James Belushi

He rose to greater prominence with his supporting roles in About Last Night and Salvador (both 1986) which gave him the opportunity for lead roles. Defending Your Life (1991) placed Brooks's lead character in the afterlife, put on trial to justify his human failings and to determine his cosmic fate. From 1983 to 1985 he wrote and appeared on Saturday Night Live. The movie has several bravura scenes, including Brooks' unsuccessful negotiations with Vegas casino owner Garry Marshall as well as his "nest egg" monologue. His first larger role was in Michael Mann's Thief (1981). His best-received film, Lost in America (1985), featured Brooks and Julie Hagerty as a couple who ditch their yuppie lifestyle to live in a motor home, only to find the disadvantages of poverty. During this period he also made his television debut in the 1978 flop Who's Watching the Kids and also had a microscopic part in Brian De Palma's The Fury. In Modern Romance Brooks played as a film editor desperate to win back his ex-girlfriend.

From 1977 to 1980 he followed John and worked with the Chicago theater group The Second City. Through the 1980s and 1990s, Brooks would co-write (with longtime collaborator Monica Johnson), direct, and star in a series of moderately-successful comedies, playing variants on his standard neurotic and self-obsessed character. James attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale and earned a degree in Speech and Theater Arts. Real Life was a witty sendup of PBS's An American Family documentary, in which Brooks obnoxiously films a typical suburban family in an effort to win not just an Oscar, but a Nobel Prize. James' elder brother was John who was also a famous actor. Brooks directed his first feature film, Real Life, in 1979. of Albanian immigrants. Brooks also made a brief cameo in Goldie Hawn's Private Benjamin (1980).

He is the third of four children of Adam Belushi, an Albanian immigrant who left his native Qytezë village in 1934 at the age of 15, and Agnes, was born in the U.S. He then directed six short films for the first season of NBC's Saturday Night Live in 1975 and appeared in his first film, opposite Cybill Shepherd in Scorsese's landmark Taxi Driver (Scorcese allowed Brooks to improvise much of his dialogue). He was born in Chicago, Illinois but grew up in Wheaton, Illinois. After two successful comedy albums, Brooks left the standup circuit to try his hand as a filmmaker; his first film was a satiric short The Famous Comedians School which appeared on PBS and was an early example of the mockumentary comedy sub-genre. James Belushi (also known as Jim Belushi) (born June 15, 1954) is an American film and television actor. Brooks's onstage persona of an egotistical, nervous comic influenced such other comedians as Steve Martin, Martin Mull, and Andy Kaufman. To break into acting Albert attended Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, then changed his surname and began a standup career which quickly made him a staple on variety and talk shows during the late '60s/early '70s.

Albert grew up among showbiz royalty in southern California, attending high school with Carl Reiner's son Rob and Joey Bishop's son Larry. His father, Harry Einstein, was known as Parkyarkarkus, a Greek dialect comedian who performed on Eddie Cantor's radio program. He was born Albert Einstein in Los Angeles, California. Albert Brooks (born July 22, 1947) is an actor, comedian, and director.