick Latimer | |
| Real Men | Nick Pirandello | |||
| 1988 | Red Heat | Sergeant Art Ridzik | ||
| 1989 | Who's Harry Crumb? | Man on Bus | ||
| K-9 | Detective Michael Dooley | |||
| Homer and Eddie | Homer Lanza | |||
| Wedding Band | Reverend | |||
| 1990 | Dimenticare Palermo | Carmine Bonavia | ||
| Taking Care of Business | Jimmy Dworski | |||
| Masters of Menace | 'Gypsy' | |||
| Mr. Destiny | Larry Joseph Burrows | |||
| 1991 | Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe | Principal Rick Latimer | ||
| Only the Lonely | Officer Sal Buonarte | |||
| Diary of a Hitman | Shandy | |||
| Curly Sue | Bill Dancer | |||
| 1992 | Once Upon a Crime | Neil Schwary | ||
| Traces of Red | Jack Dobson | |||
| 1993 | Last Action Hero | Himself | ||
| 1994 | Royce | Shane Royce | ||
| 1995 | data-sort-value="Pebble and the Penguin, The" | The Pebble and the Penguin | Rocko (voice) | [36] |
| Destiny Turns on the Radio | Tuerto | |||
| Canadian Bacon | Charles Jackal | |||
| Separate Lives | Tom Beckwith | |||
| 1996 | Race the Sun | Frank Machi | ||
| Jingle All the Way | Mall Santa | |||
| 1997 | Retroactive | Frank Lloyd | ||
| Living in Peril | Harrison/Oliver | |||
| Gold in the Streets | Mario | |||
| Bad Baby | Cornelius Goode (voice) | |||
| Gang Related | Detective Franklin "Frank" Divinci | |||
| Babes in Toyland | Gonzargo (voice) | |||
| Wag the Dog | Himself | |||
| 1998 | Overnight Delivery | Overnight Delivery Boss | Video | |
| 1999 | Angel's Dance | Stevie 'The Rose' Rosellini | ||
| data-sort-value="Florentine, The" | The Florentine | Billy Belasco | ||
| Made Men | Bill 'The Mouth' Manucci | |||
| My Neighbors the Yamadas | Takashi Yamada (voice) | English dub, 2005 | ||
| data-sort-value="Nuttiest Nutcracker, The" | The Nuttiest Nutcracker | Reginald The Mouse King (voice) | Video | |
| K-911 | Detective Michael Dooley | |||
| 2000 | Return to Me | Joe Dayton | ||
| 2001 | Joe Somebody | Chuck Scarett | ||
| 2002 | Snow Dogs | Demon (voice) | ||
| One Way Out | Harry Woltz | Video | ||
| Detective Michael Dooley | ||||
| Pinocchio | The Farmer (voice) | |||
| Legend of the Lost Tribe | Tapir/Little Magnus (voice) | |||
| 2003 | Easy Six | Elvis | ||
| 2004 | DysEnchanted | Doctor (The Shrink) | Short | |
| 2005 | Tugger (voice) | Video[37] | ||
| Hoodwinked! | Kirk (voice) | |||
| 2006 | Behind the Smile | Jeffrey Stone | ||
| data-sort-value="Wild, The" | The Wild | Benny (voice) | ||
| Lolo's Cafe | Frank (voice) | Short | ||
| 2007 | Farce of the Penguins | 'They're All Bitches' Penguin (voice) | Video | |
| Once Upon a Christmas Village | Santa Claus (voice) | Short | ||
| Underdog | Dan Unger | |||
| 2008 | Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King | Glob (voice) | Video | |
| Snow Buddies | Saint Bernie (voice) | |||
| 2010 | data-sort-value="Ghost Writer, The" | The Ghost Writer | John Maddox | |
| 2011 | Cougars, Inc. | Dan Fox | ||
| New Year's Eve | Building Super | |||
| 2012 | Thunderstruck | Coach Amross | ||
| 2013 | Cowardly Lion (voice) | |||
| data-sort-value="Secret Lives of Dorks, The" | The Secret Lives of Dorks | Bronko | ||
| 2015 | Home Sweet Hell | Les | ||
| 2016 | data-sort-value="Whole Truth, The" | The Whole Truth | Boone Lassiter | |
| data-sort-value="Hollow Point, The" | The Hollow Point | Diaz | ||
| Undrafted | Jim | |||
| Katie Says Goodbye | 'Bear' | |||
| 2017 | data-sort-value="Change of Heart, A" | A Change of Heart | Hank | [38] |
| Sollers Point | Carol | [39] | ||
| Wonder Wheel | Humpty | [40] | ||
| 2022 | Gigi & Nate | Dan Gibson | [41] | |
| 2024 | Fight Another Day | Duke | ||
| 2025 | data-sort-value="Chronology of Water, The" | The Chronology of Water | Ken Kesey | |
| Song Sung Blue | Tom D'Amato | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | data-sort-value="Mystery of the Third Planet, The" | The Mystery of the Third Planet | Peter The Repeater Bird (voice) | English language dub |
| 1984 | data-sort-value="best legs in the Eight Grade, The" | The Best Legs in the Eight Grade | Saint Valentine | |
| 1994 | Royce | Shane Royce | ||
| Parallel Lives | Nick Dimas | |||
| 1995 | Sahara | Sergeant Joe Gunn | ||
| 1997 | Dog's Best Friend | Skippy (voice) | ||
| 1999 | Justice | Frank Spello | ||
| 2000 | Who Killed Atlanta's Children? | Pat Laughlin | ||
| 2006 | Casper's Scared School | Alder (voice) | ||
| 2014 | Stan Lee Mighty 7 | Mr cross (voice) | ||
| 2017 | Coach Wittenberg (voice) | [42] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978–79 | Who's Watching the Kids? | Bert Gunkel | Main cast | |
| 1979 | Working Stiffs | Ernie O'Rourke | ||
| 1982 | Laverne & Shirley | 'Wheezer' | Episode: "Of Mice and Men" | |
| 1983–85 | Saturday Night Live | Himself/Cast Member | Main cast (season 9-10) | |
| 1984 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Mario | Episode: "Pinocchio" | |
| 1986 | Cinemax Comedy Experiment | Bob | Episode: "Jim Belushi in Birthday Boy" | |
| 1993 | Wild Palms | Harry Wyckoff | Main cast | |
| data-sort-value="Building, The" | The Building | Billy Shoe | Episode: "Yakkity Yak Don't Talk" | |
| 1994–97 | Aaahh!!! Real Monsters | Simon The Monster Hunter (voice) | Recurring cast | |
| 1995 | Duckman | Saul Monella (voice) | Episode: "America the Beautiful" | |
| Pinky and the Brain | Jack Maguire (voice) | Episode: "Das Mouse" | ||
| Santo Bugito | Baby Face (voice) | Episode: "Load 'O Bees" | ||
| 1995–96 | Gargoyles | Fang (voice) | Recurring cast (season 2) | |
| 1995–2010 | Biography | Himself | Recurring guest | |
| 1996 | Dumb and Dumber | Duker, Manager | Episode: "Chipped Dip / Laundryland Lunacy" | |
| KaBlam! | Louie The Chameleon (voice) | Episode: "Built for Speed" | ||
| Timon & Pumbaa | Male Warthog (voice) | Episode: "Home Is Where the Hog Is" | ||
| data-sort-value="Tick, The" | The Tick | Mr. Fleener (voice) | Episode: "The Tick vs. Education" | |
| 1996–97 | Mighty Ducks | Phil Palmfeather (voice) | Main cast | |
| 1996–99 | Hey Arnold! | Coach Jack Wittenberg (voice) | Guest cast (season 1–4) | |
| 1997 | Arena | Himself | Episode: "Cigars: Out of the Humidor" | |
| Cow and Chicken | Butch (voice) | Episode: "School Bully" | ||
| Life with Louie | Jack (voice) | Episode: "The Making of a President" | ||
| data-sort-value="Blues Brothers: The Animated Series, The" | The Blues Brothers: The Animated Series | Jake (voice) | Main cast | |
| Total Security | Steve Wegman | |||
| 1997–98 | data-sort-value="Larry Sanders Show, The" | The Larry Sanders Show | Himself | Guest cast (season 1–2) |
| 1998 | E! True Hollywood Story | Episode: "John Belushi" | ||
| Hercules | Nestor (voice) | Guest cast (season 1–2) | ||
| Stories from My Childhood | Peter The Repeater Bird (voice) | Episode: "Alice and The Mystery of the Third Planet" | ||
| 2000–01 | Beggars and Choosers | Freddy Falco | Recurring cast (season 2) | |
| 2001 | ER | Dan Harris | Episode: "Piece of Mind" | |
| 2001–09 | According to Jim | James "Jim" Orenthal | Main cast; also executive producer | |
| 2002 | data-sort-value="Jamie Kennedy Experiment, The" | The Jamie Kennedy Experiment | Himself | Episode: "Episode #1.17" |
| Rugrats | Santa Claus (voice) | Episode: "Babies in Toyland" | ||
| What's New, Scooby-Doo? | Asa Buckwald (voice) | Episode: "Scooby-Doo Christmas" | ||
| Robbie the Reindeer | Santa Claus, Tapir (voice) | 2 episodes | ||
| 2002–06 | data-sort-value="Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, The" | Coach Gruber (voice) | Recurring cast (season 1), guest (season 3) | |
| 2003 | Mad TV | Himself | Episode: "Don Cheadle" | |
| Ozzy & Drix | Captain Quinine (voice) | Episode: "The Conqueror Worm" | ||
| I'm with Her | Leslie Buren | Episode: "The Second Date" | ||
| 2004 | Less than Perfect | Eddie Smirkoff | Episode: "Arctic Nights" | |
| 2005 | data-sort-value="Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame..., The" | The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame... | Himself | Episode: "Steve Bartman for the Cubs 2003 Playoff Collapse" |
| My Crazy Life | Episode: "Snow Jobs" | |||
| Who's No. 1? | Episode: "Biggest Chokes" | |||
| George Lopez | The Inspector | Episode: "George's Extreme Makeover: Holmes Edition" | ||
| Fatherhood | Officer (voice) | Episode: "Truth or Scare" | ||
| 2006 | My First Time | Himself | Episode: "Sitcom Stylings" | |
| Second City: First Family of Comedy | Recurring guest | |||
| 2008 | Yin Yang Yo! | The Puffin (voice) | Episode: "League of Evil" | |
| 2009 | Handy Manny | Sal (voice) | Episode: "Francisco Comes to Town/Broken Drawbridge" | |
| 2010–11 | data-sort-value="Defenders, The" | The Defenders | Nick Morelli | Main cast |
| 2012 | Doc McStuffins | Glo-Bo (voice) | Recurring cast (season 1) | |
| 2015 | Serious Business | Himself | Episode: "Stand Up Guys" | |
| Building Belushi | Main cast | |||
| Show Me a Hero | Angelo R. Martinelli | Recurring cast | ||
| 2015–16 | TripTank | Guy/Dad (voice) | Recurring cast (season 2) | |
| Good Girls Revolt | William 'Wick' McFadden | Recurring cast | ||
| 2016 | data-sort-value="7D, The" | The 7D | Coach Coachy (voice) | Episode: "Jollyball Anyone?" |
| 2017 | Twin Peaks | Bradley Mitchum | Recurring cast (season 3) | |
| 2019 | Dad Cloud (voice) | Episode: "Two's a Cloud" | ||
| 2020–23 | Growing Belushi | Himself | Main cast | |
| 2022 | Guy's All-American Road Trip | Episode: "Great Food With Great Friends" |
| Year | Title | Artist | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | "2 Legit 2 Quit" | MC Hammer | Newscaster | |
| 2014 | "Whoa Whoa Whoa"[43] | Watsky | Lambourghini Owner |
| Year | Title | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Salty | ||
| 1998 | Goosebumps: Attack of the Mutant | Masked Mutant |
