A true original, Dan Aykroyd was the paranormal-obsessed, fast-talking technical wizard of the first SNL cast. His mind birthed fully-formed worlds, from the intricate consumer-scam pitches of Irwin Mainway to the alien suburbia of the Coneheads. He was the stoic, harmonica-wielding Elwood Blues to John Belushi‘s anarchic Joliet Jake. Aykroyd didn’t just leave SNL; he co-created a cultural juggernaut with Ghostbusters. His subsequent career has been a fascinating mix of character acting, dramatic turns, and entrepreneurial ventures into the worlds of wine and spirits, proving that the man who sold the Bass-O-Matic ’76 could, in fact, sell anything.