(In regards to controlling Barf’s ears and how John liked to improvise)
“John did like to improvise, though he would give me notes, in some cases, as to something specific that he wanted. I was there to enhance his performance, and with his expressions, had movements, and ears, he could look: SURPRISED! Sorry…, Quizzical?!, and a great range of other emotions. He was easy to follow, and I'm quick on my feet, so I was usually free to go with it. Which never bothered John, he was always fine, but Mel… tee hee! "Enough with the ears, already! I don't need his ears upstaging him!!" And so I would have to sneak ear movements in, and John would egg me on, mischievously.
“But it wasn't always about the ears, and I would often just sit there, realizing: ‘Oh, man. I am here, watching Mel Brooks laugh and give direction and bellow and joke, and here's John Candy, cracking jokes, adlibbing, being just warm and charming and…’ Showbiz heaven, is what it was.”
John was notorious for being generous and on the set of Spaceballs that was demonstrated often. He gave everyone on the crew a “Barf Award”, which consisted of a golden dog bone, on a wooden plaque with the individuals name engraved on it.
Once John liked you he would be sure to develop a relationship off the set. He called Lazzarini up to see if he liked lobster as he had an excess of them at his home.
“So my wife, Deb and I drove out to his place in Mandeville Canyon. Rang the doorbell, and when the door opened, there's John, just beaming that awesome smile, just sending friendliness-and good-feeling rays straight to your heart and warming you up.
“A crate of lobsters was at his feet.
‘Take as many as you want!’ he cajoled, and we grabbed a few.
‘Alright, you sure you got enough? No point in these things goin' bad!’ And so, sure, a couple more.
‘Thank you so much, John, this is so awesome!’
‘No problem. Enjoy! See you Monday!’
And we floated away on a magic carpet of John Candy charm, goodness, and free lobsters.”
John also called Lazzarini for help one Christmas. Lazzarini recalls the conversation;
"’So, Rick, you're good with mechanical stuff, right?’
‘Yeah, I think so!’
‘Well, can you come on over to my office? I need you to build something for me…’
With everything he had done for me, the answer was: ‘Of course! No question.’
So I made my way to his Santa Monica office, where he greeted me warmly.
‘I got this thing for my son Christopher. I dunno how to put it together!’
It was a metal tractor, the pedal kind, nicely crafted, solid, but it needed assembly.
‘You got it!’ I said, and immediately started on putting it together. It was for a Christmas present, and right around the holidays, and so John put on some Christmas music. He asked:
‘Do you want some wine?’
‘Sure!’
So we chatted, drinking wine, he behind his desk with his feet up on it, me sitting cross-legged on the floor, putting Tab A into Slot B and aligning holes so screw C could thread in.
‘You smoke?’
‘No, I don't really…’
But he didn't mean cigarettes. John brought out a nice looking joint and fired it up.
I thought , A: How cool is this guy? and B: Who am I to refuse his generous hospitality?
“And so…we talked, joked, laughed, sipped, dished, toked, mellowed, cozy, the red tractor coming into shape as we shared and joshed and enjoyed each other's company.
I haven't yet met another actor, much less a human being, with John's capacity to fill the people around him with such joy. God bless him. He was wonderful. I miss him so.”
Playwright and author, Lisa Soland, got to spend a day on the set of Spaceballs and shared her memories with me;
“I had worked on a play with Ronny Graham, at the Burt Reynolds' Theatre in Jupiter Florida, called, Arsenic and Old Lace. The play starred Patrick Wayne and Alice Ghostley, Mary Wickes and myself. When I moved to Los Angeles, Ronny Graham, who helped to write many of the Mel Brooks projects, invited me onto the set of the film Spaceballs. I was only on the set for one day but I can tell you, I was so very impressed with Mr Candy. I met all the cast that day. They were shooting the scene where the alien pops out of John Hurt's stomach. Because the scene had many technical demands, most of the day was spent waiting around. Come lunchtime, Mel Brooks, John Candy, Ronny Graham and I, drove to what they call "dailies" together in this old-fashioned station wagon. We all entered the small viewing room and they played, for us all, about 20 takes shot from the day before. The takes were of John Candy dressed up in his costume, playing the role of "Barf," which involved his tail going up the waitresses’ uniform.
“Take after take John provided spontaneous and unique responses with appropriate lines to match, each and every one different, for Mel Brooks to choose from. I'll tell you what, I would have hated to choose the best take out of those some-odd twenty. Each one represented a man (John Candy) who was hard working, innovative and brilliant. I learned a lot that day. New to living in Los Angeles and participating in the ‘behind-the-camera’ action, I was not aware of the true talent that Mr Candy processed. He was special and it’s no wonder he worked so much and left us such a legacy of great work. He was well-liked behind the camera too, but I found him to be maybe more intense than most of us usually see him being on camera. He was funny off-camera, yes, but very focused. I got the impression that he was there to work, which impressed me even more.”
Ear Candy
Catherine McCartney, John’s Canadian agent told me, if you ever went to an event with John and he told you he wasn’t staying long, you’d have to get him out of there before any live music started, as soon as a band started you lost him and he would be there until they finished.
John had always loved music, from playing the clarinet at school, booking the bands to play the school hall, flirting with the drums, helping book the bands that featured on SCTV, he couldn’t help himself. From listening to Simon and Garfunkel as a teenager driving around on Friday nights, John loved all sorts of music, Dave Thomas told me he loved to especially play Eddie Money’s Baby Hold On in the car. He also became friends with a lot of musicians, in fact fast forward a couple of years and he would have a cameo in The Travelling Wilburys’ Wilbury Twist video - and it doesn’t come much bigger than The Travelling Wilburys - a supergroup made up of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty - for the love of everything good in this world! I can imagine John was honoured and over the freaking moon.
So with all this in mind, it wasn’t really too much of a shock when John wanted to start his own radio show, Radio Kandy in 1988. He employed legendary producer Doug Thompson and built a recording studio at his Frostback Productions office. Frostback was something John had started a year or so earlier - it was basically a vehicle to give him some creative control back.
The idea behind Radio Kandy was that John had bought an incredibly powerful radio transmitter and he could take over the local radio stations’ signal for two hours every weekend. It was actually picked by 350 stations over the States. He combined comedy with music, still developing some of his SCTV characters on air, having some Second City alumni to join him - regular contributors included Dave Thomas, Valri Bromfield, Joe Flaherty and Mike Short, they would even make skit adverts, just like they did on SCTV. Mixed with music John loved, he would also have musical guests including Peter Frampton, Phil Collins, Levon Helme and Clarence Clemons.
John would also go on to star in a Phil Collins TV special in 1990, Seriously… Phil Collins.
John told the Toronto Star in 1986 that he’d always had a passion for radio. “I never thought I’d be working as a disc jockey, but this show is so much more than that. I get to play with my SCTV characters, make up some new ones and have some real fun.
“The transition to radio is easy, as long as you concentrate on creating real characters. And the be
st part is I don’t have to sit in the make-up department for three hours.”
The show would last for two years, in 1989 it was even nominated for a Billboard Magazine Syndicated Special of the Year award, but sadly they had to stop broadcasting due to John’s other work commitments.
Under Frostback Productions, he would also team up with DIC Animation City, Saban International Services and Worldvision Enterprises to make an animated children’s series called Camp Candy. The comic version was also picked up by Marvel. The Camp leader was of course, John, and there was a host of regular characters Nurse Molly, and of course the children that attended Camp Candy. As per usual John brought his friends on board and worked with Valri Bromfield, Lewis Arquette, Danny Mann and Cree Summer.
Bromfield remembered a story John had told her whilst they were hanging out. “John told me a story once that I've never forgotten. We were talking about the ways in which we had been changed by the entertainment industry. He said being on a set turned him into a jerk. I couldn't imagine that. He said he came home from a 9 month shoot in which he was catered to and his every whim met. He said he was sitting in his living room reading a script and he wanted a soda so without looking up...or thinking apparently...he called to Rosemary whom he knew was in the kitchen at the time. ‘Ro, get me a coke will you?’ He said he went back to reading and then became aware that somebody was standing next to him. He looked up and there stood Rosemary with a curious look on her face - hands on hips. She asked ‘did you just say something to me?’ He realized in a flash that he had been a jerk and said ‘Oh... no... no... I don't know what I was thinking…’ He said he jumped up and went to get his own coke. I love that story. More than anybody I knew at the time he was that Canadian boy who was polite, and gracious and who considered the feelings of others. That's probably why this story stands out for me.”
I love that story too, no matter how successful he was (the man even had his own cartoon!), Rose was his grounding when he needed it, she also bolstered him when needed. She was his ultimate guardian.
John also did character voice over work, playing the voice of Don the Horse in Hot To Trot. Working alongside Bobcat Goldthwait who was playing the lead, Fred Chaney, a bachelor that inherits a talking horse and part of an investment company from his late mother, luckily for him Don is able to give Chaney successful investment tips . Originally Joan Rivers had Goldthwait’s role and Elliot Gould voiced ‘Don’ however it just didn’t work and the producers recast. When John got involved he pretty much ignored the script and improvised. If you haven’t see the film, think of an 80s Mr Ed, perfect viewing for any teen in the summer holidays. Sadly it was neither critically nor commercially successful, and was actually nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards (aka the Razzies, a mock booby prize in recognition of the worst in film)!
Who’s Harry Crumb?
1989 saw bumbling, endearing and slightly annoying, (that’s some of the words you might use to describe) private detective, Harry Crumb. Crumb inherited his title via the family business, Crumb & Crumb, although he is well-meaning he doesn’t have the sensibilities of a powerful mind. Think an early day Austin Powers - in fact it would not surprise me if this film influenced Mike Myers. John Candy plays the lead, Harry Crumb, kind hearted and completely oblivious character who occasionally has a lightbulb moment (or a bit of good luck) and actually comes good in the end.
It was written by Robert Conte and Peter Wortmann, directed by Paul Flaherty (Joe Flaherty’s brother) and produced by Arnon Milchan and Frostback Productions - John’s own production company.
Harry Crumb is employed to search for a kidnapped fashion model, Jennifer Downing (Renee Coleman), who is a daughter of a millionaire, PJ Downing (Barry Corbin). PJ Downing turns to a family friend, Eliot Draisen (Jeffrey Jones), for help. Draisen is the president of the Crumb & Crumb detective agency, he assigns Harry the job as he actually doesn’t want the crime solved - for it was actually he who had Jennifer kidnapped. He is also in cahoots with Downing’s wife, Helen (Annie Potts), who he is lusting after. Helen isn’t interested in Eliot but is certainly wanting to get her hands on the ransom money, she is however having an affair with Vince Barnes (Tim Thomerson) her tennis coach. Helen and Vince long to be together, so try to kill PJ several times and plan to intervene the ransom money and elope.
Crumb goes to Los Angeles to meet the Downings - and with his clumsiness doesn’t make the best first impression. However Jennifer’s sister, Nikki (Shawnee Smith), befriends Crumb and together they investigate. Detective Casey, played by John’s dear friend Valri Bromfield, also arrives on the scene as his rival - only to dismiss and berate Crumb, as her investigative skills are far superior.
Eventually Eliot escapes to the airport, Buenos Aires-bound with the money, making the mistake of informing Helen of his plans. Both Helen and the tennis coach intercept him, take the money and leave him bound and gagged in a boiler room. Harry turns up in the nick of time to confront Helen, Eliot is found and confesses to everything, Jennifer is freed and the crime is solved. Harry then gets acclaim from everyone including Detective Casey and is then made president of Crumb & Crumb.
For John this film was a great opportunity to show the range of characters he could play and it looked like he had a lot of fun with it. With Harry being a private detective it was necessary for him to go undercover in various guises; a Hungarian Health & Safety officer for the beauty salon where the crime took place, an Indian Janitor to spy on Helen Downing via an air duct, a drag queen, and probably the funniest - a jockey! Imagine 6ft 3 John, dressed in a shiny jockey shirt, jodhpurs surrounded by professional jockeys (bearing in mind the average height of a jockey is between 4ft 10 and 5ft 6) getting stuck in a jockey sized telephone booth. For anyone that remembers John’s character in SCTV, Angel Cortez - FBI Jockey, I’m pretty sure this scene in Harry Crumb was inspired from those sketches. Anyone being undercover and sticking out like a sore thumb without being spotted, is funny.
The film was put out via Tristar Pictures and later in interviews John would talk about his disappointment that Tristar didn’t give as much marketing support as the film warranted. So much so when he asked if they could send over a radio advert for Who’s Harry Crumb? to play on his radio show (Radio Kandy) - they sent a cheque for US$500 thinking they just had to pay for the advert to be played - it didn’t occur to anyone in the marketing department that they actually needed to make an advert! He felt like the marketing execution on the movie was so poor that the movie suffered as a result.
Even though John was disappointed with Tristar, as per usual the cast and crew had a ball on set, and he included his friends wherever he could. James Belushi turns up in a cameo role as a man on a bus, Joe Flaherty plays a doorman, and Tino Insana and Doug Steckler also feature.
Manny Perry who is a well-known stunt coordinator and stuntman in Hollywood, is occasionally pulled in to act, in Who’s Harry Crumb? he played a cop in a car. He actually ended up working on four films with John; The Great Outdoors, Uncle Buck, Who’s Harry Crumb? and Home Alone, and they became firm friends. In a recent interview conducted by The Hannibal TV with Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister, aka in the wrestling world as Zeus/Deebo, Lister talks about John and Perry. Lister worked with John a few years prior to Harry Crumb in Armed and Dangerous. My timeline maybe a little off as I’m not sure which film is being referred to, but whilst we are talking about Perry I’d like to bring this story in. Lister could not sing enough praise for John Candy, he stated that the best human he had ever met was John Candy that “he was an angel”. Lister told Hannibal TV, “If you had a problem, John Candy would find out and fix it for you, he’d pay for it, out of his own money and he won’t even let you know he’s doing it. I’ll give you a good one. Manny Perry doubles me in all my movies... Manny’s father died, this is what was told to me about John Candy. He sent the guy home in his private jet, put him in the best hotel in that City, kept paying him like he was the on set, had a limo sent twenty four hours, he paid for the fu
neral and told him to come back when he wants to. That’s John Candy.”
Lister continues to tell a story about a security guard that was behind on his rent and about to lose his apartment, John went up to the guy and gave him a hug, slipped US$10,000 into his coat pocket without him knowing. Even now John has passed over he is still looking after his friends, Valri Bromfield told me “When I get a residual from Harry Crumb I always say quietly ‘thanks John, I miss you.’ It is just like him to keep giving even after he has left us.”
Speed Zone or Cannonball lll as it was also known, was released in 1989, John and Eugene Levy had lead roles in this illegal cross country race comedy. Allegedly, John had known the movie wasn’t going to be great, but the money was good and he knew by convincing his friend Levy to take one of the roles that they would have a fun time.
Buck Russell, Moley Russell’s Wart
In 1989 one of John’s most beloved and notorious characters came to the big screen courtesy of John Hughes. In the end Candy trusted Hughes so much he used to just ask Hughes “where and when?” if Hughes wanted him to play a part. Candy’s instincts were never wrong where Hughes was concerned.
Uncle Buck is the story of a lovable rogue, devoid of responsibility and out for a good time, making a quick buck wherever he can. He’s a nice guy but not someone you would want to give an important job to, unless it was organising a party. His long-suffering and increasingly impatient girlfriend Chanice Kobolowski (played by Amy Madigan) is constantly trying to convince him to settle down and get a regular job. One night Buck’s Brother and Sister in Law, Bob and Cindy Russell (played by Garrett M Brown and Elaine Bromka) have to call on Buck when Cindy’s father has a heart attack and they need to leave town to visit him. After frantically calling everyone else they know to look after their three kids, Maizy (Gaby Hoffman), Miles (Macaulay Culkin) and Tia (Jean Louisa Kelly) they have to reluctantly call Uncle Buck to help them out.
Searching for Candy Page 13
