Catherine Evelyn Smith, who served time for her role in the overdose death of comedian John Belushi, has died at the age of 73, reports the Globe and Mail.
The Canadian newspaper reported that Smith, who lived in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, died Aug. 18.
Also a backup singer and the ex of musician Gordon Lightfoot, Smith became a figure of infamy as part of the small crowd that shared with Belushi at Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood in his last days, a coterie that also includes Robin Williams and Robert De Niro included. He died on March 5, 1982 from an accidental overdose of heroin and cocaine – known as a “speedball”.
Later that year, Smith told the National Enquirer that she had injected the drugs before leaving the actor’s bungalow. “I killed John Belushi,” she said. “I did not mean it, but I am responsible.”
Arrested for second-degree murder, she pleaded guilty to lesser charges including involuntary manslaughter and served a 15-month prison sentence in Chino, California.
Lightfoot, who lived with Smith for four years in the early 1970s, would have written his dark hit “Sundown” about their fleeting relationship.
“Cathy was a great lady,” he told The Globe and Mail this week. “Men were attracted to her, and she used to make me jealous. But I have nothing bad to say about her.”
Belushi, who grew up in Wheaton and performed in Chicago’s Second City, went on to an illustrious comedy career as an original member of ‘Saturday Night Live’ and star of films including ‘National Lampoon’s Animal House’ and ‘The Blues Brothers’. He was a brother of actor and TV host Jim Belushi.
