One Friday in 1979, Keith Richards blew into town and invited
John Belushi to join him at a party. The pair spent most of the night snorting cocaine.
The next morning, Belushi staggered into NBC's studio at Rockefeller Center for a "Saturday Night Live" dress rehearsal. Producer Lorne Michaels was soon informed by a doctor that if Belushi performed as scheduled there was a "50-50 chance" he would die. Michaels, who badly needed Belushi on camera, looked at the doctor and replied, "I can live with those odds."
[Belushi lived and went on to become one of the legendary Blues Brothers. Despite his antics (he once fell asleep while smoking at a party and set Michaels' home on fire), his departure from the show was sadly missed. Al Franken once recalled playing the role which Belushi would have played in a sketch called "The Vandals" -- and thinking, "This would be so much better if Belushi was doing it."]
["I was so angry," Chase remarked of Belushi's death, "I didn't cry for five years."]
Sources
M. Moser, Movie Stars Do the Dumbest Things; "Biography Close-Up" (Biography Channel)
