James Belushi was born June 15, 1954 in Chicago but grew up in Wheaton, Illinois. He is the third of four children of Adam Belushi, an Albanian immigrant who left his native Qytezë village in 1934 at the age of 15, and Agnes, who was born in the U.S. of Albanian immigrants.

He attended the College of Dupage and graduated from Southern Illinois University with a degree in Speech and Theater Arts. From 1976-80 he became a resident member of Chicago's famed Second City. In 1979, write-producer Garry Marshall saw Jim performing for 2nd City and arranged for him to come to Hollywood and co-star in the TV Pilot "Who's Watching the Kids" for Paramount, and then for a role in the television show "Working Stiffs". Later, in 1983, he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live for 2 years.

Jim came to national attention through his role in Edward Zwick's film "About Last Night" with Rob Lowe and Demi Moore, playing the role he originated in the Chicago Apollo Theatre's production of David Mamet's Obie-award winning play "Sexual Perversity in Chicago".

He has come a long way from 2nd City, SNL, and his early role in the TV series "Working Stiffs". His feature credits since then show an extraordinary range: He was James Woods' spacey DJ buddy, Dr. Rock, in Oliver Stone's "Salvador"; the mentally handicapped dishwasher befriended by Whoopi Goldberg in the Andrei Konchalovsky film, "Homer and Eddie"; and the defiant high school principal standing up to drug dealers in "The Principal." In 2000 Belushi co-starred in MGM's "Return to Me," directed by Bonnie Hunt and starring David Duchovny and Minnie Driver, and he received rave reviews for his work with Gregory Hines in Showtime's "Who Killed Atlanta's Children? As his popularity grew over the years, so did his roles in film, theater, and television.

Belushi has performed on Broadway in Herb Gardner's acclaimed "Conversations with My Father" at the Royal Theatre, off-Broadway in "True West," at the Cherry Lane Theatre in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of John Guare's "Moon Over Miami," and for Joseph Papp as the Pirate King in "Pirates of Penzance." In addition he does numerous voiceovers for film, television and for commercials.

A dedicated husband and father he resides in Los Angeles with his wife - Jennifer; 2 sons - Robert ('81) and Jared ('02) and a daughter - Jamison ('99). Jim is currently starring in his own sitcom, titled According to Jim, which can be seen at it's regular time slot on the ABC network and 5 days a week in syndication.

Filmography

• Underdog (2007)
• According to Jim" (145 episodes, 2001-2007)
• Once Upon a Christmas Village (2007)
• "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" (2 episodes, 2002-2006)
• Casper's Scare School (2006)
• The Wild (2006)
• Lolo's Cafe (2006)
• Farce of the Penguins (2006)
• Tugger: The Jeep 4x4 Who Wanted to Fly (2005)
• "George Lopez" (1 episode, 2005)
• Hoodwinked! (2005)
• "Fatherhood" (1 episode, 2005)
• "Less Than Perfect" (1 episode, 2004)
• DysEnchanted (2004)
• Behind the Smile (2004)
• Easy Six (2003)
• "I'm with Her" (1 episode, 2003)
• "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" (1 episode, 2002)
• Legend of the Lost Tribe (2002)
• "Rugrats" (1 episode, 2002)
• Pinocchio (2002)
• K-9: P.I. (2002)
• One Way Out (2002)
• Snow Dogs (2002)
• Joe Somebody (2001)
• "ER" (1 episode, 2001)
• Who Killed Atlanta's Children? (2000)
• Return to Me (2000)
• K-911 (1999)
• Hooves of Fire (1999)
• The Nuttiest Nutcracker (1999)
• "Hey Arnold!" (4 episodes, 1996-1999)
• Hôhokekyo tonari no Yamada-kun (1999)
• Made Men (1999)
• Justice (1999/I) (TV)
• The Florentine (1999)
• Angel's Dance (1999)
• Saturday Night Live: Game Show Parodies (1999)
• "Hercules" (1 episode, 1998)
• Overnight Delivery (1998)
• "Sin City Spectacular" (1 episode, 1998)
• "Stories from My Childhood" (1 episode)
• "Total Security" (13 episodes, 1997)
• Gang Related (1997)
• Living in Peril (1997)
• Mighty Ducks the Movie: The First Face-Off (1997)
• Retroactive (1997)
• Babes in Toyland (1997)
• "It's Good to Be King" (1997)
• Dog's Best Friend (1997)
• "The Blues Brothers Animated Series" (1997)
• Bad Baby (1997)
• "The Tick" (1 episode, 1996)
• Jingle All the Way (1996)
• "Mighty Ducks" (2 episodes, 1996)
• "Gargoyles" (3 episodes, 1995-1996)
• Race the Sun (1996)
• 9 (1996)
• The Gail O'Grady Project (1996)
• Gold in the Streets (1996)
• "Pinky and the Brain" (3 episodes, 1995)
• Separate Lives (1995)
• Canadian Bacon (1995)
• Destiny Turns on the Radio (1995)
• Sahara (1995)
• The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)
• "Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man" (1 episode, 1995)
• "Santo Bugito" (1 episode, 1995)
• Irving (1995)
• "Aaahh!!! Real Monsters" (1994)
• Parallel Lives (1994)
• Royce (1994)
• "The Building" (1 episode, 1993)
• "Wild Palms" (1993)
• Traces of Red (1992)
• Once Upon a Crime... (1992)
• Diary of a Hitman (1991)
• Curly Sue (1991)
• Only the Lonely (1991)
• Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe (1991)
• Mr. Destiny (1990)
• Taking Care of Business (1990)
• Dimenticare Palermo (1990)
• Wedding Band (1990)
• Masters of Menace (1990)
• Homer and Eddie (1989)
• K-9 (1989)
• Who's Harry Crumb? (1989)
• Red Heat (1988)
• Real Men (1987)
• The Principal (1987)
• Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
• Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986)
• About Last Night... (1986)
• Salvador (1986)
• The Birthday Boy (1986)
• The Man with One Red Shoe (1985)
• "Saturday Night Live" (35 episodes, 1983-1985)
• "Faerie Tale Theatre" (1 episode, 1984)
• The Best Legs in the 8th Grade (1984)
• Trading Places (1983)
• "Laverne & Shirley" (1 episode, 1982)
• Thief (1981)
• "Working Stiffs" (1979)
• "Who's Watching the Kids" (1978)