Hours Before His Death, John Candy Cooked Dinner for His ‘Wagons East’ Crew

MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL '93, John Candy, aired 8/7/1993. — Showtime Networks /Courtesy Everett Collection

What To Know

John Candy was known for his genuine kindness and humility, treating everyone as equals and valuing the people who worked with him on set.
On the night before his death, Candy expressed his gratitude by making lasagna for his assistants.
He was deeply involved in charitable work and community activities.

Before getting too far into this article, it is necessary to acknowledge a 2019 article found on Medium by Mike Sturm. In it, he asked the question: Where have all the John Candys gone? Why are there so few people, and even fewer celebrities, who are as authentically kind and thoughtful as Candy was?

Here is the deal with John Candy. He genuinely liked people, all people. He was not one of those celebrities who felt like they were above everyone else. He thought of himself as an equal to everyone that he came in contact with, which takes us to one of his very final acts.

While it is fairly common knowledge that Candy died while filming the movie Wagons East, what is not so commonly known, however, is what he was doing just a few hours before his passing. And truthfully, I think the answer to that question might surprise you.

You see, Candy really valued the people on the movie set that were there specifically to help him. He appreciated all of the little things that they would do for him throughout the day. So, as a means of saying thank you after shooting wrapped up, Candy would often look for ways to express his appreciation to them. On that fateful evening, he had decided to make lasagna for his assistants. Yep, one of the last things this big movie star ever did was make dinner for a group of co-workers.

Orion Pictures/Everett Collection

Candy was like that all of the time. Just ask his kids, who sat down a few years ago with journalist Ryan Parker to reminisce about their father. In that Hollywood Reporter article, Candy’s kids talked about his eagerness to work with all sorts of charities, including Make-A-Wish and the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. His daughter Jen recalled that her dad liked to make people laugh and feel good.

Apparently, Candy was hooked on that feeling. In another article, this time in The Huffington Post, there is a story about him financially supporting a little league hockey team because one of his childhood friends was the coach. And he didn’t just throw money their way. He would come to the games, sit in the stands, and eat a hot dog while visiting with the parents, sometimes complimenting them on their kids when one of them would do something great on the ice. When the movie Splash premiered, he rented out a theater and invited the entire team and their families to enjoy the movie with him.

John Candy’s true talent was that he would get you to laugh at him at first, but then ultimately, he would have you laughing with him. There was a real sense of honesty in all of his TV and movie performances, no matter how silly things got. Because when the audience looked at his face, whether it was Candy himself or a character that he played, everyone saw themselves and were reminded not to take things all that seriously. Candy knew that. He had figured it out. And that is what made him so darn wonderful.