Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd is a Canadian comedy legend who co-created the Blues Brothers, co-wrote Ghostbusters, and built a crystal skull vodka empire, a career that refuses to stay in any one lane.
Dan Aykroyd: The Comedian Who Outlasted Every Era
Dan Aykroyd is one of the original cast members of Saturday Night Live (joining in 1975), a co-founder of the Blues Brothers alongside John Belushi, and the co-writer and star of Ghostbusters (1984), one of the most commercially successful comedies ever made. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, he has spent five decades as a performer, writer, musician, and entrepreneur without ever fading into nostalgia-act territory.
Beyond Hollywood, Aykroyd is just as well known in business circles. He co-founded the House of Blues music venue chain and, in 2008, launched Crystal Head Vodka, a premium spirit sold in an iconic skull-shaped bottle. The brand became a genuine success story, not a celebrity vanity project, and is now distributed in dozens of countries.
Aykroyd is also one of the more openly unusual public figures in entertainment. He has spoken candidly and repeatedly about his belief in UFOs and the paranormal, interests that, he has said, directly inspired Ghostbusters. He has also been open about being diagnosed with Tourette syndrome and Asperger syndrome, framing both as part of what makes his creative obsessions so intense.
His longevity on the public radar owes as much to cultural continuity as to nostalgia: Ghostbusters never really went away, and the franchise’s revival films in the 2010s and 2020s brought him back to a new generation of fans. He remains one of the few SNL originals still actively working in entertainment and business.