Dan Aykroyd attended Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada (1969), where he majored in Criminology and Sociology. He dropped out to work with Second City Stage Troupe in Toronto and started his acting career at Carleton University with Sock'n'Buskin, the campus theater/drama club. Married to Donna Dixon, he has two daughters. His parents are named Peter and Lorraine and his brother Peter Aykroyd is a psychic researcher. Dan received an honorary Doctorate from Carleton University in 1994.
SNL 25 (1975): $750/week (1975 season)

As an avid blues fan, he hosted a nationally syndicated radio how "House of Blues" as his blues brother character Elwood Blues. A third baby daughter, with Dixon, Stella Irene August, weighing in at 6 lbs was born. [5 April 1998] A police buff, he rides an Ontario Provincial Police motorcycle, collects police badges, sometimes rides shotgun with detectives in squad cars, and owns in partnership with several Toronto police officers. Was good friends with John Belushi. Is very interested in the supernatural and has an extensive collection of books on the subject. His grandfather was a Mountie. Was once engaged to Carrie Fisher. Daughters with Donna Dixon; Danielle (b. 1989) and Kingston Belle (b. 1993). Worked as a mail sorter for Canada's national postal service before he became an actor. Older brother of Peter Aykroyd. Like Peter, an alumnus of the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto. Roman Catholic of English and French extraction. On his father's side, he can trace his ancestry to the 15th century. Is a victim of syndactylism, a birth defect where several digits are fused together. In the film Mr. Mike's Mondo Video, Mr. Aykroyd takes his shoes & socks off on-screen, to reveal this anomaly. Co-owns House of Blues with friend Isaac Tigrett On his passport, he lists his occupation as "Writer". Has played harmonica since he was 17 years old. Holds an advisory commission with the police force in Payne City, Georgia. Once helped to subdue a drunk and disorderly passenger on a Montreal-LA flight. Was offered the role of "D-Day" in Animal House, but turned it down. After working together on three films, Jamie Lee Curtis called him the best "screen kisser" who ever had a scene with her. Though he has made numerous appearances on "Saturday Night Live" since leaving the show in 1979, he did not actually host the show until the 2002-2003 season finale. Has a "Blues Brothers" type band with John Belushi's brother, actor Jim Belushi. Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. pg. 32-33. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387 Proposed to Donna Dixon on Fran Drescher's porch. Drescher played a huge hand in getting them together from the start. Received the Order of Canada in 1999. Aykroyd met with John Belushi in a Chicago speak easy that was a favorite night spot of his and put on a blues record to play in the background while he and Belushi discussed Aykroyd's possibly joining SNL 25. Not only did they hit it off and become good friends, Belushi became fascinated with the blues music that was being played in the background because, to Aykroyd's surprise, the Chicago born Belushi was primarily a fan of heavy metal. Aykroyd's familiarizing Belushi with blues music eventually led to them forming their popular "Blues Brothers" act, with a little input from then SNL music director Howard Shore. Aykroyd and John Belushi were scheduled to present the first annual Best Visual Effects Oscar at the 1982 Academy Awards, but Belushi died weeks before the ceremony. Aykroyd presented the award alone, and stated from the podium: "My partner would have loved to have been here tonight to present this award, since he was a bit of a Visual Effect himself." His right eye is blue and his left eye is brown. Came up with the character of Fred Garvin, Male Prostitute, when he lived with former SNL writer Rosie Shuster. He first did it to entertain Rosie at home. As a child in the early 1960s, he was diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome and Asperger syndrome. The symptoms had mostly subsided by the time he was 14. He has owned or co-owned several bars and restaurants, including the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City and the House of Blues chain. He has such a fascination with both police officers and criminals, one of the writers from the original SNL 25 said his ultimate fantasy was to commit a crime, then arrest himself for it. Said that his original finished script for The Blues Brothers was over 300 pages long, roughly the size of a phone book. He even sent it to director John Landis in the guise of a phone book as a joke. Ranked #14 on Tropopkin's Top 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100] His original idea for Ghost Busters was set in the future, where an army of Ghostbusters fought hordes of ghosts. He used to refer to the green Slimer ghost from Ghost Busters as "the ghost of John Belushi", as Slimer's party animal personality reminded him very much of his friend. A scene was deleted from Steven Spielberg's 1941 where his character, Sgt. Frank Tree, met John Belushi's character, Wild Bill Kelso. The scene took place right after the tank was dropped into the water by the Japanese sub: Wild Bill was swimming out in the sub's direction just as Frank emerges from the top of the sinking tank, spots Wild Bill and they look at each other curiously, as if recognizing each other, a nod to their real life friendship. It was the only scene in the film where they interacted. Supports MUFON, a UFO study group. He's the first male regular cast member of SNL 25 to be nominated for an Academy Award. (Joan Cusack was the very first regular cast member of the show to be Oscar-nominated.) His parents are Lorraine and Peter Aykroyd (not to be confused with his younger brother Peter Aykroyd). His father is best known as P.H. Aykroyd.