Editing Dan Aykroyd (section)

==Personal life==
Aykroyd was briefly engaged to actress [[Carrie Fisher]], proposing to her on the set of ''The Blues Brothers''. In the film, she appeared as a jilted girlfriend of John Belushi's character Jake Blues. Their engagement ended when she reconciled with her former boyfriend, musician [[Paul Simon]]. On April 29, 1983, Aykroyd married actress [[Donna Dixon]] on a friend's rooftop in [[Martha's Vineyard]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 2, 1983 |title=Dan Aykroyd and actress Donna Dixon married in secret on Martha's Vineyard |url=https://www.oldnews.com/en/record?record_id=record-12014-270375689-&or_panel=1&referred=mh_record_page |newspaper=[[The Daily News (Kentucky)|Park City Daily News]] |url-access=registration |access-date=January 19, 2025}}</ref> The couple met on the set of ''[[Doctor Detroit]]'' released the same year and appeared together in four additional films: ''[[Twilight Zone: The Movie]]'' (1983), ''[[Spies Like Us]]'' (1985), ''[[The Couch Trip]]'' (1988), and ''[[Exit to Eden (film)|Exit to Eden]]'' (1994). Together, they have three daughters, including Danielle (known by her stage name, [[Vera Sola]]). The couple announced in April 2022 that they were separating after 39 years of marriage, but would remain legally married.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Garner |first=Glenn |title=Dan Aykroyd and Donna Dixon Separate After 39 Years, Remain Legally Married: 'Loving Friendship' |url=https://people.com/movies/dan-aykroyd-wife-donna-dixon-separate-after-39-years-remain-legally-married/ |date=April 29, 2022 |access-date=April 30, 2022 |magazine=[[People (magazine)|People]] |quote="After 39 years as a couple we are now on separate life paths. We remain legally married, co-parents, co-workers and business partners," the pair tells PEOPLE in a joint statement.}}</ref>

Aykroyd maintains his Canadian roots as a longtime resident of [[Sydenham, Frontenac County, Ontario|Sydenham, Ontario]], with his estate on [[Loughborough Lake]].

In a 2004 [[NPR]] interview with host [[Terry Gross]], Aykroyd said that he had been diagnosed in childhood with [[Tourette syndrome]] (TS). He stated that his TS was successfully treated with therapy.<ref name=Gross>{{Cite episode |title=Comedian -- and Writer -- Dan Aykroyd |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4181931 |access-date=May 15, 2011 |series=Fresh Air |first=Terry |last=Gross |format=audio |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=November 22, 2004 |time=29:50}}</ref> In 2015, he stated during a ''HuffPost Show'' interview with hosts [[Roy Sekoff]] and [[Marc Lamont Hill]] that he has [[Asperger syndrome]] which was "never diagnosed", but was "sort of a self-diagnosis" based on several of his own characteristics,<ref name=HuffPostShow>{{cite web  |title=Dan Aykroyd – Full Interview |date=April 18, 2015 |publisher=HuffPost Show |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5rQJpYHIAA |access-date=June 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/u5rQJpYHIAA |archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref> contradicting his earlier claim in the ''[Daily Mail]'' that he had been officially diagnosed in the early 1980s after his then wife Donna persuaded him to see a doctor.<ref>{{cite news |first=Chanel |last=Georgina |title=Dan Aykroyd's 'obsession with ghosts and law enforcement' is due to Asperger's |work=[[Daily Express]] |date=August 31, 2022 |url=https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/1662649/dan-aykroyd-health-aspergers-autism |access-date=February 6, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=<!--not stated, or generic Staff--> |title=24 Quirky Dan Aykroyd Quotes |date=September 14, 2023 |url=https://autisminked.com/24-quirky-dan-aykroyd-quotes |access-date=February 6, 2025}}</ref>

Aykroyd is a former reserve commander for the police department in [[Harahan, Louisiana]], working for Chief of Police Peter Dale. While on the force, Aykroyd carried his badge with him at all times.<ref>{{cite web |author=CISNMike |title=Dan Aykroyd Shows his Badge |publisher=[[YouTube]] |date=February 14, 2007 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgKHCB7lnog |access-date=April 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/xgKHCB7lnog |archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He currently serves as a reserve deputy of the Hinds County Sheriff's Department in [[Hinds County, Mississippi]]. He supports the reserves with a fundraiser concert along with other blues and gospel singers in Mississippi.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dan Aykroyd sworn in as Hinds County deputy |work=[[WLBT#News operation|WLBT News]] |url=http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/24546885/dan-aykroyd-sworn-in-as-hinds-county-deputy |access-date=May 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143346/http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/24546885/dan-aykroyd-sworn-in-as-hinds-county-deputy |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Aykroyd's passions for the outdoors, geology and paleontology, which he attributes to watching his father work on constructing the Gatineau Parkway which included blasting through granite rock formations to run the highway,<ref>{{cite news |last=Mackrael |first=Kim |title=Dan Aykroyd goes from Ghostbuster to bone duster |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/dan-aykroyd-goes-from-ghostbuster-to-bone-duster/article5010895/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=August 7, 2020 |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=November 6, 2012}}</ref> have led him to join Canadian [[paleontologist]] [[Philip J. Currie]] on a number of digs, including fundraising digs and galas as fundraisers for the construction of the [[Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum]] in [[Wembley, Alberta]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Funding shortfall delays Alberta dinosaur museum |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/funding-shortfall-delays-alberta-dinosaur-museum-1.1111378 |access-date=August 7, 2020 |work=[[CBC News]] |date=August 8, 2011 |location=Edmonton}}</ref> which recognized Aykroyd's contributions by naming its theatre the ''Aykroyd Family Theatre''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cryderman |first=Kelly |title=Five questions with the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum's president and CEO |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/five-questions-with-the-philip-j-currie-dinosaur-museums-president-and-ceo/article31298794/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=August 7, 2020 |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=August 5, 2016}}</ref>

Aykroyd has obtained American citizenship.<ref name="citizen">{{Cite news |title=Famous foreigners who became US citizens |newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |date=April 12, 2023 |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/sns-most-famous-foreigners-who-became-us-citizens-20230412-wh44iobuk5dtrc5k5pwxjaav5a-photogallery.html |access-date=June 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610062810/https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/sns-most-famous-foreigners-who-became-us-citizens-20230412-wh44iobuk5dtrc5k5pwxjaav5a-photogallery.html |archive-date=June 10, 2023 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Friendship with John Belushi===
In an appearance on the ''[[Today (U.S. TV program)|Today]]'' show, Aykroyd referred to John Belushi and himself as "kindred spirits". In the biography ''Belushi'', Aykroyd claims that Belushi was the only man with whom he could ever dance. The pair were scheduled to present the [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects|Academy Award for Visual Effects]] in [[54th Academy Awards|1982]], but Belushi died just a few weeks prior to the ceremony. Though devastated by his friend's death, Aykroyd presented the award alone, remarking from the stage, "My partner would have loved to have been here to present this, given that he was something of a visual effect himself."<ref>{{YouTube|id=t8hI5on2jqg|Raiders of the Lost Ark Wins Visual Effects: 1982 Oscars}}</ref>

Aykroyd was an outspoken critic of the 1989 film ''[[Wired (film)|Wired]]'', a biopic of Belushi which was based on the [[Wired (book)|1984 book of the same name]] by journalist [[Bob Woodward]], and starred [[Michael Chiklis]] in his film debut as Belushi,<ref>{{cite web |last=Cooke |first=Sarah |url=https://www.looper.com/433355/the-untold-truth-of-dan-aykroyd/ |title=The Untold Truth Of Dan Aykroyd |website=[[Looper (website)|Looper]] |date=June 9, 2021 |access-date=July 15, 2024}}</ref> and featured him as a character played by actor Gary Groomes. Along with Belushi's widow Judith and brother [[Jim Belushi|Jim]], and many other friends, associates and relatives of Belushi, he boycotted the film and the associated book for misrepresenting Belushi's life,<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/the-controversy-over-bob-woodwards-belushi-bio-wired-37163/ |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |first=Lynn |last=Hirschberg |title=The Controversy Over Bob Woodward's Belushi Bio 'Wired' |date=September 27, 1984}}</ref> and during an interview for [[MTV]]'s ''The Big Picture'' in June 1988, he expressed his desire that the film would underperform at the box office, which ultimately happened; he said, "I have witches working now to [[jinx]] the thing... I hope it never gets seen and I am going to hurl all the negative energy I can and muster all my hell energies [against them]. My thunderbolts are out on this one, quite truthfully." He had actor [[J. T. Walsh]] removed from the film ''[[Loose Cannons (1990 film)|Loose Cannons]]'' after Walsh had already done two days of filming in the role of Grimmer, after finding out that Walsh had been in the cast of ''Wired''. Walsh, who had played Bob Woodward in ''Wired'', was replaced as Grimmer by fellow Canadian actor [[Paul Koslo]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-04-13-ca-1870-story.html |url-access=subscription |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |first1=Nina J. |last1=Easton |first2=Jack |last2=Mathews |title=Another Chapter in the Strange Odyssey of 'Wired' |date=April 13, 1989}}</ref> causing the film a $125,000 production delay.

===Beliefs===
Aykroyd considers himself a [[Spiritualism (movement)|Spiritualist]], stating:
:I am a Spiritualist, a proud wearer of the Spiritualist badge. Mediums and psychic research have gone on for many, many years ... Loads of people have seen spirits, heard a voice, or felt the cold temperature. I believe that they are between here and there, that they exist between the fourth and fifth dimensions, and that they visit us frequently.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news |last=O'Hagan |first=Sean |title=I'm still haunted by Belushi |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/sep/28/features.review |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=December 13, 2022 |date=September 27, 2003}}</ref>

Aykroyd's great-grandfather, a dentist, was a [[Mysticism|mystic]] who corresponded with author Sir [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] on the subject of Spiritualism, and was a member of the [[Lily Dale, New York|Lily Dale Society]].<ref name="autogenerated1"/> Other than Spiritualism, Aykroyd is also interested in various other aspects of the [[paranormal]], particularly [[UFOlogy]]. He is a lifetime member of and official Hollywood consultant for the [[Mutual UFO Network]] (MUFON). Along these lines, he served, from 1996 to 2000, as host of ''[[Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal]]'', which claimed to describe cases drawn from the archives of "The Office of Scientific Investigation and Research". In 2005, Aykroyd produced the DVD ''Dan Aykroyd: Unplugged on UFOs''.

Aykroyd was interviewed for 80 minutes by UFOlogist David Sereda, discussing in depth many aspects of the UFO phenomenon.<ref name=UNPLUGGED>{{cite web|url=http://www.uforc.com/news/daufo-KlewMedia_060206.htm |title=UFORC News Service: Dan Aykroyd Unplugged on UFOs|access-date=February 9, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219024119/http://www.uforc.com/news/daufo-KlewMedia_060206.htm|archive-date=December 19, 2007}}</ref>

On September 29, 2009, Peter Aykroyd Sr., Dan's father, published a book entitled ''A History of Ghosts''. This book chronicled the family's historical involvement in the Spiritualist movement, to which Aykroyd readily refers. Aykroyd wrote the introduction and accompanied his father on a series of promotional activities, including launches in New York and Toronto, appearances on ''[[Larry King Live]]'' and ''[[Coast to Coast AM]]'', and various other public-relations initiatives. Aykroyd also read the introduction for the audio version of the book.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aykroyd |first1=Peter H. |title=A History of Ghosts |url=https://www.audible.com/pd/A-History-of-Ghosts-Audiobook/B003ADQ4VS |via=Audible |publisher=Amazon |access-date=July 9, 2021}}</ref> In 1997, the [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] <!-- (CSICOP) --> awarded Aykroyd ''in absentia'' the Snuffed Candle Award for hosting ''[[Psi Factor]]'' and being a "long-time promoter ... of paranormal claims". Following the awards, [[Joe Nickell]] wrote to Aykroyd asking for the research behind the "cases" presented on ''Psi Factor'', particularly a claim that NASA scientists were "killed while investigating a meteor crash and giant eggs were found and incubated, yielding a flea the size of a hog".<ref name="Candle awards 1997">{{cite journal|title=Nye, Aykroyd Receive Council's First Awards|journal=Skeptical Inquirer|date=1997|volume=21|issue=3|page=12}}</ref>