Epilogue

Despite the financial loss he suffered on the Toronto Argonauts, John Candy left a fortune in excess of twenty million dollars.

Rose, Jennifer and Christopher continued living in the Brentwood mansion.

Bruce McNall was forced to sell the Los Angeles Kings. Eventually McNall was convicted on two counts of bank fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy. But his sentencing was delayed again and again while McNall provided information that helped police lay criminal charges against others—including seven of McNall’s former employees. In January, 1997, McNall was sentenced to five years and ten months in prison. He began serving his time in March. McNall was also ordered to repay five million dollars.

In August of 1995, David Begelman—who had been McNall’s partner in the movie business—checked into the Century Plaza Hotel not far from McNall’s old office and committed suicide. In notes he left behind, Begelman indicated he couldn’t face the consequences of certain things that were about to be revealed. Some of Begelman’s associates suggested those revelations were the result of information given to the police by McNall.

Unable to afford his salary, the Los Angeles Kings traded Wayne Gretzky to the St. Louis Blues after months of speculation. The trade was supposed to make the Blues contenders for the Stanley Cup, but it didn’t. Afterward Bruce McNall told Judy Steed of the Toronto Star that Gretzky would never have been traded if McNall still owned the team. In late July Gretzky signed a two-year deal with the New York Rangers.

Gretzky remained loyal to McNall, and when questioned by the media refused to say a bad word about him.

John Candy’s last three movies—Hostage for a Day, Canadian Bacon and Wagons East—were released posthumously. None of them represented what a discerning Candy fan would want to remember him for.

Wagons East caused tremors in the movie industry because Carolco—staving off bankruptcy and collapse—collected a multi-million-dollar pay-off in insurance claims. The assumption was that the film could not be completed because the star had died.

However, Wagons East was completed (through computer techniques) and released anyway, to the amazement of industry observers. That was not enough to save Carolco, though.

Andrew Alexander’s application for a licence to operate a comedy cable channel in Canada proceeded, with Rose Candy taking John Candy’s place as Alexander’s partner. But their bid was ultimately unsuccessful. The license for the comedy channel went to Baton Broadcasting Inc., under the leadership of Ivan Fecan.

Alexander also joined forces with Candy’s widow on another project—an hour-long TV tribute to Candy which was shown in Canada on the CBC and in the U.S. on the Arts & Entertainment channel’s “Biography” series. The program presented a happy-go-lucky comedian with very little reference to his lifelong problems.

In November, 1996, Canada Post announced plans to honour Candy’s memory by issuing a new stamp in 1997. Rose Candy, taken by surprise, let it be known that she was not pleased. The family had not been consulted, explained lawyers for the Candy estate, and for them it was too soon after Candy’s death for a stamp. Canada Post cancelled the stamp

That same week, the Toronto Argonauts won the Grey Cup for the first time since Candy helped them do it in 1991. But by 1996, the continued existence of the Canadian Football League was very much in doubt.

In the end, Candy was a man with a huge talent who became the victim of his own penchant for addiction and excess. But luckily for his fans, the habit it would have been hardest for him to kick was the one of making other people laugh. He’s still doing it and as long as there are reruns and VCR machines, he will go on doing it.