Carrie Fisher lived an extraordinary life, and Dan Aykroyd couldn’t be more thankful for briefly being a part of it.
The Ghostbusters alum paid tribute to his ex-fiancée and dear friend in an essay for the upcoming issue of Empire magazine that bids farewell to the Hollywood icon, who passed away in late December.
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The Saturday Night Live veteran gushed about the Star Wars actress’ unparalleled sense of humor, as he shared memories of their recreational drug use and even plans for marriage.
After meeting Carrie on SNL, the comedian recalled falling in love with her on the set of Blues Brothers, remembering:
“I met Carrie at Saturday Night Live. She and John Belushi became instant pals. I remember how much she made him laugh. Later, while filming Blues Brothers, Carrie and I fell in love and during the shoot she moved in with me into a penthouse suite in the futuristic, aluminium-clad Astro Tower, which I knew to apologize for. Carrie had the most refined eye for art and design.”
The 64-year-old remembered he and Fisher decided to get engaged after they “obtained blood tests for compatibility from an East Indian female doctor.”
To express their love for one another, Aykroyd bought the actress a sapphire ring, and in turn Carrie gifted him “a Donald Roller Wilson oil painting of a monkey in a blue dress next to a tiny floating pencil” — which he kept until “it began to frighten my children.”
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Of course, Aykroyd’s fondest memory of Debbie Reynolds‘ daughter was her ability to make him laugh, even when he was (often times) the butt of the joke. He continued:
“One of the most brilliant and hilarious minds of our eon, Carrie would say things like: ‘I love tiny babies. When they cry they turn red and look like screaming tomatoes.’ OR ‘This romance is finished the second you let out even a threep. I’ll be sick for a year.’ AND ‘You have a jawline, hold your chin up otherwise you look like a tuna.’ From then on I would identify myself on the phone as Tuna Neck.”
One of Tuna Neck Aykroyd’s fondest memories with Carrie was the wild dates they went on — like their trip to Reno where they spent three days in a rented wagon, tripping on LSD and “full-on weeping to Christmas classics.” How romantic?
Related: Joely Fisher Remembers Carrie In Emotional Tribute
However, their whirlwind romance ended shortly after they moved into their new “fixer-upper” home, bought by Judy Belushi, in which Carrie couldn’t stay in for more than a day. He admitted:
“Carrie said, ‘It looks like it was abandoned by Fred and Wilma Flintstone.’ The next morning she asked me to drive her to the airport and she flew to New York. Architectural reservations notwithstanding, Carrie wasn’t shallow, we had a great time. She was also in love with Paul Simon. She married him but I hope she kept my ring.”
The actress broke up with Aykroyd in 1980 and went on to marry singer Paul Simon, whom she had dated before her Blues Brother costar.
While their relationship may have not worked out, clearly the comedian is grateful for just having known the cinematic icon on an intimate level for those fleeting moments.
[Image via Universal Pictures.]
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