Happy Birthday Dan Aykroyd

He burst into the public consciousness in October 1975 as one of the Not Ready For Prime Time Players on Lorne Michaels' brainchild Saturday Night Live; so momentous and memorable was Dan Aykroyd's work as part of that ensemble over the next five years that a decidedly spotty subsequent career has scarcely blemished his sterling reputation...

Aykroyd's talents as a writer, performer, singer (ably demonstrated as part of The Blues Brothers alongside John Belushi) and especially as an impressionist* made him a standout in a cast of standouts; no less an esteemed personage than Eric Idle, of Monty Python fame, once said that Aykroyd's ability to write and act out characters flawlessly made him the only member of the SNL cast capable of having been a Python. High praise indeed...

The highlights of Aykroyd's post-SNL career include The Blues Brothers, Ghostbusters, Dragnet (which featured his spot-on Jack Webb impersonation), and Driving Miss Daisy; the widest possible variety of Dan Aykroyd's talents, though, can best be viewed on Saturday Night Live, the first five seasons of which are now available on DVD**.

*Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, and Tom Snyder among the best of them.
**And aren't those three of the sweetest words in the English language?
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