Jim Belushi has been a favorite of film, television and stage audiences for more than 25 years. He is one of the great leading character actors equally at home in drama and comedy, and a gifted performer who can also hold a room as front man of a rhythm-and-blues band.
Belushi graduated from Southern Illinois University with a degree in Speech and Theatre. He then became a resident member of Chicago's famed Second City, from 1976-80. In 1979 he left for Hollywood when cast in the series Who's Watching the Kids and later in Working Stiffs.
It was his work in About Last Night, that brought Belushi his first serious attention as a film star. His other credits include Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Salvador, Homer and Eddie, The Principal, Return to Me, Who Killed Atlanta's Children?, Joe Somebody, the K-9 franchise, Red Heat, Curly Sue, Taking Care of Business, Once Upon a Crime, Mr. Destiny, Only the Lonely, Thief, The Man with One Red Shoe, Real Men, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Jingle All the Way, Retroactive and Gang Related. Belushi was recently cast in the live-action feature film version of the cartoon Underdog and voices the Squirrel in the animated feature The Wild.
Among Belushi's television credits as an actor and writer are Saturday Night Live, Parallel Lives, Wild Palms, Sahara and Beggars and Choosers.
Belushi's stage credits include Conversations with My Father, True West, Moon Over Miami and Pirates of Penzance. Besides acting, Belushi loves music. His band, The Sacred Hearts, are a rhythm-and-blues band who have been together for twelve years, performing 40 nights a year at clubs, casinos and corporate events all over the country.
Most recently, Belushi has added authorship to his repertoire, releasing his first book in May 2006, entitled Real Men Don't Apologize.
A dedicated husband and father, Belushi has little time outside career and family, but has made a major commitment as founder and member of the board for the John Belushi Scholarship Fund which supports college and college-prep students pursuing performance and visual arts education.