Editing John Candy (section)

===1979–1987: Hollywood breakthrough ===
In 1979, Candy took a brief [[hiatus (television)|hiatus]] from ''SCTV'' and began a more active film career, appearing in a minor role in ''[[Lost and Found (1979 film)|Lost and Found]]'' (1979) and playing a [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] soldier in [[Steven Spielberg]]'s big-budget comedy ''[[1941 (film)|1941]]''. He returned to [[Canada]] for roles in ''[[The Courage of Kavik, the Wolf Dog]]'' (1980) and the action thriller ''[[Deadly Companion|Double Negative]]'' (1980). He had a supporting role as easygoing parole officer Burton Mercer in ''[[The Blues Brothers (film)|The Blues Brothers]]'' (1980), starring Aykroyd, and did an episode of [[Jack London's Tales of the Klondike|''Tales of the Klondike'']] (1981) for Canadian TV.

In 1980, Candy hosted a short-lived NBC television program, ''Roadshow'', described by The Washington Post as "improvisational journalism".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Shales|first=Tom|date=1980-11-29|title=Television|language=en-US|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/11/29/television/799b637c-8637-4763-8556-906741832c9f/|access-date=2021-05-29|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=February 23, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250223061102/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/11/29/television/799b637c-8637-4763-8556-906741832c9f/|url-status=live}}</ref> Appearing as himself, Candy and a video crew traveled in a tour bus to [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]] (home of [[Louisiana State University]]), and [[Carbondale, Illinois]] (home of [[Southern Illinois University Carbondale]]), and interviewed college students amid party atmospheres such as the latter's Halloween street celebration.<ref>{{Citation|title=r/Carbondale - NBC Roadshow- Carbondale Halloween 1980 (with John Candy)|date=May 25, 2021|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/Carbondale/comments/nkrins/nbc_roadshow_carbondale_halloween_1980_with_john/|access-date=May 29, 2021|archive-date=May 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525144943/https://www.reddit.com/r/Carbondale/comments/nkrins/nbc_roadshow_carbondale_halloween_1980_with_john/|url-status=live}}</ref> He also obtained backstage access to interview Midge Ure, the lead singer of the [[United Kingdom|UK]] electronic band [[Ultravox]], which performed a concert on the SIU campus the evening of 10/31/80. It is unknown if more than two episodes aired.

Candy played the lovable, mild-mannered Army recruit Dewey Oxberger in ''[[Stripes (film)|Stripes]]'' (1981), directed by Canadian [[Ivan Reitman]], which was one of the most successful films of the year. He provided voices for multiple characters in the animated film ''[[Heavy Metal (film)|Heavy Metal]]'' (1981), most notably as the title character in the "[[Den (comics)|Den]]" segment, which was well-received,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=9805EFDF153BF934A3575BC0A967948260&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=Janet |last=Maslin |title='Heavy Metal', Adult Cartoon |date=August 7, 1981}}</ref> including by the character's creator, [[Richard Corben]], who singled out Candy's humorously lighthearted interpretation of the title character as excellent.<ref>{{Cite comic | writer=Corben, Richard | date=1989 | story=Letters page | title=Den | issue=5 | page=Inside front cover.}}</ref>

From 1981 to 1983, Candy appeared in ''[[SCTV Network]]'' on television. He made a cameo appearance in [[Harold Ramis]]' ''[[National Lampoon's Vacation]]'' (1983), his first collaboration with [[John Hughes (filmmaker)|John Hughes]], who wrote the script. Candy appeared on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' twice (hosting in 1983) while still appearing on ''SCTV''. According to writer-comedian [[Bob Odenkirk]], Candy was reputedly the "most-burned potential host" of ''SNL'', in that he was asked to host many times, only for plans to be changed by the ''SNL'' staff at the last minute.<ref name=Shales>{{cite book| first1=Tom| last1=Shales| author2=James Andrew Miller| title=Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Qx0AwAAQBAJ&q=john+candy| date=September 9, 2014| publisher=Little Brown & Co.| page=345| isbn=978-0316295079}}</ref> Candy headlined in the Canadian film ''[[Going Berserk]]'' (1983). He was approached to play the character of accountant Louis Tully in ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' (1984), starring Aykroyd and directed by Reitman, but ultimately did not get the role because of his conflicting ideas of how to play the character; the part went instead to SCTV colleague [[Rick Moranis]], whose ideas were better received. However, Candy did make a contribution to the franchise, as one of the many people chanting "Ghostbusters" in the video for [[Ray Parker Jr.]]'s hit [[Ghostbusters (song)|single]] for the film.

Candy played [[Tom Hanks]]'s womanizing brother in the hit romantic comedy'' [[Splash (film)|Splash]]'', generally considered his break-out role.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001006/bio| title=John Candy: Biography| website=[[IMDb]]| access-date=August 19, 2019}}</ref> After the success of the film, he had signed a three-picture development and producing deal with [[Walt Disney Pictures]], and he would develop and executive produce various theatricals as planned starring vehicles for himself.<ref>{{Cite news|date=May 16, 1984|title=Candy Signed For 3 Disney Pics; Also Tapped for U's 'Millions'|page=44|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref>

Candy went back to Canada to star in ''[[The Last Polka]]'' (1985), which he also wrote with co-star [[Eugene Levy]]. He was [[Richard Pryor]]'s best friend in ''[[Brewster's Millions (1985 film)|Brewster's Millions]]'' (1985) and had a cameo in the ''[[Sesame Street]]'' film ''[[Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird|Follow That Bird]]'' (1985). Candy's first lead role in a Hollywood film came with ''[[Summer Rental]]'' (1985), directed by [[Carl Reiner]].<ref name="new">{{cite news| title=A ghostly film that's no 'kiddie movie'| first=Aljean| last=Harmetz| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/09/movies/at-the-movies.html| newspaper=The New York Times| date=August 9, 1985| page=C16| url-access=limited| archive-date=November 25, 2017| access-date=July 24, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125153218/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/09/movies/at-the-movies.html| url-status=live}}</ref> He was reunited with Hanks in ''[[Volunteers (1985 film)|Volunteers]]'' (1985), though the film did not do as well as ''Splash''. He had a cameo in ''[[The Canadian Conspiracy]]'' (1985) and appeared alongside Martin Short in ''Dave Thomas: The Incredible Time Travels of Henry Osgood'' (1985) in Canada. Candy's next starring role in a Hollywood film was the box office disappointment ''[[Armed and Dangerous (1986 film)|Armed and Dangerous]]'' (1986) with Levy and [[Meg Ryan]].<ref name=latimes>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-08-28-ca-13992-story.html|title=JOHN CANDY'S READY TO TAKE CONTROL : My agent is always telling me--'it's not called show art, it's show business.' And I have to learn that . . .|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|last=Goldstein|first=Patrick|date=August 28, 1986|access-date=March 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627135943/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-08-28-ca-13992-story.html|archive-date=June 27, 2019}}</ref> He had a cameo in ''[[Little Shop of Horrors (1986 film)|Little Shop of Horrors]]'' (1986) and appeared in ''Really Weird Tales'' (1987). He also had a supporting role in [[Mel Brooks]]'s ''[[Spaceballs]]'' (1987).