John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known for being one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL). Throughout his career, Belushi had a personal and artistic partnership with his fellow SNL star Dan Aykroyd, whom he met while they were both working at Chicago's Second City comedy club.
National Lampoon was an American humor magazine that ran from 1970 to 1998. The magazine started out as a spinoff from the Harvard Lampoon. National Lampoon magazine reached its height of popularity and critical acclaim during the 1970s, when it had a far-reaching effect on American humor and comedy. The magazine spawned films, radio, live theater, various sound recordings, and print products including books. Many members of the creative staff from the magazine subsequently went on to contribute creatively to successful media of all types.
National Lampoon's Animal House is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller. It stars John Belushi, Peter Riegert, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Thomas Hulce, Stephen Furst, and Donald Sutherland. The film is about a trouble-making fraternity whose members challenge the authority of the dean of the fictional Faber College.
John Wilden Hughes Jr. was an American filmmaker. Hughes began his career in 1970 as an author of humorous essays and stories for the National Lampoon magazine. He went on to Hollywood to write, produce and sometimes direct some of the most successful live-action comedy films of the 1980s and 1990s such as National Lampoon's Vacation; Mr. Mom; Sixteen Candles; Weird Science; The Breakfast Club; Ferris Bueller's Day Off; Pretty in Pink; Some Kind of Wonderful; Planes, Trains and Automobiles; She's Having a Baby; Uncle Buck; Home Alone; Dutch; Beethoven ; Dennis the Menace; and Baby's Day Out.
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of Saturday Night Live, where his recurring Weekend Update segment became a staple of the show. As both a performer and a writer, he earned three Primetime Emmy Awards out of five nominations and two Golden Globe Award nominations.
Stephen Furst was an American actor, director and producer. After gaining attention with his featured role as Kent "Flounder" Dorfman in the comedy film National Lampoon's Animal House and its spin-off television series Delta House, he went on to be a regular as Dr. Elliot Axelrod in the medical drama series St. Elsewhere from 1983 to 1988, and as Centauri diplomatic attaché Vir Cotto in the science fiction series Babylon 5 from 1994 to 1998. Other notable film roles included the college comedy Midnight Madness (1980), as a team leader in an all-night mystery game, the action thriller Silent Rage (1982), as deputy to a sheriff played by Chuck Norris, and the comedy The Dream Team (1989), as a good-natured psychiatric patient.
Michael O'Donoghue was an American writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to National Lampoon magazine, and was the first head writer of Saturday Night Live. He was also the first performer to utter a line on that series.
Salvatore "Robert" Loggia was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Jagged Edge (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for Big (1988).
John David Landis is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), The Blues Brothers (1980), An American Werewolf in London (1981), Trading Places (1983), Three Amigos (1986), Coming to America (1988) and Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), for directing Michael Jackson's music videos for "Thriller" (1983) and "Black or White" (1991).
Rodger Bumpass is an American actor. He is known for his long-running role as Squidward Tentacles on the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. He voices several other characters on the show as well, including the purple doctor fish and various anchovies.
Anne Beatts was an American comedy writer.
Hyman JackAverback was an American radio, television, and film actor who eventually became a producer and director.
Class Reunion is a 1982 American black comedy film produced by National Lampoon as the third film from the magazine. It was the second film released; although National Lampoon Goes To The Movies was filmed in 1981, it was delayed and not released until 1982.
National Lampoon's Movie Madness is a 1982 American comedy film produced by National Lampoon as the second film from the magazine. The film was originally produced under the title National Lampoon Goes to the Movies; completed in 1981, the film was not released until 1982, and was reedited and retitled as Movie Madness.
National Lampoon, Inc. is a company formed in 2002 in order to use the brand name "National Lampoon" in comedy and entertainment following the tradition of its magazine predecessor, The National Lampoon. In the words of its prospectus, the role of the company was to "develop, produce, provide creative services and distribute National Lampoon branded comedic content through a broad range of media platforms." Since 2002, the company overhauled its corporate infrastructure several times.
National Lampoon's Pucked is a 2006 comedy movie starring Jon Bon Jovi in the main role. This is the last film directed by Arthur Hiller before his death in 2016.
National Lampoon's Vacation film series is a comedy film series initially based on John Hughes' short story "Vacation '58" that was originally published by National Lampoon magazine. The series is distributed by Warner Bros. and consists of five main films, two of which are not sponsored by National Lampoon, and one spin-off. In recent years, the series has been the inspiration for various advertising campaigns featuring some of the original cast members. The series portrays the misadventures of the Griswold family, whose attempts to enjoy vacations and holidays are plagued with continual disasters and strangely embarrassing predicaments.
The Don's Analyst is an American television film that starred Robert Loggia, and premiered on Showtime on September 6, 1997. It predated the very similarly plotted 1999 movie Analyze This.
Bert Kreischer, nicknamed "The Machine", is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, reality television host and actor. In 1997, he was featured in an article in Rolling Stone while attending Florida State University. The magazine named Kreischer "the top partyer at the Number One Party School in the country." The article also served as inspiration for the 2002 film National Lampoon's Van Wilder. Kreischer has served as host of the television series Hurt Bert on FX as well as Bert the Conqueror and Trip Flip on Travel Channel. He is slated to appear in The Machine, a comedy film based on his life.
