Disability History Month: DAN AYKROYD: Actor, Comedian, Singer (1952 – present)
Office of the Governor Texas sent this bulletin at 10/23/2014 08:00 AM CDTCommittee on People with Disabilities
Thursday, October 23, 2014:
DAN AYKROYD: Actor, Comedian, Singer (1952 – present)
Dan Aykroyd, a Canadian-born actor, comedian and singer, is best known for his role in the movie Ghostbusters and his collaboration with John Belushi to form the famous blues band, The Blues Brothers. Aykroyd was also one of the original “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” on the Saturday Night Live TV series, where he earned fame for his humorous impersonations of celebrities. He has been nominated for several Emmy and Oscar Awards.
In recent radio and print interviews, Aykroyd has acknowledged that he has mild Tourette’s syndrome and high-functioning Asperger’s. He talked about how therapy helped ease his Tourette’s symptoms by his mid-teens, and how he had learned to channel his Asperger’s into creativity for his acting and singing career. His symptoms, he has said, include an obsession with ghosts and with law enforcement. At one point, he explains, that obsession led to his study of the real-life ghost hunter Hans Holzer, which led to the idea for the film Ghostbusters.
Attributions:
- Biography: http://www.biography.com/people/dan-aykroyd-9193409#synopsis
- Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Aykroyd
- Daily Mail Online: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2521032/Dan-Aykroyd-I-Aspergers--symptoms-included-obsessed-ghosts.html
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