Ryan Reynolds and Colin Hanks have plans to shine some light on one of comedy’s greatest stars. John Candy is probably one of the most recognizable comedians of all time. Unfortunately, not all that much is known about his private life. He’s definitely included among the ranks of 20th century comedy legends who were gone too soon, like Chris Farley or John Belushi.
John Candy began his career with a number of friends who were active at Second City Toronto, which eventually created their own television program, called SCTV. Among the cast for the show were other comedy legends who had yet to enter the prime of their careers. The original cast included the likes of John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Harold Ramis, and Dave Thomas. Martin Short and Rick Moranis would join later on. This show was almost a kind of prototype for SNL, and many cast members would eventually make the switch.
Unfortunately, after a huge career and tons of memorable roles, Candy passed away of a heart attack at the age of 43. He was part of some of the best classic comedies, from Spaceballs to Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. During this run, he also met Tom Hanks when he co-starred as Hanks’ brother in Splash. This must have made quite the impression on a young Colin Hanks.
Colin Hanks got the support of Candy’s widow to use never-before-seen home videos to create a documentary about his life. Hanks has quietly been working on the project for a long time, but he’s just recently managed to sell the distribution rights to Amazon. Ryan Reynolds is joining the project as producer, something he’s been doing more and more of lately. Of course, it only makes sense that one of the most prevalent comedians of our time would want to pay tribute to one of the greats.