Seems like I haven't celebrated a Taraday in awhile and when I saw that today was Gilda Radner Day I just had to celebrate. I know of Gilda Radner primarily as all of her characters on Saturday Night Live. You know, back in the day when SNL wasn't feeble. She was so sweet and funny!
Here is a little biography I found on allmovie.com.
At the height of her Saturday Night Live fame, Gilda Radner was characterized by one publication as "America's Sweetheart." Few performers, comic or otherwise, have so richly deserved this appellation. Born in Detroit to a well-to-do Jewish family, Radner forsook the usual social whirl attending girls of her background and opted for a career in comedy. After attending the University of Michigan, Radner joined the Toronto Second City improvisational troupe, where she worked for the first time with John Belushi, later one of her best friends and most frequent collaborators. Radner and Belushi moved to New York when they were selected to perform on The National Lampoon Radio Hour and in the popular stage production The National Lampoon Show. Along with several other "Lampooners," Radner was chosen by producer Lorne Michaels as a member of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players on the NBC comedy weekly Saturday Night Live, which debuted in 1975. Radner soon distinguished herself as one of the most versatile of the bunch, portraying such characters as hard-of-hearing media critic Emily Litella ("Never mind"), nerdish Lisa Lupner ("That was so funny I almost fergot to LAFFFFF!"), frizzy-haired TV journalist Roseanne Roseanna-Dana ("Just goes to show ya — it's always somethin'!), and of course, the inimitable Baba WaWa. Her efforts won her a 1978 Emmy, as well as the love and respect of her fans and fellow workers. After leaving SNL, Radner developed her own one-woman Broadway show, 1979's Radner Live; the following year, she made her Broadway acting bow in Lunch Hour. Among her many films was 1982's Hanky Panky, in which she co-starred with her future husband, Gene Wilder. Even when suffering from ovarian cancer in her final years, Gilda Radner never lost her sense of humor or her upbeat approach to life; her philosophy was eloquently put forth in her autobiography, It's Always Something, which was published shortly after her death in 1989.
I will miss you forever, Gilda.
6 comments:
she was an Artist in her own right.. I loved it when she did BaBa Wa Wa.. her comedic talent is missed
...when SNL wasn't feeble.
You said a lot right there. I have not watched that sad sack alleged comedy since Mike Meyers left.
Good post.
Roseanne Rosanna Danna. I used to watch her when I was younger and my parents would let me stay up to watch SNL now and then.
I miss her, I miss Phil Hartman and I miss the days when Mike Myers, Dana Carvey and Will Ferrell were on there.
Anyone remember:
"What's all this fuss I hear about flea erections in China?!"
Emily Litella.
And, in these skits on Weekend Update" she always called Chevy Chase by the name "Cheddar Cheese".
RIP Gilda
I wanted to be Gilda Radner when I was in junior high. I could do all of her characters..Of course, not half as good as she did them.
BabyBull: I just loved her. It was nice to have a day to celebrate her :-)
Evil-E: Thanks! I still tune in occasionally when there is a host or musical guest I like, but I usually regret it.
Tara: I miss those days too. The casts for the past few years seem to have trouble creating really funny, memorable characters.
DiDC: haha! Flea erections! Classic stuff.
Churlita: I remember when everyone would do their little Rosanne Rosanna-Dana impersonations and it just never got old! Even a bad impression seemed funny to us.
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