Book ~ "John Candy: A Life in Comedy" (2025) Paul Myers

From Goodreads ~ From his humble beginnings in sketch comedy with the Toronto branch of Second City, to his rise to fame in "SCTV" and Hollywood film classics like "Planes, Trains and Automobiles", "The Great Outdoors" and "Uncle Buck", John Candy captivated audiences with his self-deprecating humour, emotional warmth and gift for improvisation. Now for the first time since Candy’s tragic death, biographer Paul Myers tells the full story of the man behind the laughs.

Drawing on extensive research and exclusive interviews with many of Candy’s closest friends and colleagues including Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Tom Hanks, Ron Howard, Steve Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short and many more, "John Candy: A Life in Comedy" celebrates the comedian’s unparalleled talent, infectious charm and generosity of spirit. Through ups and downs, successes and failures, and struggles with anxiety and self-doubt, Candy faced the world with a big smile and a warm demeanour that earned him the love and adoration of fans around the world.

This book is a behind-the-scenes look at the life and career of John Candy (1950 - 1994). It dives into Candy’s rise from local sketch comedy in Toronto to Hollywood fame, while also showing the kind, generous and sometimes troubled man behind all the laughs.

Candy grew up in Toronto and got his comedy start at Second City. Thanks to Dan Aykroyd, he landed a spot on SCTV and became a breakout star with his big heart and even bigger characters. From Stripes to The Blues Brothers to Uncle Buck, Planes, Trains and Automobiles to Cool Runnings, Candy built a career on playing lovable funny underdogs. This book takes you through those roles and others (there are whole chapters on most of his movies).

The author spoke with a lot of Candy’s friends and co-stars (including Steve Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Tom Hanks, Martin Short and Dan Aykroyd) to show the deep affection and admiration so many had for him. Off-camera Candy was generous and thoughtful ... for example, buying Thanksgiving dinner for entire film crews, comforting homesick extras and always making time for people. The book also looks at Candy’s struggles with anxiety, his weight and the pressure of being “the funny guy.”

I was (and still am) a fan of John Candy. He passed away just over 30 years ago and I'm surprised it's taken this long for someone to write such a book about him. I enjoyed it and it was interesting to learn more about Candy. It's obvious that it's well-researched and honest ... though he knew better (his father had passed away young of a heart attack), Candy liked his smokes, rum & Cokes and food. It would have been nice, though, to have some photographs included as it's just all text.