When John Belushi first walked on the set of “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” Tim Matheson was anticipating a “colossal coked-up prima donna.”
“Many people thought, ‘He’s going to be like he was on ‘Saturday Night Live’ – that big, bold, outrageous character,” Matheson instructed Fox Information Digital.
“People also thought he was going to be full of himself because, at that time, ‘Saturday Night Live’ was the most innovative show on television, and it was a huge hit,” he shared. “And he was their biggest star… But he and his wife Judy couldn’t have been more gracious, more down to Earth.”
“He wasn’t trying to be funny or upstage anyone,” the actor recalled. “He genuinely listened. He was respectful of everyone… And he was that way through the whole shoot. He became very supportive of me.”
Matheson, who starred as Eric “Otter” Stratton’ within the 1978 comedy, has written a brand new memoir, “Damn Glad to Meet You: My Seven Decades in the Hollywood Trenches.” In it, the 76-year-old particulars his friendship with Belushi, who died in 1982 at age 33 from a drug overdose.
“‘Animal House’ was my first comedy,” Matheson shared. “I was horrified. I was scared to death, and he was very gracious. He never looked down on anyone. He embraced his team. He was always very kind and supportive of me. He let me know if he liked the way I was doing something. I needed that.”
In his guide, Matheson was adamant that Belushi wasn’t utilizing medication whereas filming.
“Belushi, for the record, was clean on set during ‘Animal House,’” he wrote. “If he did anything, it was away from the rest of us, and he never gave any signs he was up to anything.”
“[Director John] Landis had warned Belushi to keep on his best behavior and made sure it was a drug-free set,” Matheson added.
Nonetheless, Matheson instructed Fox Information Digital that when cameras stopped rolling, Belushi “was walking on the edge all the time.”
“‘Animal House’ was a huge hit,” stated Matheson. “I had to go to Chicago for a weekend to promote the film… John showed me Chicago. I’d never seen Chicago. He was the favorite son of Chicago. He was the biggest star out of Chicago at the time.”
“But I do remember, the next morning, after our first Friday night there, John didn’t answer the door,” he recalled. “Once they known as for him to return right down to the automotive, he would by no means reply the door. They needed to pry the door open, take the door off of its hinges. John was handed out in his mattress simply from partying till 4:30 within the morning.
“And then when I visited him in New York, there was this big party after ‘Saturday Night Live.’ It was television meets rock ‘n’ roll. As TV actors, we weren’t that involved with drugs because it didn’t help with your work, and you worked a lot harder.”
“… But on SNL, it wasn’t as rigorous,” he continued. “I believe they at all times flirted with medication. It helps with the excessive of the [show] and the celebration continues afterward… That’s what I observed about it.
“At the time, he had the biggest-selling record in America. He was in the number-one movie in America and the number-one television show in America. Everybody thought John partied all the time. So, everybody wanted to party with John. He couldn’t escape it.”
In his guide, Matheson wrote that Belushi “didn’t have a prayer.” He famous that the comedian had “two enormous bodyguards whose primary job was to keep people from giving him drugs.”
Matheson instructed Fox Information Digital he nonetheless remembers the final time he noticed his pal.
“It was between 1980-1981,” he stated. “I just remember seeing him and Dan Aykroyd enjoying themselves. That was a more somber moment – a sober moment too. At that point, John was excited about directing his career and trying to choose different characters and roles to play, not just the same old thing.”
On March 5, 1982, Belushi shot a “speedball,” a mix of coke and heroin. He was discovered useless at the Château Marmont in Los Angeles. Matheson wrote he was “filled with sadness but not surprised.”
“There were so many people that I knew whose lives were ravished by drugs,” Matheson instructed Fox Information Digital. “… I knew some actors who didn’t obtain the heights of their profession that they hoped or thought they might have, and it affected them. And medicines, I suppose, had been type of a launch from that type of disappointment.
“And how stupid we were because, when ‘Animal House’ came out, we thought, ‘Cocaine isn’t really bad for you. It doesn’t affect your heart at all.’ But oh my God, it wised me and us up to our mortality.”
“All of a sudden, our friends are passing,” he mirrored. “It was like, ‘Wait a minute – this is a little too young – 33 is awfully young.”
Matheson skilled déjà vu in 1996. On the time, he was filming “Black Sheep” with Chris Farley, who seemed as much as Belushi. He wrote that it was like watching his good friend once more.
“I was fortunate when we did ‘Black Sheep’ that Chris was sober,” stated Matheson.
“However he was very compulsive. He drank 30 iced coffees a day, and he smoked one cigarette after one other.
“He was always doing something to stimulate himself. I could see where his addictions came from, and I thought, ‘This would not be a good thing if you’re playing around with drugs and alcohol.’”
Matheson stated that when he final noticed Farley on the premiere of “Beverly Hills Ninja” a yr later, the comedian “was a little worse for wear.”
“I just hugged him,” stated Matheson. “I told him I loved him, and I just wanted him to stay healthy and be with us. It was a shame.”
Like his idol, Farley died in 1997 at age 33 from a drug overdose.
Matheson stated he’s grateful to have survived Hollywood and its temptations. Lots of his associates didn’t.
“I’m so lucky,” stated Matheson. “My good fortune was that I started acting at such an early age. I got to work with people that today’s generation is not even aware of. I learned of their training, and the rigors that those people went through in performing. That stayed with me.”
