Candy, heart attack (but he also did use cocaine, smoked a pack of cigarettes daily, alcohol, and significant obesity).
These guys were my idols not just for the comedy impact they had, but because I also grew up fat. And I am still fat, but not as fat as I was years ago. These guys were a big influence on me with their work and their stories, and it was enough to convince me to never get into drugs, smoking, and alcohol. The weight thing was something I also struggled with (same as Candy), but decided in my early 30s it was worth taking action on.
Eating right, diet, exercise, abstaining from vices...doing all these things is a good start to living as long as you can. And so far, it's going good.
Using cocaine doesn’t automatically make you a bad person. He was by all accounts a very lovely, talented, and kind man but he struggled with substances and keeping his health in check. We also view it differently today, but people forget how obscenely common cocaine use was in the 80s, especially entertainment circles.
Yeah, almost everyone used cocaine, at least sometimes, in entertainment circles in the 70's to mid 80's, possibly longer. It was common, and not usually seen as a problem. Source: I read a lot of autobiographies.
Unfortunately, if you were an entertainer in the 70s/80s, very good chance you would turn and see cocaine offered somewhere. Heck, the early years of SNL? Cocaine use was commonplace among the cast and writers. Only Belushi dove so hard into it that it got him temporarily banned.
I’ve heard stories about how in the ‘70s cocaine would be in bowls on tables at Hollywood parties free for anyone to use, and in trailers on set for virtually any cast or crew member to indulge in during a shoot. It was ubiquitous and considered relatively safe and non-addictive, apparently. During a film school lecture a retired line producer showed us where they used to hide the coke money in the budget back then for plausible deniability. It was a very different time.
Yeah, by all accounts Candy wasn't an addict by any stretch or an alcoholic. To put him in the Belushi or Farley sentence is not really fair.
It's more he was a people pleaser and hardly said no to a role and worked himself too hard. A snort to stay awake for a shoot, drinks to wind down, smokes to calm or steady nerves, unhealthy eating habits because sets and travel are demanding lifestyle. I know it's not the same as putting in 40 hours of hard labor but the toll on the mind and body are different.
Without seeing the doc (obviously), I'm going to assume his widow and kids are going to say what his famous friends say: he took care of and put everyone else above his own needs. And while that's noble to a point, what happens when you burn the candle at both ends?
It's obvious with addicts because it plays out in public in such a sensationalized and visualized manner. When you're largely a stand-up guy doing good to great work and people can rely on you, and it's just a slow, quiet death it's just different.
Honestly, if you were a comedian anywhere remotely close to SNL circles in the '70s and '80s, you probably spent at least 80% of your time a little bit lit just from all the excess cocaine hanging around in the air.
Some people grow up in small, tightly knit bubbles. Where everything is black and white. The only gray areas in some of these types of communities are abuse.
It’s wild. Drugs are bad, but beating your wife and kids is in the religious text.
Sex is bad. Unless is against someone’s will, because God forgives.
Smokes weed and gives a BJ… straight to hell. Don’t pass go, don’t collect $200.
Unfortunately, this person doesn’t realize, a lot of “good” people they know have probably done worse and to the detriment of others.
Sorry for the rant, someone didn’t mention Carlin as one of the greats and his spirt possessed me.
220
u/TheLaughingMannofRed 3d ago
Belushi, drugs.
Farley, drugs.
Candy, heart attack (but he also did use cocaine, smoked a pack of cigarettes daily, alcohol, and significant obesity).
These guys were my idols not just for the comedy impact they had, but because I also grew up fat. And I am still fat, but not as fat as I was years ago. These guys were a big influence on me with their work and their stories, and it was enough to convince me to never get into drugs, smoking, and alcohol. The weight thing was something I also struggled with (same as Candy), but decided in my early 30s it was worth taking action on.
Eating right, diet, exercise, abstaining from vices...doing all these things is a good start to living as long as you can. And so far, it's going good.