Life – according to Jim: Belushi still feels badly about getting arrested as Santa

OAK BROOK – Jim Belushi still feels badly about tarnishing Santa Claus' reputation for a bunch of Wheaton kids who probably grew up thinking the Jolly Man did hard time.

"While I was going to COD, I would dress up as Santa each holiday and go visit like 25 houses. I charged $15 bucks, and it paid for all of my gifts," the 53-year-old actor told an audience of about 200 Wednesday during an Oak Brook Women's Club event.

"Anyway, I'm driving down President [Street] and didn't have my license, and this Wheaton cop who had it out for me pulls me over in the Santa suit and arrests me, handcuffs and all. Right near a playground and park. All these kids in the backseats of their parents' cars are rolling down the window going 'Santa's going to jail!'"

So after that, Belushi, a hometown boy who became the star of the successful TV series "According to Jim," learned his lesson and hired an elf to chauffeur him around for Christmas appearances, which left him free to imbibe large quantities of holiday cheer offered to him by uncles and grandpas.

To the delight of local fans assembled at the Wyndham-Drake Oak Brook Hotel, the self-proclaimed misfit – between breaking into song with a harmonica and doing a back flip – went on to describe growing up in the Chicago suburbs.

"Wheaton is a dry, evangelical town with as many churches as gas stations," he said. "I was the crime rate in Wheaton. One of the sergeants was promoted to commander on just my report stats."

Belushi caught the acting bug at Wheaton Central High School, where he impressed his freshman speech teacher while improvising an entire speech as a hippie character. He got an F on the assignment but thoroughly entertained the class and was asked to audition for a play after school.

"I was a tackle on the football team, but I realized you have to actually touch the football to get a date," Belushi said. "The drama club had 20 girls, three gay guys, and then there was me. It's just a numbers game."

But his interest in acting didn't stem entirely from his appreciation of the opposite sex. When he was 16 or 17, Belushi went to The Second City to see legendary big bro, John, perform. He decided it was "a magical place," and that's where he wanted to be. So on his quest to get to the improv mecca, he performed in 40 productions at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn in just two years' time and went on to get a theater degree from Southern Illinois University, where he "became a little star."

Then came The Second City payoff with lots of good reviews. In the 1970s, Garry Marshall saw Belushi in a show and recommended him for a pilot called "Who's Watching the Kids," which was canceled just when he was getting used to having some extra pocket change. So it was back to Chicago, where he had his breakthrough role in the stage play "Sexual Perversity in Chicago," which was later made into a movie renamed "About Last Night..." because producers wouldn't print the original title out of fear that it would look like an ad for a pornographic theater. Casting directors offered a part to Belushi's brother, and he was crestfallen.

"He calls me to tell me he's got this great role, and I said 'Can't do it – that's my thing! I can't hold a cheeseburger in my hand. I can't hold a sword in my hand. I can't do a Marlon Brando impression because that's your thing,'" Belushi said. "He said, 'Danny [Aykroyd] and I are hot right now!' They were huge with 'Saturday Night Live' and 'Blues Brothers.' John said 'If I don't do it, they'll give it to Billy Murray. Wouldn't you rather this part stay in the family at least?'"

But like a good big brother, John Belushi passed and even convinced Bill Murray to pass on the role that had a special place in Jim Belushi's heart. The script collected dust for awhile, and then Rob Lowe accepted the lead, and Jim Belushi was offered the part of the sidekick. His career officially took off.

Now, his sitcom "According to Jim" will soon start filming its eighth season. And as Belushi reflects on his acting career, he feels fulfilled.

"I've worked with Oliver Stone, Anthony Quinn, Michael Mann, Walter Hill," he said. "And when I was doing one of the sequels to 'K-9,' I'm doing a ridealong in West Palm Beach, Florida, while the SWAT team is doing drug busts in crack houses ...

"I walk in after the guys bust the door open and set off a smoke bomb, and there's this big guy pinned to the floor," Belushi said. "I get to say to him 'You're under arrest,' and he looks up and says 'You're Belushi, ain't you? Where's the dog?' So it's nice to know even crack dealers are watching me."