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| Canadian comic actor John Candy |
My high school year book quotation was: "John Candy's understudy?" Not surprisingly, I was a class clown in school but I'd doubt that the writer of that quote knew what a huge fan I was of John Candy (and the cast of SCTV) or that I would one day have a bit of a comedy career myself (although not as successful, obviously, or I'd be paying someone to write this post while I got a massage.)
Quote or no quote, I, like many obese men I'm sure, identified with John Candy, felt sorry for him at times and cheered for him at others. The morning he died of a heart attack, I was off to shoot one of my first comedy bits for local TV. Everyone I worked with was talking about how shocked they were of his death. They all said it was particularly sad because, although we had never met him, we all felt like we knew him. He was that kind of person: unassuming and accessible. And he bared his soul and his pain publicly.
John Candy died when he was 43. The peak of his weight was between 330 pounds and 369 pounds, depending on what you read. I'm two inches shorter than him and weighed more than his highest reported weight when I was one year older than age he reached.
Mr. Candy smoked, however, but had made several attempts to get healthy and get fit. His own dad died of a heart attack at the age of 35. It's been reported that John had a sense of an inescapable fate of early death throughout his life. I can identify with that.
As a comedy fan, I felt a kinship with many of the comedians and actors who were overweight and passed away at an early age, starting with John Belushi in the 1980s. You sorta file the info away in the back of your mind and wonder if it's going to happen to you. I've never smoked but I did have a father who died too young and had his first heart attack in his forties.
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| John Goodman (split photo showing weight loss) |
I wish someone helped John. I wish he didn't die so young. I especially hope that science begins to better understand obesity so that professionals can more effectively help those of us suffering from this disease.
John Goodman is another obese actor I admire. I was worried for him and dreaded hearing of his passing one day. But he, somehow, lost a great deal of weight in the last couple years.
So maybe there's hope.
I miss John Candy, too. Uncle Buck is one of my favourite movies of all time.
ReplyDeleteOur family favorite when my kids were young..now, one of my grandkids favorite movie..he's still so funny..loved that guy..
DeleteKeep working on it man!
ReplyDeleteGood luck - you sound like a nice guy, and I hope you figure it out. Remember that you have power over your weight... I'm trying to remember that myself, as someone who's gained ~70 pounds in a few years. Keep fighting the good fight.
ReplyDeleteI know this is an old post and late to comment yet I really enjoyed everything you shared both about John (I loved John Candy also) and yourself as you relate. He knew how to make his characters truly believable and come to life in a big way on the screen. Obesity runs in my family. My father had a triple bypass back in 2001 and I thought he'd lose weight. He did at first but like you said turned around and gained it back. Now that he is turning 74 in April this year he has defied the odds considering he's been obese my entire life. I haven't been able to get through to him no matter how much knowledge I have on the subject of weight loss. Yet my mother who was never obese or even overweight died 4 years ago at the age of 67 of a heart attack after not a single dr. that she went to saw any indication that she was at risk in any way. It was quick and sudden. She did have Early onset Parkinson's but that didn't kill her nor is it a killer disease just a debilitating, any sense of independence stolen away slowly over the years... type of disease. But she ate horribly. Yes obesity kills and so does filling your body with junk day in and day out. I've spent my life fighting to stay thin for fear of obesity and even became a weight loss consultant and fitness expert to help others and let them know they weren't alone and truly help them get there because I wanted to make a difference. Unfortunately before too long I developed my own debilitating illness and I fight every day to cope with it. But I'm encouraged by all of the wonderful obese actors/comedians of our time that we've lost that life is too short. I'm only a year or so older than John Candy was when he died and I want to thank him for Planes, Trains and Automobiles because I think I've never laughed that much during an entire film in my life. It would've been nice to know him not because of his fame but because despite being a huge success he was still just a nice guy and true friend til the end. Please don't stop fighting. It's getting past the biggest hurtle til it makes you feel better that you have to get to. Focus on small goals and not the totality of your weight or it will seem unreachable. Any weight loss is a gain for your health.
ReplyDeletePlease consider that losing weight no matter what, even doing it fast can put a huge strain on your body. Eating healthy and excercising will work much better and if you lose weight thought that naturally, the better. But thinking that losing weight is the solve all heal all solution for everything is wrong. Nobody talks much about how stressful it can be for the body to lose a lot of weight and also the stress that heavy excercise and self hate (and self deprication) puts on your heart. Being happy with your weight and your body and generally being happy works much better, often totally nullifying the effects of fat, please read here, this is a great example of this: it looks like the heart needs to love and be loved and being alone and isolated and stressed will bring you into a grave much earlier than being fat. See here:
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roseto_effect
Malcolm Gladwell also talked about this effect in his book Outliers, see here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/books/chapters/chapter-outliers.html?_r=0
A super interesting read that explains why some fat people die young, yet others don't have any bad health effects from their weight.
Sadly, weight and fat gets now blamed for every illness, any misfortune under the sun, falsely so. If somebody dies at 51 due to a heart attack and he was thin, it is just bad luck. If he dies at the same age and is fat, then it was obviously the obesity. There is a lot of bias and falsehood in this.
ReplyDeleteI loved John Candy also very much, and he was a great actor, not because he was fat, that had nothing to do with it. And I fear that even if he would have been thin, he would have still died. His father and lots of his family seemed to have a heart condition that brought them to an early grave. The anxiety probably did not help, as it constricts the coronary arteries. I wish the guy was still around, I have just watched some of his movies and I wish we could still see more of him. So sad!
ReplyDeleteI know this is an old post from a couple years ago but it hits home all the same. I am almost 38 years old and I weigh 355 pounds. My father had a heart attack in his 40's and his father as well. I know all of this and still I can't stop myself from the destructive lifestyle that will eventually cause my death. Most of the time it's just a helpless feeling and the only short term cure for it is the brief joy you get from a delicious meal. It 100 percent is a addiction like any other. When I'm not eating I think about food. What I'm going to eat next and so on. In a vicious cycle. I hope I dont die at a young age but the closer I get to 40 the more it seems like an inevitability. I have tried many times to lose weight with one success. I was down too 250 pounds. I felt great, which lead to going out more and eating and drinking which then all the weight and then some came back. That is the hardest thing knowing that I did all that work for nothing. Sorry for going on and on. Just know that you aren't alone in this. I hope you are able to find the peace that I cannot.
ReplyDelete25 years after your passing and you are still though of.rio Mr candy
ReplyDeleteI think this is a well written piece that commemorates the life of John Candy as well as provides a glimpse into the intimate lives of the ones that have struggled with weight issues in our lives. John Candy was an amazing comedian and I think a lot of us grew up with him on the screen and felt a connection. His death was a sudden shock to me. I knew it could it happen but at the time I didn’t think it would happen just quite so soon. At my height weight I was 330 lbs and finally had my wake up call around the year 2000. Today I am 160 lbs and had to change everything I was. I chose to eat to live instead of living to eat. You have to want it had enough. RIP, J. Candy and to the writer of this blog, never give up.
ReplyDeleteI hope to day you are in a great place. Your words are my every day thoughts I was 20# over candys highest at his age But now lost 71 pounds
ReplyDeleteJohn Candy was a gifted entertainer, he is greatly missed.
ReplyDeleteI did not know him personally, but he had great qualities about him.
Thank You,
Susan (Toronto, Canada)
I love this post and this thread. Thank you everyone for the encouragement. I believe I relate to this whole thread all too well. Let’s keep in touch!
ReplyDeleteI came across this after watching Uncle Buck and reading on Candy's death. I see the last post is very old...5 years. Hopefully this James just got more involved with his new life and has left this behind, not....the other thing.
ReplyDeleteWe all need to eat better food I'm 360 lbs and lost weight several times and gained it all back. All I gotta say is this. Live life happy, if being fat makes you not happy then lose it. If it's not then be you!If your over weight and you eat good food then you will be healthy! Just eat less carbs and try to stay away from bread . I pray everyone live life with no regrets but if weight is one of them, then lose it.No regrets! Goodluck and God Bless!
ReplyDeleteStay away from the high cholesterol foods. It can clog your arteries whether you are fat or thin!
DeleteThere's no truth to your statement, whatsoever.
DeleteWhos harry crumb!
ReplyDeleteWho's you
ReplyDeleteWho's you ?
ReplyDeleteNicks got a little one
ReplyDeleteHe sure has
ReplyDeleteOnly just touches his jox
ReplyDeleteWho's you ?
ReplyDeleteWhen
ReplyDeleteAre ya
ReplyDeleteNicks still got a little one 🤣
ReplyDeleteHow little
ReplyDeleteExtremely
ReplyDeleteShould we let people know
ReplyDeleteAnsolutely
ReplyDeleteWhy
ReplyDeleteCause it's little
ReplyDeleteIsh
ReplyDeleteNick lol one
ReplyDeleteI struggle with weight a 30lb struggle I wanted to be taller like my mom of 5'9", but I like to eat what I want, other times in my life I was very thin. Today I'm still working on it.
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