That's too bad for him, considering his relatively young age, but he's been dead to me since Home Alone.
So, a few days ago we watched Home Alone with my daughter. Now, HA is too mature for her, but she already watched half of it with her friends when we were camping (all of us parents desperate to get a break from the kids, play movie on laptop, oops, only DVD anyone has is Home Alone).
So, she wanted to see the rest of the movie.
Until someone finds an earlier reference (say, to a Hardy Boys novel), I submit that Mr Hughes got the idea for the cardboard cutout of person mounted on model train from The Bloodhound Gang, part of 3-2-1 Contact on PBS. It's the episode with ghosts and moths, IIRC. Haven't seen it for decades...
Also, I realized the connections between Ferris Bueler (sp?) and HA for the first time. They are obvious now, but I had never thought about it before (Ferris used gadgets and cunning to evade adults and authority).
When HA came out, I thought it was a kids movie, so I wasn't a big fan.
Now, though, I have a bit more respect for it.
I also realized that I miss John Candy. I forgot he was in Home Alone.