When Dan Aykroyd was haunted by the ghost of Mama Cass: “I had several experiences”
Thanks to his status as the creator, co-writer, and star of Ghostbusters, Dan Aykroyd will always be associated with the supernatural. However, even if Ray Stantz never existed, the actor and comedian would still be obsessed with the idea of the afterlife.
It’s literally in his blood; Aykroyd’s is merely the latest in a multi-generational family who’ve dedicated themselves to things that go bump in the night. His mother claimed that she had several paranormal experiences, his grandfather attempted to use radio waves to contact the dead, and his great-grandfather was a spiritualist and mystic, so he’d be the black sheep if he didn’t believe.
Fortunately, to maintain the Aykroyd clan’s reputation, he does. Not just in ghosts, either; He’s the official Hollywood liaison and consultant for the Mutual UFO Network, an organisation comprised of “scientists from all kinds of disciplines that have formed this group to analyse what is real and what is a hoax,” according to the former Saturday Night Live star.
To paraphrase the Ghostbusters’ famous motto, he ain’t afraid of no ghosts. Whether or not you believe in them is irrelevant, because Aykroyd is all-in, which is why he’s adamant that he was haunted by the ghost of Mama Cass, the Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee who died from a heart attack in July 1974 at the age of only 32.
He wasn’t plucking a famous name out of thin air, though, with Akyroyd formerly owning a home that used to belong to her. “This was Mama Cass’ house,” he told The Guardian. “Jimi Hendrix stayed there, as did John Lennon and Ringo Starr; Harry Nilsson owned it for a while. We bought that house in the ’80s and lived there for many years.” Even after being haunted, he refused to budge.
How did he know it was Mama Cass? That’s where things stretch the limits of credulity, even when it comes to spiritual entities refusing to leave the mortal realm behind. “I’m sure it’s Mama Cass. You get the feeling it’s a big ghost,” he unhelpfully explained. “I had several experiences. I saw things moving around on our counter, doors opening and closing.”
Aykroyd’s claims were even corroborated by a secondary source, albeit “my friend Gary,” which is hardly scientifically definitive, and not even his housekeeper was immune: “She felt touches on the shoulder. I remember vividly one night when [ex-wife] Donna had some jewellery sitting there, and the bracelets started to do this little whirlwind. Now, maybe that’s the energy between us, who knows? But it might have been Mama Cass.”
If that still wasn’t bizarre enough, when Aykroyd moved out of the abode and rented it out to other members of the rich and famous subset, one of them confirmed that the house was indeed home to Mama Cass’ spirit. Who was it? Robbie Williams, obviously, who declared in no uncertain terms that the property is “completely and utterly haunted” by the Mamas & the Papas member. Who knows, if enough people say the same thing, maybe there’s a shred of truth to it…
