My life through a lens: Ghostbusters star Dan Aykroyd, 69, shares his favourite snaps

Ghostbusters star Dan Aykroyd, 69, (pictured) shared the stories behind a selection of his favourite photographs 

1955: Here I am, aged three, with one of the funniest men on the planet – my brother Peter, aged one. He doesn’t want me to talk about him, ever, but he is hilarious, and he worked with me on Saturday Night Live. My dad was a civil engineer, and this photo was taken at our house near Ottowa, Canada. My brother went on to write music for some films I did, and now he’s in digital finance

1977: I was lucky enough to work with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, and also Eric Idle and Michael Palin. This is me impersonating Richard Nixon alongside Eric as David Frost. Eric’s wife Tania was my roommate in New York and I introduced them. We threw these parties, and Eric came over and they fell in love – Eric’s still one of my great friends today

1978: It was hard not to be starstruck sharing a stage with Steve Martin and collaborating with him on a sketch for Saturday Night Live [pictured]. He’s one of the greatest writers of our generation in world comedy. By the way, there would be no Blues Brothers without Steve Martin either – long before the film, The Blues Brothers were a band, and opening for him when he was performing in Los Angeles helped put us on the map

1980: Carrie Fisher joined John Belushi and me in the cast of The Blues Brothers – this was taken during a lunch break. At one point Carrie and I were engaged. After we wrapped the movie, John, his wife Judy, Carrie and I flew to Martha’s Vineyard, where I’d just bought a house I’d never seen. Carrie took one look at it, and the next morning she went back to New York to her ex, Paul Simon. But we remained great friends

1984: The fun part of Ghostbusters [pictured] was that we took over New York. We drove an old Cadillac around and it looked like a service vehicle, so people got out of the way as we went speeding through red lights. It was an exciting time and Bill Murray’s performance as a leading man was unparalleled, he truly carried the show. I’m so proud to have participated in films that endure and that you want to see again and again. My favourite scene is Bill Murray’s walk with Sigourney Weaver across Lincoln Center Plaza

1994: This was the amazing opening night of one of my House Of Blues clubs, in LA. I threw a great party, everybody came, and I got to jam with them all including Magic Johnson, Wesley Snipes, Bruce Springsteen and James Brown [pictured, with Dan]. I went on to open five or six clubs in the House Of Blues chain and I sang with James at every one. He also played at my birthday party and came to my house and met my parents

2000: What impressed me the day I received my Order of Canada in Ottawa [pictured] was to be recognised with people who had given so much to others – heroes in local sports, medics, inventors, scientists, philanthropists, policymakers and contributors to Canadian society. And here I was, a comedian and actor. I’ll take it though, I’m a big fan of Queen Elizabeth. And I’m a patriotic Canadian too – I’m the grandson of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police Staff Sergeant

2002: On my 50th birthday I ended up performing on stage with the former US president Bill Clinton [pictured right] on saxophone at the opening of a hotel in Connecticut owned by Native Americans. He was so much fun, and he acquitted himself beautifully. On stage with me is Jim Belushi, John’s brother. It was 20 years since his brother John had died, aged just 33 – we had been collaborators and best friends for eight years