The Who2 Blog

John Belushi IS Pappy Boyington

I just added photos to our profile of Pappy Boyington, the hard-living World War II flying ace who shot down 28 Japanese planes and won the Medal of Honor.

Something about the photo looked familiar. I pondered it a while, chewing on a thumbnail… and then it arrived:

 
 

That’s the late John Belushi as ‘Wild Bill’ Kelso in the WWII comedy 1941.

Belushi’s character wasn’t based on Pappy Boyington, from what I can find online. But jeepers, what a match.  Robert Conrad played Boyington in the TV series Baa Baa Black Sheep, but it looks like they should have cast Belushi instead.

More photos of Pappy Boyington »
 

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