Peter Aykroyd, a former comedian and writer on “Saturday Night Live” and brother of Dan Aykroyd, has died, the sketch comedy show announced. He was 66.
Like his older brother, Peter Aykroyd got his start in show business as a member of the famed Second City comedy troupe in Toronto. He joined “SNL” for one season in 1980 – the year after Dan Aykroyd left the show – as a cast member and writer, where he was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding writing in a variety or music program.
“SNL” paid tribute to Aykroyd during Saturday’s show, hosted by Simu Liu, star of Marvel’s “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”
A title card during the episode read “Peter Aykroyd 1955 – 2021.” The show’s Twitter account shared a 1979 short film starring Aykroyd, “Java Junkie,” in which the actor tries to swill away his sorrows with coffee.
USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for the show and the Aykroyd family for comment.
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Peter and Dan Aykroyd’s professional lives would continue to cross over. In the early ’90s, the two co-wrote the 1991 comedy horror film “Nothing But Trouble,” which starred Chevy Chase, John Candy, Demi Moore and the elder Aykroyd – who would later be awarded a Razzie for his performance. Peter Aykroyd also co-created Canadian sci-fi drama series “PSI Factor,” which Dan Aykroyd hosted.
Peter Aykroyd even stepped in for his brother to voice Elwood Blues for the 1997 animated TV series spinoff of “The Blues Brothers,” which originally starred Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Belushi, who died in 1982, was replaced in the series by his brother, Jim Belushi.
He also appeared in Aykroyd films including “Dragnet” and “Coneheads.”
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Speaking recently to USA TODAY, Dan Aykroyd weighed the future of his own acting career and legacy in the “Ghostbusters” franchise.
“I think Bill and I should be killed in the next one. Or, maybe we wait,” he said. “Why not use the living Ghostbusters – Ernie (Hudson), Billy (Murray) and myself – for four, five, and six? Go until we’re gone. Then there will be time for the tributes. Death is going to take us soon enough.”
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