When John Belushi first walked onto the set of “National Lampoon’s Animal House.” Tim Matheson One was expecting a “huge ripe prima donna”.
“A lot of people thought, ‘He’s going to be like he was on ‘Saturday Night Live’ – that big, sassy, outrageous character,” Matheson told Fox News Digital.
He shared, “People also thought he would be satisfied with himself, because ‘Saturday Night Live’ was the hottest new show on television at the time and it was a huge hit.” “And he was their biggest star… but he and his wife Judy couldn’t have been kinder, more down to earth.”
“He wasn’t trying to be funny or upset anyone,” the actor recalled. “He really listened. He respected everyone… and his behavior was like that throughout the shooting. He supported me a lot.”
Matheson, who played Eric “Otter” Stratton in the 1978 comedy, has written a new memoir, “Dame Glad to Meet You: My Seven Decades in the Hollywood Trenches.” In it, the 76-year-old details his friendship with Belushi, who died of a drug overdose in 1982 at the age of 33.
“‘Animal House’ was my first comedy,” Matheson shared. “I was terrified. I was very scared and he was very kind. He never looked at anyone with contempt. He hugged his team. He was always very kind and supportive towards me. They told me if they liked the way I did something. I needed this.”
In his book, Matheson was adamant that Belushi was not using drugs during filming.
He wrote, “For the record, Belushi was clean on set during ‘Animal House’.” “If he did anything, it was away from the rest of us, and he never gave any indication that he was up to anything.”
Matheson said, “(Director John) Landis warned Belushi to be on his best behavior and make sure it was a drug-free set.”
Nevertheless, Matheson told Fox News Digital that when the cameras were off, Belushi was “running on edge the whole time.”
“‘Animal House’ was a huge hit,” Matheson said. “I had to go to Chicago for a weekend to promote the film… John showed me around Chicago. I had never seen Chicago. He was Chicago’s favorite son. He was Chicago’s biggest star at that time.
“But I remember, the next morning, after our first Friday night, John didn’t open the door,” he recalled. “When they called him to come to the car, he never opened the door. They had to pry the door open, take the door off its hinges. John had passed out in his bed due to partying till 4:30 in the morning.
“And then when I went to visit him in New York, there was this big party after ‘Saturday Night Live.’ It was television meets rock ‘n’ roll. As TV actors, we weren’t associated with drugs because it would ruin your job. There was no help and you worked very hard.
“…But on SNL, it wasn’t as harsh,” he added. “I think he was always messing around with drugs. It helps that it’s at the peak of (the show) and the party continues afterward…that’s what I noticed about it.
“At the time, they had the record for highest sales in America. He was in the number one movie in America and the number one television show in America. Everyone thought that John partied all the time. So everyone wanted to party with John. He couldn’t escape it.”
In his book, Matheson wrote that Belushi “did not pray.” He said that the comic featured “two giant bodyguards whose primary job was to stop people from giving them drugs.”
Matheson told Fox News Digital that he still remembers the last time he saw his friend.
“This was between 1980-1981,” he said. “I just remember seeing him and Dan Aykroyd having fun. That was a more serious moment – a serious moment, too. At that time, John was excited about directing his career and trying to take on different characters and roles, not just the same old ones.”
On March 5, 1982, Belushi shot a “speedball” made from a mixture of coke and heroin. He was found dead at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. Matheson wrote that he was “full of sorrow but not surprised.”
“I know a lot of people whose lives have been ruined by drugs,” Matheson told Fox News Digital. “…I know some actors who did not achieve the heights in their career that they expected or thought they would and it affected them. And drugs, I think, were a kind of escape from that kind of despair.
“And how stupid we were because, when ‘Animal House’ came out, we thought, ‘Cocaine isn’t really bad for you. It doesn’t affect your heart at all.’ But oh God, it made me and us wise till our death.”
“Suddenly, our friends are passing,” he reflected. “It was like, ‘Wait a minute – that’s a little too young – 33 is too young.’
Matheson experienced déjà vu in 1996. At the time, he was filming “Black Sheep” with Chris Farley, who looked up to Belushi. He wrote that it was like seeing his friend again.
Matheson said, “I was lucky when we did ‘Black Sheep’ that Chris was sober.”
“But he was very helpless. He drank 30 iced coffees a day and smoked one cigarette after another.
“He was always doing something to excite himself. I could see where his addiction came from, and I thought, ‘It can’t be a good thing if you’re playing with drugs and alcohol.'”
Matheson said that when he last saw Farley at the premiere of “Beverly Hills Ninja” a year later, the comic was “a little worse for wear.”
“I just hugged him,” Matheson said. “I told her I love her, and I just want her to be healthy and stay with us. it was a shame.”
Like his idol, Farley died of a drug overdose in 1997 at the age of 33.
Matheson said he was grateful to have survived Hollywood and its temptations. Many of his friends did not do this.
“I’m very fortunate,” Matheson said. “I was fortunate that I started acting at such a young age. I got a chance to work with people about whom today’s generation does not even know. I learned about their training, and what difficulties they had to go through in performing. He stayed with me.”
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