Entertainment
Actor, producer Judy Belushi-Pisano, widow of comedic legend John Belushi, dead at 73: ‘No one like her’
Judy Belushi-Pisano, an actor, producer and the widow of legendary funnyman John Belushi, has died at age 73, according to family members.
Her death was announced Saturday on Belushi’s social media pages.
“There was no one like her,” the Pisano and Belushi families said in a statement. “Judy made everyone feel loved. She was nonjudgmental, light, funny and pure. You could be truly yourself around her, that alone was a gift.”
Belushi-Pisano was born on Jan. 7, 1951, in Wheaton, Ill., where she met John Belushi while attending the same high school.
In 1973, she and John moved to New York to work for National Lampoon, according to IMBD. She began as an art assistant but later became an associate producer for “The National Lampoon Radio Hour.”
They married in 1976, according to CBS.
She endured the worst of her husband’s drug addiction struggles through his “Saturday Night Live” career before he died of an overdose in 1982 at the age of 36.
She worked on some of Belushi’s iconic comedies like “The Blues Brothers” and “National Lampoon’s Animal House” — where she made uncredited appearances —and spent much of her later life devoted to her late husband’s legacy.
She was involved in making the 2020 Showtime documentary “John Belushi” about his life and also authored his biography.
“As we bid farewell, we pledge to continue her work, ensuring that John’s legacy, and the Blues Brothers will never fade,” the Pisano and Belushi families said on Saturday.
Belushi Pisano later married film producer Victor Pisano in 1990. They divorced in 2010. She is survived by her children and grandchildren, People reported.