ohn Belushi was found dead of a

drug overdose March 5, 1982, in a

seedy hotel bungalow off Sunset

Boulevard in Hollywood. Belushi s

death was the beginning of a trail that

led Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward on

an investigation that examines the dark side of

American sh o w business- TV, rock and roll, and

the movie industry. From on-the-record inter-

views with 217 people, including Belushi s

widow, his former partner Dan Aykroyd,

Belushi s movie directors including Jack

Nicholson and Steven Spielberg, actors Chevy

Chase, Robin Williams and Carrie Fisher, the

movie executives, the agents, Belushi s drug

dealers, and those who live in the show business

underground, the author has written a close

portrait of a great American comic talent, and of

his struggle to succeed and to survive that ended

in tragedy.

Using diaries, accountants records, phone

bills, travel records, medical records and inter-

views with firsthand witnesses, Woodward has

followed Belushi s fife from childhood in a small

town outside Chicago (Wheaton, Illinois-also

Woodward s hometown) to his meteoric career

that started at the famous Chicago comedy

troupe Second City, proceeded to New York s

National Lampoon organization, then went on to

the wildly popular NBC television s "Saturday

Night Live," the greatly successful movie Animal

House, a #1 Blues Brothers hit album, more

films and then plans for films that this gifted

actor did not five to make.

Wired is also the story of the battle and debate

among Belushi s friends, family, and the direc-

tors, producers, writers and stars about how to

save him from drugs and harness his singular

and explosive personafity and talent. Why did

they fail?