Dan Aykroyd

Dan Aykroyd has enjoyed a more-than-30-year career in entertainment and was honored with an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Boolie Werthan in the Best Picture winner "Driving Miss Daisy." The Ottowa, Ontario native is well known to film audiences for his work in more than 60 features, including Ivan Reitman's "Ghostbusters" and "Ghostbusters II," both of which Aykroyd co-wrote; the heartwarming "My Girl"; the comedy hit "Trading Places"; and Sir Richard Attenborough's "Chaplin." Altogether, Aykroyd's films have grossed close to $1 billion worldwide.

Aykroyd first came to fame as one of the original Not Ready for Primetime Players on "Saturday Night Live." While on the show, he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series, and created many of its most popular and enduring characters, including the Coneheads' patriarch, Beldar, and Elwood Blues who, together with John Belushi's Jake Blues, formed The Blues Brothers. Aykroyd and Belushi received a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist of 1979 for their triple platinum-selling album "Briefcase Full of Blues." In his persona as Elwood Blues, Aykroyd has performed on a total of seven CDs, with sales totaling approximately five million units.

He and Belushi later brought The Blues Brothers to the big screen in the hit film of the same name, co-written by Aykroyd. He later recruited James Belushi to perform as Jake's blood brother Zee, and the two have since performed as Elwood and Zee Blues for live audiences around the U.S. Aykroyd also wrote and starred in the film sequel, "Blues Brothers 2000," directed by John Landis.

Aykroyd co-wrote and starred in the comedies "Spies Like Us," "Dragnet," and "Nothing But Trouble," as well as "Coneheads," based on his popular "SNL" character. His many other feature film credits include "Pearl Harbor," "Twilight Zone: The Movie," Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," "My Stepmother Is an Alien," "Sneakers," "My Girl 2," "Exit to Eden," "Tommy Boy," "Grosse Pointe Blank," "The House of Mirth," the computer-animated "Antz" and Ivan Reitman's "Evolution."

In addition to his work in film and television, Aykroyd is a busy entrepreneur whose many business endeavors include helping to bring the Hard Rock Café restaurants to the United States and later co-founding The House of Blues Entertainment, Inc., opening House of Blues concert hall/restaurant/retail store venues across the country. As Elwood Blues, Aykroyd hosts the 10-year-running House of Blues Radio Hour, which is syndicated on 180 radio stations through the United Stations Radio Networks. Aykroyd and James Belushi also work as co-emcees, vocalists and dancers in their "Have Love Will Travel Revue," in service of classic American songs.

Aykroyd also has several interests in the field of wine and spirits, including Patron Spirits, which he distributes throughout Canada; a partnership with Toronto-based Diamond Estates Wine and Spirits Ltd, resulting in the launch of such wines as the Dan Aykroyd Discovery Series and the Dan Aykroyd Signature Reserve VQA Vidal Ice Wine, the former being named Canadian Wine of the Year; and Crystal Head Vodka, produced in Newfoundland. In June 2007, Diamond Estates announced it would build The Dan Aykroyd Winery in the heart of Canada's wine region in Niagra. The $12 million, 45,000-square-foot winery features a multi-level hospitality building and pays tribute to the region's terrain and to Aykroyd's work in film and television by showcasing some of his favorite memorabilia throughout the building.

Invested with the Order of Canada in 1999, Aykroyd received a Vice-Regal decoration from the Governor General as a prominent Canadian who "desires to make a better country." He also served as a sworn Captain in the Reserve of the Department of Police in the City of Harahan, Louisiana, receiving a citation for his work in youth anti-crime education.

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