MY LIFE IN 10 Pictures

"I don't need fame anymore. People are less interested in me...I'm happy my day is done."

- Dan Aykroyd

BORN AND RAISED in Ottawa, Canada, Daniel Edward Aykroyd "had mild Asperger's syndrome and a minor touch of Tourette's growing up, which meant that I talked to myself a lot. It could have been a source of ridicule, but I felt it helped me creatively. Whenever I heard a voice in my head, I would think, 'That could be a character that I could do." And, no matter if they were Conehead, Blues Brother or Ghostbuster, he showed he could do that and more. Now Dan, who turns 70 on July 1, seems content on doing other things whether it's running the House of Blues or being a father to his three daughters. Yet his purpose is clear. "I think I'm embracing a philosophy that my father tried to ingrain in us all and that's that some of us are put on this planet to make people feel good."

1 1975 NIGHT SWEAT Before realizing the cast was "onto something great," Dan admitted SNL's debut was a touch-and-go proposition. "I was thinking I'll go out here now and this is it. If this fails, if this doesn't work and I blow it, then I might as well just go home and buy the snow plow and get into that business."

2 1980 BLUE NOTE After starring in The Blues Brothers, Dan's best friend, and SNL pal John Belushi died from a drug overdose. "He said he was heading for an early grave. He was always alluding to that. But that's no reason why we should have accepted it," shared Dan. "I regret I wasn't stronger, and in a way I do feel a little bit of guilt for letting him slip through my fingers."