Candy, John Franklin

Entertainment, humor, Memories 8 comments

What’s your favorite candy?

I understand I may have sliced this daily prompt into the weeds, but Candy was one of the funniest, most likable guys I’ve ever seen. His role in Stripes as the calorically challenged Dewey Oxenberger was my favorite.

I first saw him on SCTV with other brilliant Canadian and American actors of that era: Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short and Harold Ramis. Their sketches were, in my opinion, just as funny, if not more funny than SNL during its Golden Period.

He appeared in other memorable comedies: Splash, Brewster’s Millions, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Spaceballs, The Great Outdoors, Vacation, and Uncle Buck.

Still from "Stripes" (1981)
His character in Stripes was hilarious: The mud wrestling scene; cheating the guy at poker; joining the Army as a weight-loss program while getting paid for it. (L-R: John Candy, Harold Ramis)

He died tragically young at 43, but his engaging grin and comical mannerisms will continue to bring laughter to a world desperately in need of positivity and joy.

Oh…and just to get back on the fairway, I like M&Ms, Twix and Skittles 😊

8 comments

  5. John Candy was and continues to be a favorite in my family, most especially because of my brother by the same name, John — who was a lot like Mr. Candy in many ways: a gentle giant, a big softie on the inside who used humor to make us all feel good and have hearty laughter. My mom also loved John Candy, and after watching him in movies like Uncle Buck and Plains, Trains, and Automobiles, she would always marvel at how much our John was like him. Sadly, my mother passed in 2021, and my brother passed away last year. They are all three missed greatly.

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