![]() Marcia Resnick photographed Belushi and was with him on his last night in New York, as he “voraciously” ingested “space coke,” a drug she said “would haunt you.” Marcia ResnickĪs his star rose, Belushi dropped himself into Manhattan’s drug-friendly punk scene and even played drums one night with the Dead Boys - a notoriously rowdy bunch whose singer, Stiv Bators, was known for strangling himself with his microphone cord and claimed to have once died for a minute while on-stage. Quickly establishing himself as part of the city’s edgy comedy scene, he was recruited for the 1975 “Saturday Night Live” premiere. Three years later, he would be dead from overdosing on a speedball: a mix of heroin and cocaine.īorn and raised around Chicago, Belushi landed in New York in 1972, loaded with promise. Friends describe him as having enormous appetites.” “But I’m not sure he had access to the tools he needed. “He tried hard to get past drugs,” said director R.J. In letters written to his wife, Judith, the comedian vowed to “stay away from drugs and drug people” while fighting destructive urges. 22, his life was eroding as he partied hard all around New York City. In the fall of 1978, “Briefcase Full of Blues,” his debut Blues Brothers album with “SNL” co-star and close pal Dan Aykroyd, would top Billboard’s charts.īut, as is made clear in the Showtime documentary “Belushi,” airing Sunday, Nov. The 30-year-old was the breakout star of “Saturday Night Live” and about to hit it even bigger with “Animal House,” which would set a record that summer as the No. When Silkin encountered Belushi, the comedian was on the cusp of superstardom. “When he died it was no shocker, considering the way he handled his cocaine,” said Silkin, now the host of the podcast Last Stop Penn Station. “I was no angel, but Belushi huffed it like a pig.” “The Blues Brothers,” the 1980 film starring Belushi (right) and “SNL” pal Dan Aykroyd, had a cocaine budget. The dealer said he returned to Trax - only to see Belushi reappear an hour later, seeking two more grams. He borrowed $200 from cast members before swearing Silkin to secrecy. Silkin slid two grams to the comedian, who overturned a glass ashtray full of cigarette butts, tapped out an oversized line of cocaine and hoovered it. After a brief encounter with guest host Christopher Lee - “An immaculate guy, looking at four bums, with Belushi being the bummiest” - they went to Belushi’s practically barren office. Silkin and Belushi, each with a pal in tow, proceeded to “SNL” headquarters at 30 Rock to wrap up a deal. “The guy was trying it and another voice rudely shouted, ‘Hey! You got a gram?’ ” Silkin recalled to The Post. One night in 1978, at the Upper West Side rock club Trax, he headed back to a makeshift dressing room to negotiate a sale. Some four decades ago, he was a low-level coke dealer. Cary Silkin saw John Belushi’s uncontrollable - and, ultimately, fatal - urges firsthand.
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