John Belushi allegedly snorted coke with Robert De Niro and Robin Williams on the night of his death
John Belushi’s career was defined by his work as one of the seven original cast members of Saturday Night Live and by his writing partnership with co-SNL star Dan Ackroyd, with whom he founded the iconic Blues Brothers. However, while Belushi’s comedy career was widely championed, his drug abuse had on occasion threatened to derail it, and he had been fired from SNL for his erratic and illicit behaviour and subsequently rehired when it became evident that they needed his genius.
Sadly, though, it was drugs that brought about the tragic and untimely end of Belushi’s life. On March 5th, 1982, he died at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles following a drug overdose. He was just 33 years old. The details of Belushi’s death are examined in a book by Shawn Levy entitled The Castle on Sunset. Allegedly, the last people to see Belushi alive were two of the most famous actors of all time: Robert De Niro and Robin Williams. It is claimed that the pair had visited Belushi’s bungalow to take cocaine with their friend, not knowing that the call of death was just on the doorstep.
Belushi had checked into the Chateau Marmont a few weeks before his passing as his mental and physical state were in bad decline. His recent films, Neighbours and Continental Divide, had been received poorly and performed even worse. The comedian had turned to drugs in order to hide from his problems, and when De Niro turned up at Belushi’s bungalow one night, he found the place in disarray. The living room was a complete mess, with old pizza boxes, empty bottles of wine and dirty clothing scattered around.
It is said that De Niro had tried to convince Belushi to come out with him, but Belushi told him to come to his hotel room after the club shut for the night. On the way, it is claimed that De Niro bumped into Robin Williams, who accompanied De Niro to the room at the Marmont. In Levy’s book, he writes: “Williams did, and like De Niro, was creeped out by the scene, leaving after a few words and a little coke. After he left, De Niro, too, stopped in at the bungalow, entering through the sliding glass patio door. He had a few words and a few lines and then took some of the cocaine that was piled on the living room table and went back to his suite. It was sometime past 3am.”
Tragically, that was the last time the acting pair saw Belushi alive. The following morning, he was found unconscious in his hotel room. De Niro tried to call Belushi when rumours began to spread, but it was too late. In the end, Belushi’s cause of death was a speedball overdose, so evidently, he had taken things even further following Williams and De Niro’s departure. He has been sorely missed ever since.
