Editing Dan Aykroyd (section)

==Early life==
Aykroyd was born on July 1, 1952, at [[The Ottawa Hospital|Ottawa General Hospital]] in [[Ottawa, Ontario]].<ref>{{cite news |work=[[Ottawa Journal|The Ottawa Evening Journal]] |date=July 1, 1952 |page=12|title=Want Ads/Births}}</ref> His father, Samuel Cuthbert Peter Hugh Aykroyd (1922–2020), a civil engineer, worked as a policy adviser to Canadian Prime Minister [[Pierre Trudeau]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chiang: Top civil servant and philanthropist Peter Aykroyd dies at 98|work=ottawacitizen |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/chiang-aykroyd-obit|access-date=December 9, 2021}}</ref> and his mother, Lorraine Hélène Marie (née Gougeon; 1918–2018), was a secretary.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Remembering the life of Lorraine AYKROYD|url=http://montrealgazette.remembering.ca/obituary/lorraine-aykroyd-1066083273/|access-date=February 10, 2021|website=montrealgazette.remembering.ca}}</ref><ref>[https://www.everhere.com/ca/obituary-sydenham-lorraine-aykroyd-6909441]{{Dead link|date=June 2021}}</ref><ref name=dtl>{{Cite book|last=Aykroyd|first=Peter H.|title=The anniversary compulsion: Canada's centennial celebration, a model mega-anniversary|publisher=Dundurn Press Ltd.|year=1992|page=ix|isbn=1-55002-185-0}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Lorraine Hélène Marie Gougeon Aykroyd - Obituaries - Kingston, ON - Your Life Moments|url=http://www.yourlifemoments.ca/sitepages/obituary.asp?oid=1064884|access-date=September 28, 2020|website=www.yourlifemoments.ca}}{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> His mother was of [[French Canadians|French Canadian]] descent and his father was of English, Scottish, Irish, French, and Dutch ancestry.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C4gYAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Samuel+Cuthbert+Peter+Hugh+Aykroyd%22|title=Current biography yearbook 1992|journal=Current Biography Yearbook: Annual Cumulation|year=1992|publisher=H.W. Wilson Company|page=32|location=New York|issn=0011-3344|access-date=October 22, 2013}}</ref> His paternal ancestor was Englishman Samuel Aykroyd from [[Halifax, Yorkshire]], who emigrated to the United States, eventually settling in [[Upper Canada]] near [[Kingston, Ontario]] in 1810.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Chiang: Top civil servant and philanthropist Peter Aykroyd dies at 98 |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/chiang-aykroyd-obit |access-date= June 12, 2023 |work=[[Ottawa Citizen]] |date=July 9, 2020}}</ref> His brother, [[Peter Aykroyd|Peter]] (1955–2021), was also an actor.

He attended [[St. Pius X High School (Ottawa)|St. Pius X]] and [[St. Patrick's High School (Ottawa)|St. Patrick's]] High Schools, and studied [[criminology]] and [[sociology]] at [[Carleton University]], but dropped out before completing his degree. He worked as a comedian in various Canadian [[nightclub]]s and ran an after-hours [[speakeasy]], Club 505, in Toronto for several years.<ref>{{cite news |last=DeMara |first=Bruce |title=Local Legends: The Queen East 'key club' where the Blues Brothers were born |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2017/07/22/local-legends-the-queen-east-key-club-where-the-blues-brothers-were-born.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=April 26, 2019 |work=[[Toronto Star]] |date=July 22, 2017}}</ref>

Aykroyd developed his musical career in Ottawa, particularly through his regular attendance at [[Le Hibou]], a club that featured many blues artists. He describes these influences:

{{blockquote|There was a little disco club there called Le Hibou, which in French means 'the owl.' And it was run by a gentleman named [[Harvey Glatt]], and he brought every, and I mean every, blues star that you or I would ever have wanted to have seen through Ottawa in the late '50s, well I guess more late '60s sort of, in around the Newport jazz rediscovery. I was going to Le Hibou and hearing [[James Cotton]], [[Otis Spann]], [[Pinetop Perkins]], and [[Muddy Waters]]. I did actually jam behind Muddy Waters. S.P. Leary left the drum kit one night, and Muddy said 'anybody out there play drums? I don't have a drummer.' And I walked on stage and we started, I don't know, [[Little Red Rooster]], something. He said 'keep that beat going, you make Muddy feel good.' And I heard [[Howlin' Wolf]] (Chester Burnett). Many, many times I saw Howlin' Wolf. As well as [[the Doors]]. And of course [[Buddy Guy]], Buddy Guy and [[Junior Wells]], [[Sonny Terry]] and [[Brownie McGhee]]. So I was exposed to all of these players, playing there as part of this scene to service the academic community in Ottawa, a very well-educated community. Had I lived in a different town I don't think that this would have happened, because it was just the confluence of educated government workers, and then also all the colleges in the area, [[University of Ottawa|Ottawa University]], [[Carleton University|Carleton]], and all the schools—these people were interested in blues culture.<ref name="AustinSound">{{cite web|url=http://www.austinsound.net/author/roger-gatchet/page/2|title=Still on a mission from God: interview with Dan Aykroyd|author=Roger Gatchet|date=May 18, 2007|publisher=www.austinsound.net|access-date=October 22, 2013|archive-date=October 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023060505/http://www.austinsound.net/author/roger-gatchet/page/2/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>This recollection of Aykroyd is subject to challenge. Some assert that it was Ottawa artist [http://astro.ncf.ca/images/fuzzy6.pdf Arthur II] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706190339/http://astro.ncf.ca/images/fuzzy6.pdf |date=July 6, 2011 }} who joined the band to play drums and that, at best, Aykroyd was a member of the audience.</ref>}}

Aykroyd's first professional experience, which he gained at the age of 17, was as a member of the cast of the short-lived Canadian sketch comedy series ''[[The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour]]'' with [[Lorne Michaels]], among others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Aykroyd,_Dan/Biography|title=Dan Aykroyd profile|website=Starpulse.com|access-date=March 11, 2014|archive-date=March 11, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311180520/http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Aykroyd,_Dan/Biography/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was a member of the [[The Second City|Second City]] comedy troupe in 1973 in both Toronto and Chicago.<ref name="sc">{{cite web|title=Our Alumni|url=http://www.secondcity.com/history/alumni|publisher=The Second City|access-date=October 22, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091206065654/http://www.secondcity.com/history/alumni|archive-date=December 6, 2009}}</ref>