View source for Gilda Radner

==Career==

=== Moving to Toronto and The Second City ===
In 1969, Radner dropped out of university to follow her boyfriend, Canadian sculptor [[Jeffrey Rubinoff]], to [[Toronto]].<ref name="something">{{cite book|author=Radner, Gilda|title=It's Always Something|url=https://archive.org/details/itsalwayssomethiradn00radn|url-access=registration|location= New York|publisher= Simon & Schuster|date= 1989|isbn=9780671638689}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Saltman |first=David |title=Gilda : an intimate portrait |publisher=Contemporary Books |year=1992 |isbn=0809241021 |location=Chicago, Ill. |pages=91 |language=en}}</ref> Radner was quoted in 1973 as saying that Toronto was "the answer to my dreams. It's a young city, open to new ideas and there are incredible opportunities for creative people."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Michelmore |first=Bill |date=December 31, 1973 |title=Americans Dash to Canada to Escape Fear |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/detroit-free-press-americans-dash-to-can/162868227/ |access-date=January 12, 2025 |work=Detroit Free Press |pages=4}}</ref> Initially, she intended to be a stay at home wife to Rubinoff, but Radner grew depressed, as she felt she wasn't able to perform like she wanted to, and was reduced to little more than helping prepare Rubinoff's art shows.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Radner |first=Gilda |title=It's Always Something |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1989 |isbn=9780671638689 |location=New York |pages=116 |language=en}}</ref> Her friend David Saltman recalled that she would call him, complaining that she and Rubinoff would fight all the time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Saltman |first=David |title=Gilda : an intimate portrait |publisher=Contemporary Books |year=1992 |isbn=0809241021 |location=Chicago, Ill. |pages=93 |language=en}}</ref> Eventually Radner left Rubinoff but remained in Toronto.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Radner |first=Gilda |title=It's Always Something |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1989 |isbn=9780671638689 |location=New York |pages=117 |language=en}}</ref> During this time, she took classes at the [[University of Toronto]] and the University of Wisconsin's correspondence school to complete her degree.<ref name=":6" />

Shortly after her break-up, Radner went to see a show at a theatre and decided to pursue acting. She worked at the theatre doing children's plays and also did pantomime performances at elementary schools across Toronto.<ref name=":7" /> Radner made her professional acting debut in the 1972 production of ''[[Godspell]]'', with future stars [[Eugene Levy]], [[Andrea Martin]], [[Victor Garber]], [[Martin Short]], and [[Paul Shaffer]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Pincus-Roth |first1=Zachary |last2=Betancourt |first2=David |last3=Kingsberry |first3=Janay |last4=Rao |first4=Sonia |last5=Butler |first5=Bethonie |last6=Kennicott |first6=Philip |last7=Marley |first7=Patrick |last8=Kornfield |first8=Meryl |last9=Boot |first9=Max |date=2022-05-19 |title=They all starred in 'Godspell.' Then they became comedy legends. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/05/19/godspell-toronto-martin-short-levy-radner-shaffer-garber/ |access-date=2025-06-17 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> In 1973, Radner joined [[The Second City]] comedy troupe in Toronto and appeared in various productions there alongside comedians such as [[Dan Aykroyd]], [[John Candy]], [[Joe Flaherty]] and [[Catherine O'Hara]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gilda Radner - The Second City |url=https://www.secondcity.com/people/gilda-radner |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=www.secondcity.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

She had one line of dialogue as a Buddhist group member in the 1973 film ''[[The Last Detail]]'', starring [[Jack Nicholson]] and also appeared on various children's shows on [[CBC Television|CBC]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Saltman |first=David |title=Gilda : An Intimate Portrait |publisher=Contemporary Books |year=1992 |isbn=0809241021 |location=Chicago, Ill. |pages=106 |language=en}}</ref> Radner would also appear in ''[[The National Lampoon Radio Hour]]'' and the [[off-Broadway]] production of ''[[The National Lampoon Show]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Unterbrink |first=Mary |title=Funny women: American comediennes; 1860 - 1985 |publisher=McFarland |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-89950-226-7 |location=Jefferson, NC |pages=161 |language=en}}</ref>

===''Saturday Night Live''===
[[File:Saturday night live welch radner 1976.JPG|alt=Radner, as Emily Litella, with Raquel Welch|thumb|Radner, as [[Emily Litella]], with [[Raquel Welch]] in 1976]]
Radner gained wide recognition in 1975 as one of the original "[[Not Ready for Prime Time Players]]," the freshman cast of the first season of ''Saturday Night Live''. She was the first performer to be cast in the show,<ref name="obit"/> choosing the show over doing ''[[The David Steinberg Show]]'' in Canada.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Shales |first1=Tom |title=Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests |last2=Miller |first2=James Andrew |publisher=Back Bay Books |year=2015 |isbn=9780316295062 |edition=Revised |location=New York, NY |pages=33 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Doug |title=Saturday night. A backstage history of Saturday Night Live |last2=Weingrad |first2=Jeff |publisher=Beech Tree Books |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-688-05099-3 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=54 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=July 31, 2018 |title=The Lost Roles of Gilda Radner -- Vulture |url=https://www.vulture.com/2012/03/the-lost-roles-of-gilda-radner.html |access-date=January 26, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731174928/https://www.vulture.com/2012/03/the-lost-roles-of-gilda-radner.html |archive-date=July 31, 2018 }}</ref>

Radner co-wrote much of the material that she performed and collaborated with writer [[Alan Zweibel]] on the development of sketches that featured her recurring characters.<ref name="zweibel">{{cite book|author=Zweibel, Alan|title=Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner| url= https://archive.org/details/bunnybunnygildar00zwei|url-access=registration| location= New York|publisher= Villard|date= 1994|isbn= 9780679430858}}</ref> Some of Radner's characters included:

* [[Emily Litella]], an elderly, hard-of-hearing editorialist who made irate, misinformed comments in interview sketches on ''SNL'''s recurring ''[[Weekend Update]]'' segment.<ref name="obit" /> She would often rant about a topic (often mishearing the initial topic, such as hearing violence on television as "violins on television") before being corrected, to which she would then say, "Never mind."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Tropiano |first1=Stephen |title=The SNL Companion: An Unofficial Guide to the Seasons, Sketches, and Stars of Saturday Night Live |last2=Ginsberg |first2=Steven |publisher=Applause Books |year=2024 |isbn=978-1-4930-7261-3 |edition= |location=Blue Ridge Summit |pages=55 |language=en}}</ref> Litella would later appear on Gilda Radner's episode of ''[[The Muppet Show|The Muppets Show]].''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gaskill |first=Julia |date=2018-12-14 |title=The Muppet Show: 40 Years Later – Gilda Radner - ToughPigs |url=https://www.toughpigs.com/tms40-gilda-radner/ |access-date=2025-08-30 |language=en-US}}</ref>
* Judy Miller, a hyper eight-year old girl with an overactive imagination. Sketches would consist of her bouncing off the walls of her bedroom, reenacting soap operas, and hosting a make-believe television program called "The Judy Miller Show." Radner based the character on her own childhood.
* [[Roseanne Roseannadanna]], originally a character in a separate sketch, Roseannadanna became a regular on ''Weekend Update'', usually receiving a question from a Richard Feder in [[Fort Lee, New Jersey]], and subsequently answering Feder's questions with long, off-topic, and frequently disgusting answers. [[Jane Curtin]] would cut her off; she would end by saying, "It's always something."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Tropiano |first1=Stephen |title=The SNL companion: an unofficial guide to the seasons, sketches, and stars of Saturday Night Live |last2=Ginsberg |first2=Steven |publisher=Applause Press |year=2024 |isbn=978-1-4930-7261-3 |location=Essex |pages=69–70 |language=en}}</ref> The character was based on [[Rose Ann Scamardella]], a New York City reporter for [[WABC-TV|WABC]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Robertson |first=Lori |title=A Blast from the Past |url=https://ajrarchive.org/Article.asp?id=1059 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224132036/https://ajrarchive.org/Article.asp?id=1059 |archive-date=2014-02-24 |access-date=2025-08-30 |website=American Journalism Review }}</ref>
* Baba Wawa, a parody of [[Barbara Walters]] who spoke with a speech impediment that changed L's and R's to W's.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Tropiano |first1=Stephen |title=The SNL companion: an unofficial guide to the seasons, sketches, and stars of Saturday Night Live |last2=Ginsberg |first2=Steven |publisher=Applause Press |year=2024 |isbn=978-1-4930-7261-3 |location=Essex |pages=59–60 |language=en}}</ref> In a 1978 interview with ''CBC'', Radner said she listened to Walters and noticed that they both spoke with a [[sibilant]], and that if she changed the L's and R's, she could imitate her.<ref name="CBC90" /> After Radner's death, Walters noted in an interview that Radner had been the "first person to make fun of news anchors, now it's done all the time."<ref>{{YouTube|LQvRFrpKi-0|Barbara Walters being interviewed about Gilda Radner }}</ref>

Additionally Radner parodied various celebrities such as [[Lucille Ball]], [[Patti Smith]], and [[Olga Korbut]].<ref name=":1"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=SNL Archives {{!}} Impression {{!}} Lucille Ball |url=http://snlarchives.net/Impressions/?Gilda_Radner_as_Lucille_Ball |access-date=2025-08-30 |website=snlarchives.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Gilda Radner Does a Comic Impersonation of Patti Smith: Watch the Classic SNL Skit, "Rock Against Yeast" (1979) {{!}} Open Culture |url=https://www.openculture.com/2020/08/gilda-radner-does-a-comic-impersonation-of-patti-smith-watch-the-classic-snl-skit-rock-against-yeast-1979.html |access-date=2025-08-30 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-30 |title=SNL's Olga Korbut Sketch Tackles a Real Moment in Olympic Gymnastics History |url=https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/gilda-radner-as-olga-korbut-gymnast-snl-sketch-olympics |access-date=2025-08-30 |website=NBC |language=en-US}}</ref> Radner was nominated for an [[Emmy Award]] for "Outstanding Continuing Or Single Performance By A Supporting Actress In Variety Or Music" in 1977'','' and won in 1978.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Gilda Radner |url=https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/gilda-radner |access-date=January 13, 2025 |website=Television Academy |language=en}}</ref>

In 1979, the new president and CEO of NBC, [[Fred Silverman]], offered Radner a primetime variety show on the network, but she turned down the offer, not wanting to add another five years to her contract and not wanting to leave ''SNL''.<ref name="something" /><ref name=":2" /> On January 9, 1979, she was a co-host of the [[Music for UNICEF Concert]] at the [[United Nations General Assembly]].<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/10/archives/pop-stars-join-to-tape-benefit-for-unicef.html|title=Pop: Stars Join to Tape Benefit for UNICEF|last=Rockwell|first=John|date=January 10, 1979|work=The New York Times|access-date= February 23, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Radner also gave the commencement address, in character as Roseanne Roseannadanna, to the 1979 graduating class at the [[Columbia School of Journalism]].<ref>{{cite web| url= http://journalistfightclub.blogspot.com/2008/04/roseanne-roseannadanna-vs-columbia.html|title=Roseanne Roseannadanna vs. Columbia School of Journalism| website=Journalist Fight Club |date=April 3, 2008}}</ref>

Radner reportedly expressed mixed emotions about being recognized and approached in public by fans and other strangers. ''SNL'' historians Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad said she became "angry when she was approached, and upset when she wasn't".<ref name="history">Hill, Doug and Jeff Weingrad. ''Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live''. New York: Beech Tree Books. 1986.</ref>

===Broadway show===
In 1979, Radner appeared on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in a successful one-woman show, ''Gilda Radner – Live from New York''.<ref name="ibdb">{{IBDB name|5910}}</ref> Produced by Lorne Michaels, the show featured material that was racier than NBC censors would allow on ''Saturday Night Live'', such as the song "Let's Talk Dirty to the Animals." The same year, shortly before Radner's final season on ''Saturday Night Live'', her Broadway show was filmed by director [[Mike Nichols]] and released with the title ''[[Gilda Live]]''. It co-starred [[Paul Shaffer]] and [[Don Novello]], and screened in theaters nationwide in 1980, but was a box-office flop. A soundtrack album was also commercially unsuccessful.