The Heartbreaking Death Of Former SNL Star Peter Aykroyd

Longtime "Saturday Night Live" fans are mourning the loss of Peter Aykroyd, who died at the age of 66. Born in 1955, Aykroyd was raised in Ottawa, Canada, with his older brother, Dan. He launched his comedy career as a member of the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto and joined "SNL" in 1979 as a writer and featured player. While he was only on the show for one season, Aykroyd earned an Emmy nomination in the category of outstanding writing in a variety or music program (per NBC News).

The Aykroyd brothers worked a great deal together throughout the years. Peter had roles in the films "Coneheads" and "Spies Like Us," as well as a voice role in the animated series "The Blues Brothers." Peter and Dan co-wrote the 1991 comedy "Nothing but Trouble," which starred Chevy Chase, John Candy, Demi Moore and Dan Aykroyd. Peter also worked on a variety of film soundtracks, including "My Stepmother is an Alien" and "Dragnet" (per IMDb).

In the late 1990s, Peter was the co-creator and writer on "PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal," a Canadian sci-fi program hosted by his brother, which ran for four seasons. He also served as an executive producer on "Dan Aykroyd's Out There" in 2002. Peter's last acting role was in the 1999 television movie "Justice." 

"Saturday Night Live" announced the death of former cast member Peter Aykroyd during the November 2021 episode hosted by Simu Liu. His older brother, Dan Aykroyd, confirmed that Peter had died from "septicemia from an internal infection precipitated by an untreated abdominal hernia" (per USA Today).

Once news of his death became public, tributes about Peter soon started coming in on social media. "So sad to hear that Peter Aykroyd passed away. Gilda Radner took me to see him at Second city in Toronto and I was dazzled. What a brilliant improviser," former "SNL" star Laraine Newman tweeted. "I worked [with Peter Aykroyd.] He was a very funny, really nice guy who starred in Tom Schiller's short 'The Java Junkie' [and] contributed to the soundtrack of 'Dragnet] — a movie I co-wrote w/his brother @dan_aykroyd. My fondest thoughts [and] condolences go out to Danny [and] the Aykroyd family," posted Alan Zweibel.