Vodka-making Dan Aykroyd’s booze ‘luck’: ‘I can consume alcohol moderately and I don’t abuse it!’
After being left devastated by his best pal John Belushi’s drug overdose death, Dan Aykroyd says he considers himself “lucky” he doesn’t “abuse” alcohol.
Dan Aykroyd says he’s “lucky” he doesn’t “abuse” alcohol.
‘The Blues Brothers’ actor, 71, is a co-founder of the Crystal Head vodka brand, which comes in skull-shaped bottles, but warned boozing should be done in moderation.
Dan – who lost his best friend and ‘The Blues Brothers’ co-star John Belushi to a drugs overdose in 1982 aged 33 after years of drink and drugs abuse – told the Daily Mail: “I’m lucky, I can consume alcohol moderately and I don’t abuse it – the simile I use is, just because you have a Ducati motorcycle that goes 250mph it doesn’t mean you take it on the highway and do that.”
He added he loves tame drinking sessions with his 72-year-old ‘Ghostbusters’ co-star Bill Murray.
He said: “One of my favourite nights is with Bill Murray. On a Friday, just before everyone heads home from a set, he invites people to his trailer where he has a full bar and he makes everyone a cocktail or serves wine.
“Those sessions can go on for two or three hours and then everyone just goes home.”
Dan, who has an estimated £200 million fortune, also runs the House of Blues clubs and part-owns a company that imports tequila to Canada.
He said he recently indulged in his love of moderate drinking while in the UK to film the movie follow-up to ‘Ghostbusters’ sequel ‘Afterlife’.
Dan added: “I went to Yorkshire… that’s where my people come from, with Tabitha Aykroyd, the Brontës’ housekeeper, being a forebear of mine.
“I love it here. Particularly the pubs. Whenever I can I go to a country pub and have steak and kidney pie or a shepherd’s pie with a nice half pint.”
But he said about watching his diet as he ages: “I know I’m getting older. I drive slower now. I don’t push the late nights.
“I watch the consumption of things I love, sweets and alcohol. Mostly I’m grateful – for the people I’ve worked with, the people who have supported me. “I’m in a good, happy place. I could drop more weight, but I keep dancing because it’s such a big part of extending life.”
