Support Each Other

I have learnt so many lessons from John, but one that springs to mind at the moment is to support each other. Being part of SCTV was probably one of the happiest times for John, in fact I think most of the SCTV actors, crew, writers would probably say the same. It was one of the most supportive and creative times for them all and I feel at a time when they really needed each other. Confidence, love, laughter, a safe space and people to bounce off. They were kind of making the show for themselves and then of course others found it funny and it went from there.

A lot of people question if there was something in the water back then with comedic greats coming out of Canada including John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis, Joe Flaherty et al. However in Martin Short's latest book I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend, Short attributes it to the fact they all helped each other - if one of them got an opportunity they tried to create one for the others.

When I interviewed Rob Salem for the book, he told me how John didn't just break America but also boundaries for his fellow Canadian actors. Before John, to go from Canada to America was not a favorable thing to do with the Canadian press, who in the main could be quite scathing of anyone who crossed over to the Hollywood dark side. However, people could not help but love John (probably because he never forgot his roots and gave so much back to Canada) and he really paved the way for other actors to follow suit.

I have heard a lot of stories of John trying to help fellow actors, aspiring actors, people that he liked in general by giving them opportunities, advice, recommendations and if possible, jobs.

I remember back in my Uni years one of my old lecturers Phil Saxe telling us that as one became successful in your group (of friends, colleagues, coworkers etc) as a rule others would rise up with them. So the key isn't just to look after yourself but to look after those around you, luckily this isn't only the most productive way but also the nicest too (the main thing is you all have to be on the same page, everyone must want each other to succeed).

I'm so very lucky that whilst writing about John I have found some of these creative supportive people myself, so every now and then in the blog I will be highlighting them.

The book is not far off  (I have one more surgery to go so I may hold release till after then) and I am lacking in a little confidence so thank god for my very own John Candy's surrounding me at the moment.

Support each other, lots of love to you all and thanks so much for your patience. 

Trace xx

Welcome to 2016!

So we survived 2015, well done us. I know we had our ups and downs but when all is said and done, we made it.

Every year I write this post and every year I say hopefully the book will be out, blah blah blah... well this is the year the book will be out (I promise) and I am excited and terrified in equal measure.

This year I stayed in touch with lots of the people I have interviewed for the book as well as doing some last minute interviews. Everyone I have spoken to has been a boon, just a joy, but never did I think I would actually get to interview Big Bird himself (you don't get bigger than Big Bird). The wonderful Carroll Spinney who has played Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch from day dot, chatted to me about the sketch he did with John on Sesame Street where John (playing Yosh Schmenge) delivers clarinet lessons to Oscar's pet worm Watch it here. A documentary also came out last year about Carroll called I am Big Bird and it is just a fascinating and heartwarming watch that I highly recommend.

I was also interviewed by Edinburgh 49, the wonderful guys from Popcorn With Candy and had a few things published on Huff Post.

Thank you so much to everyone who pre-ordered a book in 2015, to those who gave me a few words of support (I needed every single one of them), shared a post or was just generally nice. In 2015 I also experienced just how nasty some people could be, I guess if you put yourself out in the public domain not everyone is going to be kind - so one of my resolutions this year is to toughen up!

The other, as every year, is to be more like John Candy. Live life, work hard, love your friends and family with every thing you have, be kind, think of others and laugh, a lot.

Whatever is ahead for us in 2016 it is a new chapter and as long as we are still standing at the end of it, well we did OK.

Lots of love to you all, let's do this

Tracey x

It's just not Christmas without Candy

I love this time of year, I love Christmas and the feeling it brings. I used to work twelve hour shifts alone on Christmas Day and it would surprise me every year how I could feel Christmas in the air, it was palpable, even though I was on my own. There is a universal goodwill that effects everything. It's like the scene in Ghostbusters 2 where everyone is singing 'Higher and Higher' after the Ghostbusters have goo'ed the Statue of Liberty to combat negativity, it's contagious.

I am aware that Christmas isn't always like this for everyone and if that is you please know that you aren't alone, this too shall pass and things can change in a blink. Keep hope, don't give up (I have had a few like that myself too).

But ultimately for me, Christmas isn't Christmas without some re runs of John Candy films. Just this week all over social media people have been commenting about Home Alone, Uncle Buck, Planes Trains and Automobiles, Cool Runnings, all the classics. People really miss John and marvel (especially at this time of year) just how awesome he is.

There have been some amusing theories recently about John Candy's character in Home Alone, Gus Polinski (Polka King of the Midwest), actually being the devil. When Catherine O'Hara's character, Kate, says to the airport clerk at Scranton Airport (right by the crossroads - a popular place to summon Satan) that she would literally sell her soul to the devil to get home - Gus intervenes to offer her help. He also mentions in the van/clarinet scene how he once left a child in a funeral parlor. Plus he plays the clarinet - a woodwind instrument (woodwind being favored by the devil). This is backed up with thoughts of Del Griffith also being the devil trying to make Neil Paige late home for Thanksgiving in PTA - in the scene where Del is driving the wrong way and they have a near miss with two lorries, he literally turns into the devil for a few seconds.

By the way my head had to think about these theories but my heart still says no.  Although I think both Candy and Hughes would be amused that their work is still being talked about today (and they would probably give some ambiguous comment to keep it fun), in my eyes John Candy was nothing but an angel, a sweet funny one at that.

Watching Uncle Buck is a must for me every year, OK it isn't a Christmas film, but to me it represents everything Christmas is about. Love, fun, family and cooking up garbage. I get goosebumps from the title music alone and by the end I am always in tears. It should be compulsory for everyone to have their very own Uncle Buck.

So make sure (if you haven't yet already) that you tell someone you love them, look out for each other, help someone who needs it and watch a Candy movie.

If you need some last minute help with Christmas prep check out SCTV's Pre-Teen World Christmas Special Pre-Teen World Christmas

Thanks for all your support as always and a Merry Schmenge Christmas to you all!

See you on the other side,

Lots of love
Tracey xx

PS During the holidays do yourself a favor and make sure you have a listen to Popcorn With Candy. It's a great podcast from Octopus/Caveman and Peter, who are going through the films of John Candy one at a time

Thanksgiving, Popcorn and a little bit of Patience

So I haven't blogged for a few weeks and I thought I better fill you in on what has been going on...

Firstly a belated Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate in the US, I hope you had a wonderful time and I am pretty sure most of you watched the wonderful Planes, Trains and Automobiles, which has become a huge tradition for so many at this time of year. I recently got to read the original script for PTA and I learnt why Dell has a black eye in the scene after they get pulled over by the State Trooper. In the original script the duo actually get arrested too, on leaving the station Neil proclaims that at least the car is the rental company's problem, Del then has to confess that he was trying to save Neil money and didn't take out any insurance, hence Del getting slugged by Neil. 

Myself, well I'm thankful for a lot of things, for John, for you guys reading my blog, for the people who have taken time to help me and for the friends I have made along the way. 

Two new friends include these amazing brothers, Octopus/Caveman and Peter, who have recently started a podcast called Popcorn With Candy. They are going through the films of John Candy in chronological order and it's a great listen. So far they have covered Class of '44, It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, Tunnelvision, The Clown Murders and have just put up an interview they did with me. Please go and support them, they are funny, entertaining and big John Candy fans, follow this link Popcorn With Candy. My apologies to them both as I was nervous as hell and got total verbal diarrhea - the last thing I want to be remembered as is an annoying Blabbermouth! I'm not that used to being interviewed but they put me right at ease and I even gave away some of the stories in the book. They have since had me back on for their episode about The Silent Partner which should be up soon. 

Well today is the day the book was originally due to come out and if you didn't know already it has been put back a couple of months. I could have rushed but it wouldn't have done it justice. I am also due for surgery any day now so I thought I would wait in case I was releasing the book whilst also being cut open (it would have made things pretty hard). I hope you guys don't mind and I'm so sorry it will take a little longer, patience is not a virtue I have but I am trying to work on that. In a way I think it will work out for the best, some interviews are still coming in. My good friend Joe Shooman (biographer/writer extraordinaire - check out his work Joe Shoo), has advised me that the book will never really be finished, it is a living entity in its own right - there will always be new information, new people to interview, so another couple of months it will be with us and then I have no doubts a second edition will be due over the years to come. 

Well I hope you are all really well, I would love to hear what you have been up to! 

Much love and thanks for all the support

Tracey xx

PS Chris, John's son, is one of the leads in Bar America, an independent film that has just been released on Amazon. It will make you laugh and cry and is a must watch, especially for all the creative types doing it for themselves. Chris is wonderful in it, occasionally he will do something on screen and you will see John in front of you, however Chris also stands up in his own right as a brilliant actor. More on this soon xx 

Watch Bar America

Happy 65th Birthday John

John, today you should be 65, instead you are 43 forever. Happy Birthday, I wish you could see how your fans have swamped the internet with memories of you, you would be so proud.

Wherever you are thank you, you have helped me more than you will ever know.

I wrote something for Huffpost that can be read here Happy Birthday John, We Miss You x

Much love to you and all those that miss you, peace be the journey

Tracey xx

R.I.P Maureen O'Hara

I never got to interview Maureen O'Hara, she gracefully declined through her manager John Nicoletti. Maureen felt she had made her feelings about John clear in her autobiography, 'Tis Herself, and she was right. 

In every interview, before and after Candy's passing, Maureen oozed nothing but love, respect and admiration for John. Until working on Only the Lonely Maureen had retired from her acting career twenty years previous and was determined she would not go back to it. However Chris Columbus had written the role of Rose Muldoon especially for her. It took a while for Chris to track her down and convince Maureen she should read it, luckily for us she eventually did. She agreed to do the shoot if she met and liked Chris as a Director and John who would be playing her son. It took her only a few minutes of meeting them in Chicago to decide, she loved them both straight away and she turned to John and said "All right, I will be your Mother". 

"The depth of John Candy's talent did surprise me. I didn't expect it to be so great. It didn't take long for me to see that his reservoir of emotion was deep, and that he was not only a comedic genius but an actor with extraordinary dramatic talent. I'm sure that even he didn't fully understand how good he really was. He reminded me a great deal of Charles Laughton." 

The love and respect was mutual, John was thrilled to be working with such a huge Hollywood star and they remained good friends for the rest of John's life. 

I didn't get to speak to Maureen, but I did get to speak to two wonderful Chicago cops who were security on the filming of Only the Lonely. Marie and Patty, who, like Maureen are wonderful strong women, feisty and warm, gave me their time to tell me their story. I am pleased to now call them my friends. Maureen complemented them both, saying it was great to see women in jobs like theirs, she knew they were cops as their guns were always showing. 

Only the Lonely is one of my favourite Candy films and the rapport between him and Maureen was just so sweet and funny. John's friend from school, Jonathan O'Mara (whose Dad coincidentally went to school with Maureen) always tells me that Danny Muldoon was the closest character John ever played to himself, a sweet, shy, considerate man who loved his family. 

Although I am saddened to hear about Maureen passing today, 95 is a wonderful age, she has left a huge legacy and led one hell of a life, may we all live so long and full. 

Thank you Maureen, give the big man a kiss from me, he'll be thrilled to see you x

Things you may, or may not know about John Candy: Part 3

Sorry I promised this a couple of weeks ago! Better late than never eh?

So seeing as Part 1 and 2 went down quite well, I thought I would write a part 3.

1. John was a very loyal friend, if you worked well with him and he liked you, then you had a job for life. Frankie Hernandez who was known as John's driver and personal assistant, helped John early in his career and stayed with him until the end. Other members of Team Candy included; Ben Nye Jr (Make Up Designer), Silvio Scarano (Costumer and Dresser) and later, Robert Crane (PR). Frankie referred to John's team as "The Chango's" which is Spanish for "The Monkey's".

2. Whilst filming Uncle Buck, Jean Louisa Kelly (Tia Russell) turned 17. John brought her gifts and
ordered in a large birthday cake which had "She was just 17, you know what I mean" iced on it.

3. Although we would all love to believe that John's favorite drink would have been an Orange Whip, it was actually a rum and coke.

4. John loved music, according to his agent Catherine McCartney if you didn't leave an event with John before the band started, you didn't leave. John had a fantastic sense of rhythm and was very light on his feet!

5. One of his favorite TV series according to Dave Thomas was Victory at Sea, John would always want to watch a few episodes after a night out. Victory at Sea was a series filmed in the 1950's about the US Navy in World War 2.

6. John had so much integrity and huge love for his wife and kids. In the early days of his career John worked with Walter Olkewicz whilst filming 1941 (in fact he and Walter were in every scene together). During filming there were a lot of beautiful women on set and some of the actors were cheating on their girlfriends and wives. Not John though. Walter told me John had said why would he want a hamburger when he had steak at home? "Rosie was his bride, she would always be his bride". He never wanted anyone else and couldn't understand anyone cheating.

I hope you are all doing really well! The book's release is still on course for the end of November.

Much love to you all and thanks for all the support
Tracey xxx

PS If you missed Part One you can find it here Things you may, or may not know about John Candy
and Part Two here Things you may or may not know about John Candy: Part Two