# Why did John Candy die so young? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2004, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255 "2004-11-23T10:02:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/1 "2004-11-23T10:02:53Z")
I was reading up on IMDB, and I saw that John Candy was only 44 when he died of a heart attack. I know that celebrities have access to personal physicians and extraordinary health care, so it seems that he died at a very young age. I know he was overweight - but look at John Goodman! That guy’s looked like a walking heart attack for years, and he’s already ten yeras older than Candy was when he died. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/2 "2004-11-23T10:11:08Z")
I don’t know if Candy had more of a genetic presdisposition for heart disease, but I seem to remember that he smoked, for one thing. I don’t know of any history with drugs, though I wouldn’t doubt it (I became cynical about it all when John Belushi died, and Joan Rivers wouldn’t). About all I remember from the actual event was that he was in Mexico(?), filimg _Wagon’s East_, which falls FAR short as a tribute to his abilities. Try _Uncle Buck_, which was always my favorite of his films. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/3 "2004-11-23T10:31:05Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > About all I remember from the actual event was that he was in Mexico(?), filimg _Wagon’s East_, which falls FAR short as a tribute to his abilities. Yes, far better we should use his second-to-last film (_Canadian Bacon_) as a guide. His imdb bio says Candy’s father died of a heart attack at age 35, which certainly suggests a genetic predisposition. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/4 "2004-11-23T13:27:59Z")
There’s not always a “why” to these things. Shit happens. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/5 "2004-11-23T13:37:44Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > There’s not always a “why” to these things. Shit happens. Note to future Admins: This is called common sense. Use it. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/6 "2004-11-23T14:29:12Z")
Basically, he died of too much Candy. Big guy. Unhealthy life style. They’re not joking when they say “eat less and exercise more.” ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/7 "2004-11-23T17:27:25Z")
don’t care why - still makes me sad. what a waste. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/8 "2004-11-23T17:36:02Z")
From an article written at the time of his death, his father died of a heart attack at 35 (as mentioned above), his grandfather at 42, and several of his uncles and other male relatives in or before their forties of heart related problems. (As somebody who is overweight _and_ a smoker I still have to say he was a fool to add smoking and unhealthy diet to his already considerable risks.) Something not commonly known about Candy: he was a financial genius of sorts who was an excellent steward of his considerable income. While he never had a Tom Cruise/Jim Carrey like payday, he left an estate worth well over $25 million due to investments in Canadian real estate, computer stocks, etc. He was also supposedly one of the nicest guys in Hollywood, which just extends the pity of his early death. Fat actors who evidently had no genetic disposition to severe heart disease: Brando (who was rarely under 300 lbs for most of the last 20 years, had an incredibly stressful personal life, smoked and used recreational drugs and still lived to be 80), tea merchant turned _Casablanca_ star Sydney Greenstreet who made it to 75 long before modern diabetes treatment would have extended his life, and [this fellow](http://www.askin.at/english.htm) who looked like a walking coronary as General Burkhalter on _Hogan’s Heroes_ 35 years ago and is still alive and acting (and a relative newlywed) at 97. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/9 "2004-11-23T17:36:18Z")
I remember seeing him on a talk show in the mid-80s. He’d just lost a lot of weight, said he was feeling great, and IIRC said he was going to stay trimmed down even if it meant losing a lot of money not getting fat guy parts. By the time he died, if looked like he’d gained back every pound, and then some. A very common occurrence, of course, but it still makes me sad. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/10 "2004-11-23T18:59:12Z")
As a fitting sidenote – one of the best John Candy movies, _Planes, Trains, and Automobiles_, is being released on DVD this week. “Those aren’t pillows!!” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/11 "2004-11-23T19:32:26Z")
I’m just guessing, but I figure the chances are good that Candy had a significant lipid disorder, especially given his family history. I’ve seen plenty of people who are not obese, eat relatively healthily, exercise regularly, and still have LDL cholesterol levels up at and over 200, with HDL levels under 25. It’s a condition that primes people for coronary artery disease at a young age, and it’s just the way their body deals with cholesterol. Now take that picture, add a bad diet and obesity and smoking to it, and the risks double or triple. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/12 "2004-11-23T20:11:53Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > I’m just guessing, but I figure the chances are good that Candy had a significant lipid disorder, especially given his family history. I’ve seen plenty of people who are not obese, eat relatively healthily, exercise regularly, and still have LDL cholesterol levels up at and over 200, with HDL levels under 25. It’s a condition that primes people for coronary artery disease at a young age, and it’s just the way their body deals with cholesterol. > > Now take that picture, add a bad diet and obesity and smoking to it, and the risks double or triple. makes note to keep taking zocor ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/13 "2004-11-23T21:07:34Z")
According to Joe Queenan, big fat guys who have been in movies with Dan Ackroyd have a habit of this earthly grossness quitting too soon: John Belushi, John Candy, Chris Farley - he’s like the Typhoid Mary of bad comedy. If I were John Goodman, I’d be seeing the quack. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/14 "2004-11-23T21:30:38Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > I’ve seen plenty of people who are not obese, eat relatively healthily, exercise regularly, and still have LDL cholesterol levels up at and over 200, with HDL levels under 25. It’s a condition that primes people for coronary artery disease at a young age, and it’s just the way their body deals with cholesterol. My friends father died of a _massive_ coronary at the age of 56 – he outlived all the other men in his family. No matter how healthy the lifestyle, the men in his family tree all tended to die of heart disease in their 40s, so he had pretty much put himself under a doctor’s watchful eye in his 30s. Non-smoker, ate very carefully, active lifestyle and doctor-designed fitness program. It probably gave him an extra ten years, but 56 is still pretty young. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/15 "2004-11-23T22:20:18Z")
Nothing really to add, but I just looked Candy up on IMDB. My God, has it really been over **10** years since he died? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/16 "2004-11-23T22:51:59Z")
I have nothing to add as to the “why”, but I would say that one of his best all time performances is in the (very hard to find) made for cable show… [The Last Polka](http://imdb.com/title/tt0087596/). It’s a parody of **The Last Waltz** featuring the fabulous Shmenge Brothers. ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/17 "2004-11-24T00:12:03Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > As a fitting sidenote – one of the best John Candy movies, _Planes, Trains, and Automobiles_, is being released on DVD this week. “Those aren’t pillows!!” How 'bout them bears? ---
**Author:** ![sjankis630](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@sjankis630](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjankis630)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/18 "2016-06-22T17:14:31Z")
Posting to answer the original posters question all these years later. It is known that Mr Candy had family history of heart attack and he also smoked and was overweight. What I read in Joe Eszterhas’ biography back in the day was just how much John drank and smoked. Joe Eszterhas was for a time a seriously popular script writer and known drinker and drug taker but he met his match with John Candy in this paraphrase from his book (page 628) - “Hollywood Animal” detailing his meeting with John Candy when John Candy was negotiating the possibility of filming a script Eszterhas had written. Essentially Eszterhas was going by John Candy’s office and was surprised when he found out that John’s office was an actual bar with tables, jukebox, barstools etc and John was conducting the meeting behind the bar the entire time. Again Eszterhas was always bragging how messed up he was getting in Hollywood but he bowed down to the king on that day. Candy chain-smoked the entire time - a cigarette was never out of his hands and at one time had 2 going and was smoking both at the same time. Eszterhas had 5 beers while at Candy’s “office” at the same time Candy drank 13 rum and cokes! Later that night they went out to dinner and Candy had 8 ore rum and cokes! Another friend of Candy’s remembered doing publicity in Monte Carlo with Candy and when Candy didn’t return to LA the next day as planned the friend eventually caught up with him via phone - still in Monte Carlo - still partying. John Candy was a lovely man - said by everyone who ever met him - but it would appear he may have had some demons that he was trying to quell as well. He is missed. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/19 "2016-06-22T17:23:07Z")
> [@jk1245](#): > > My God, has it really been over **10** years since he died? Ayup. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255/20 "2016-06-22T17:26:30Z")
I wonder if, given his family history, he just assumed that he was going to die young anyway so he might as well party and live it up while he could. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-john-candy-die-so-young/276255.md?page=2)