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Dan Ackroyd. Image by John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-

Top 10 Amazing Facts about Dan Aykroyd

This Canadian bloke goes by many titles; comedian, actor, producer, and businessman. He rose to prominence for playing scientists, eccentric cops, hardball military men, and oddballs. He has been on Saturday Night Live ( SNL) for years and his smart mouth has kept us entertained since the 70s! However, he is best known for having co-written and acting in Blues Brothers (1980) and Ghostbusters (1984).

He has received recognition as an actor and writer over the years and received numerous awards including an Emmy award for Outstanding Writing in a Music Series for SNL, the Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002, and the Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. He is a legend and now only takes roles in parts that are interesting to him. He has achieved resounding success in Hollywood so he is happy to talk a step back to pave the way for other people.

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1. He has a deep love for law enforcement

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Aykroyd’s grandfather was a policeman. That could explain the great fascination he has with law enforcement. He studied sociology and criminology but ended up not graduating. He entered the force and served with the Louisiana police department, and is currently a reserve deputy with the Mississippi police department. He takes his civic duty seriously and in the past has partnered with police officers in many businesses.

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2. His childhood dream was to be a priest

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It is hard to believe that this ghost fanatic, wanted to be a priest. This thought process did not fall through. Instead, he followed a spiritual journey and went into show business. He started as a comedian and musician performing at various nightclubs. He paired with comedian Valerie Bromfield and performed comedy skits all over Toronto.

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3. Owns a vodka brand known as Crystal Head Vodka

Dan Aykroyd, John Alexander and Crystal Head Vodka at the 2011 Dino dig in Alberta, Canada. Image by Globefill-

Aykroyd is business oriented. He co-founded the House of Blues, a chain of music venues, to progress African-American cultural contributions of blues music and folk art. With the help of other public personalities, he was able to accumulate enough money to kick it off. It started with one location and slowly but steadily it became one of the biggest He later opened the Aykroyd’s Ghetto House Cafe on Princess Street in Kingston, Ontario. This business savvy did not stop there he went dived into the alcohol business. He co-founded Crystal Head Vodka, a brand of high-end vodka known for its distinctive skull-shaped bottle and for being filtered through Herkimer diamond crystals. He is also part owner of several wineries in Canada’s Niagara Peninsula, and the company that distributes Patrón tequila in Canada.

4. He is philanthropic

They say that a rich man gets richer by helping the poor. Aykroyd knows this and uses his platform to help others. He co-founded the Blue Line Foundation, which aims at redeveloping flood-damaged lots in New Orleans and helping first responders buy them at reduced prices. He is also a strong believer of all people are the same regardless of the race thus a member of Canadian Charity Artists against Racism.

5. He loves excavations

He is an outdoorsy person. He loves nature, geology, and paleontology. These interests were natured by observing his dad working to construct the Gatineau Parkway. This work involved blasting through granite rock formations. Owing to this, he joined a renowned Canadian paleontologist, Dr. Philip J. Currie, in several excavations including fundraising digs and galas for the construction of the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Wembley, Alberta. The museum recognized him by naming its theatre, the Aykroyd Family Theatre.

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6. Ghostbusters was inspired by 0his life

Ghostbusters. Image by Poudou99-

It is hard to believe that the idea of Ghostbusters came from life experiences but it did.  He has always been a spiritual man and so has his family. His father and grandfather often held séances at his family home. They believed these sessions would help them talk to the dead. Years later in 2009, his father, Peter Aykroyd, wrote a book on ghosts, A History of Ghosts. Aykroyd actively took part in the writing and promotion of the book. This spirituality and admiration for the force combined to give birth to the idea of a funny paranormal investigation service to capture ghosts. He formed a team and voila, the blockbuster Ghostbusters (1984) was born! Among the whole Ghostbusters team, Aykroyd was and still is the most invested in the existence of the paranormal. This idea might have been his best as it went ahead to garner $300 million at the box office after a budget of $30 million!

7. He believes in aliens and UFOs

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This does not come as a surprise now, because he loves a good yarn of ghosts. He is a spiritual person and has often said he is proud to be one. He believes that various dimensions and spirits from other dimensions often visit our dimension. He also believes that aliens visit earth regularly. He is a lifetime member of and official Hollywood consultant for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), an NGO that studies UFO sightings. From 1996 to 2000, he was a 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”. He got an award for hosting this and for being a long-time promoter of paranormal claims. One case presented on the Psi Factor was 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. In 2005, Aykroyd produced the DVD Dan Aykroyd: Unplugged on UFOs.

8. He was born with different collared eyes and webbed toes

Syndactyly is the abnormal connection of 2 fingers mostly the middle and ring fingers. Complete heterochromia is when a person’s irises are different colours completely. Aykroyd is a heterochromatic syndactylite meaning he has both conditions which is rare.  He has webbed middle toes on both feet and he has different colored eyes: one is brown and one is green.

9. He suffers from Tourette’s and Asperger’s

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He was diagnosed with Tourette’s at 12 years old. He suffered from physical and verbal tics that made him shy. These were later managed with therapy and the symptoms eased a couple of years later. He has never been officially diagnosed with Asperger’s, but based on various symptoms, his self-diagnosis led to that.

10. He is ambidextrous

Ambidextrous is rare. According to studies done, about 1 percent of the world’s population is ambidextrous. Aykroyd is part of the one percent. It could explain the huge amount of talent that the man has.