The 20 Most Memorable Moments In Saturday Night Live's 40-Year History

John Belushi’s Passing

John Belushi had been aSaturday Night Livealumni by the seventh seasonfor several years, although he made one non-speaking cameo during a skit that season. Belushi’s film career had started to blossom even while he was on Saturday Night Live, with Animal House becoming a defining comedy of the era. He went on to star in several films, including the massively popular The Blues Brothers, a spin-off from a recurring Saturday Night Live skit with Dan Aykroyd. In March 1982, Belushi was found dead from a drug overdose at the age of thirty-three. His tragic passing had an impact on both current and former cast and crew of Saturday Night Live. In the years since Belushi's death, stories of drug abuse involving several cast members of the series have circulated. These include headlines about Chris Farley, who also died of an overdose at age thirty-three in 1997.