On the 30th anniversary of John Candy’s death, Steve Martin, his children and more honored the legacy of the great screen presence.
It might be hard to believe, but it has been 30 years since the world lost one of the most beloved screen presences in modern times, John Candy. And while we can honor his too-short life and career by watching some of his greatest movies, we’ll never get to experience what his children did. But they are at least letting fans in on their personal feelings for their father, who died on March 4th, 1994.
Posting on her personal Instagram, John Candy’s eldest daughter Jennifer shared a photo of the two with the caption, “30 years ago today … feels like both a lifetime with and without you . Miss you and love you always”, along with a heart emoji. Jennifer had previously said, “He was your everyday kind of guy and a great dad and very lovable…Very much similar to characters that he was on film.”
Posting on his own social media account, John Candy’s only son Chris wrote, “All my love to my father today”, along with a picture of John in a Hawaiian shirt.
A number of co-stars also fondly remembered John Candy for his humor, spirit and good nature. Steve Martin, who co-started in Planes, Trains and Automobile — perhaps the greatest Thanksgiving movie ever — stated, “John’s comedy lives on, but my memory of him has the words ‘kindness’ and ‘sweetness’ in the headlines.” Meanwhile, Cool Runnings director Jon Turteltaub remembered Candy’s giving nature, saying, “When you were with John, he did something very few brilliantly funny and famous people do: He laughed at other people’s jokes…That’s actually a big deal. He made people feel welcome. He made people feel wanted.”
Most touching of all were comments from Wagons East co-star Richard Lewis, who spoke about John Candy weeks before his February death and remembered being in “comedy heaven” working with Candy, who frequently improved on the set. John Candy would succumb to a heart attack with just a few days left of filming left on Wagons East. It would be the first of two posthumous releases, with Canadian Bacon arriving in 1995.
While those were near the bottom of John Candy’s filmography, he still left behind some tremendous works, with such charming performances in The Great Outdoors, Home Alone, Uncle Buck, and many more, not to mention sketch comedy series SCTV. There, too, were so many “What if?” projects, like a version of the doomed A Confederacy of Dunces, a Fatty Arbuckle biopic and even Stephen King’s Thinner, turning out to be the author’s original choice for the lead.
What are your all-time favorite John Candy movie or TV performances? Give us your top 3 in the comments section below.