Saturday Night Live cast

The following is a list of Saturday Night Live cast members, past and present. The cast members of Saturday Night Live are often referred to as the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players".

Writers

All cast members on Saturday Night Live are expected to write as well as perform. Those who do not write tend to receive fewer parts and less camera time.

Three groups serve as “farm clubs” for the cast and writing staff: The improvisational comedy troupes The Groundlings and The Second City, and the publication Harvard Lampoon. Recently the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre has become a noted "club" as well.

Each of the three brings a different perspective:^[1]

• performers from the Groundlings often end up creating the vivid recurring characters that are one hallmark of the show;
• writer-performers from Second City are known for “aesthetic perfectionism”; they tinker obsessively with the wording and inflections of a punch line or the behavioral details of a character;
• writers from the Lampoon emphasize the conceptual premise of a sketch, such as taking a boyhood fantasy to an extreme.

List of cast members

The following list of cast members includes both featured and repertory players, but omits SNL writers and others who weren't listed as cast members during the show's credits. The dates given are those of the year in which they first appeared as a player and the year when they left.

Performer	Years Active	Featured Player	Repertory Player	Weekend Update Anchor
Fred Armisen	2002 - present	Y	Y
Dan Aykroyd	1975 - 1979		Y	Y
Peter Aykroyd	1979 - 1980	Y
Morwenna Banks	1995		Y
Jim Belushi	1983 - 1985		Y
John Belushi†	1975 - 1979		Y
Jim Breuer	1995 - 1998		Y
A. Whitney Brown	1995 - 1998	Y
Beth Cahill	1991 - 1992	Y
Dana Carvey	1986 - 1993		Y
Chevy Chase	1975 - 1976		Y	Y
Ellen Cleghorne	1991 - 1995	Y	Y
George Coe	1975		Y
Billy Crystal	1984-1985		Y	Y
Jane Curtin	1975 - 1980		Y	Y
Joan Cusack	1985 - 1986		Y
Tom Davis	1979 - 1980	Y
Denny Dillon	1980-1981		Y
Jim Downey	1979 - 1980	Y
Robert Downey, Jr.	1985 - 1986		Y
Brian Doyle-Murray	1979 - 1982	Y		Y
Rachel Dratch	1999 - 2006	Y	Y
Robin Duke	1981 - 1984		Y
Nora Dunn	1985 - 1990		Y
Christine Ebersole	1981 - 1982		Y	Y
Dean Edwards	2001 - 2003	Y
Chris Elliott	1994-1995		Y
Abby Elliott	2008 - present	Y
Jimmy Fallon	1998 - 2004	Y	Y	Y
Siobhan Fallon	1991 - 1992	Y
Chris Farley†	1990 - 1995	Y	Y
Will Ferrell	1995 - 2002		Y
Tina Fey	2000 - 2006	Y	Y	Y
Will Forte	2002 - present	Y	Y
Al Franken	1979 - 1980 1986 - 1995	Y
Janeane Garofalo	1994 - 1995		Y
Ana Gasteyer	1996 - 2002		Y
Gilbert Gottfried	1980 - 1981		Y
Mary Gross	1981 - 1985		Y	Y
Christopher Guest	1984 - 1985		Y	Y
Bill Hader	2005 - present	Y	Y
Anthony Michael Hall	1985 - 1986		Y
Brad Hall	1982 - 1984		Y	Y
Rich Hall	1984 - 1985		Y
Darrell Hammond	1995 - 2009		Y
Phil Hartman†	1986 - 1994		Y
Jan Hooks	1986 - 1991		Y
Yvonne Hudson	1980 - 1981	Y
Melanie Hutsell	1991 - 1994	Y	Y
Victoria Jackson	1986 - 1992		Y
Chris Kattan	1996 - 2003	Y	Y
Tim Kazurinsky	1981 - 1984		Y
Laura Kightlinger	1994 - 1995	Y
David Koechner	1995 - 1996		Y
Gary Kroeger	1982 - 1985		Y
Matthew Laurance	1980 - 1981	Y
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	1982 - 1985		Y
Jon Lovitz	1985 - 1990		Y
Norm Macdonald	1993 - 1998	Y	Y	Y
Gail Matthius	1980 - 1981		Y	Y
Michael McKean	1994 - 1995		Y
Mark McKinney	1995 - 1997		Y
Tim Meadows	1991 - 2000	Y	Y
Laurie Metcalf	1981	Y
Seth Meyers	2001 - present	Y	Y	Y
Dennis Miller	1985 - 1991		Y	Y
Jerry Minor	2000 - 2001	Y
Finesse Mitchell	2003 - 2006	Y	Y
Jay Mohr	1993 - 1995	Y
Tracy Morgan	1996 - 2003		Y
Garrett Morris	1975 - 1980		Y
Bobby Moynihan	2008 - present	Y
Eddie Murphy	1980 - 1984		Y
Bill Murray	1977 - 1980		Y	Y
Mike Myers	1989 - 1995	Y	Y
Kevin Nealon	1986 - 1995	Y	Y	Y
Laraine Newman	1975 - 1980		Y
Don Novello	1979 - 1980 1985 - 1986	Y
Michael O'Donoghue†	1975		Y
Cheri Oteri	1995 - 2000		Y
Chris Parnell	1998 - 2006	Y	Y
Nasim Pedrad	2009 - present	Y
Joe Piscopo	1980 - 1984		Y	Y
Amy Poehler	2001 - 2008	Y	Y	Y
Emily Prager	1981	Y
Randy Quaid	1985 - 1986		Y
Colin Quinn	1995 - 2000	Y	Y	Y
Gilda Radner†	1975 - 1980		Y
Jeff Richards	2001 - 2004	Y	Y
Rob Riggle	2004 - 2005	Y
Ann Risley	1980 - 1981		Y
Chris Rock	1990 - 1993	Y	Y
Charles Rocket†	1980 - 1981		Y	Y
Tony Rosato	1981 - 1982		Y
Maya Rudolph	2000 - 2007	Y	Y
Andy Samberg	2005 - present	Y	Y
Adam Sandler	1991 - 1995	Y	Y
Horatio Sanz	1998 - 2006	Y	Y	Y
Tom Schiller	1979 - 1980	Y
Rob Schneider	1990 - 1994	Y	Y
Paul Shaffer	1979 - 1980	Y
Molly Shannon	1995 - 2001	Y	Y
Harry Shearer	1979 - 1980 1984 - 1985		Y
Martin Short	1984 - 1985		Y
Sarah Silverman	1993 - 1994	Y
Jenny Slate	2009 - present	Y
Robert Smigel	1991 - 1993	Y
David Spade	1990 - 1996	Y	Y
Pamela Stephenson	1984 - 1985		Y
Ben Stiller	1989	Y
Jason Sudeikis	2005 - present	Y	Y
Julia Sweeney	1990 - 1994	Y	Y
Terry Sweeney	1985 - 1986		Y
Kenan Thompson	2003 - present	Y	Y
Danitra Vance†	1985 - 1986		Y
Dan Vitale	1985 - 1986	Y
Nancy Walls	1995 - 1996		Y
Michaela Watkins	2008 - 2009	Y
Damon Wayans	1985 - 1986	Y
Patrick Weathers	1980 - 1981	Y
Kristen Wiig	2005 - present	Y	Y
Casey Wilson	2008 - 2009	Y
Fred Wolf	1995 - 1996	Y
Alan Zweibel	1979 - 1980	Y
† denotes performer is deceased

Hosts who had auditioned for the cast

The following is a list of guest hosts who had previously auditioned for the show earlier in their careers only to be turned down. This list does not include the names of hosts, like Billy Crystal, who were rejected but eventually joined the cast at a later date. The list of the hosts and dates of their auditions are as follows:

Family connections

Some cast members are related to former staff of the show. The most prominent example is Jim Belushi, younger brother of cast member John Belushi. Before that, Bill Murray's older brother Brian Doyle-Murray was a writer and cast member. When Dan Aykroyd left the show in 1979, he was replaced by a series of short-lived featured players, one of whom was his brother Peter Aykroyd. Long-time writer and sometime performer Jim Downey is former cast member Robert Downey Jr.'s uncle. Abby Elliott, a featured player since 2008, is the daughter of season 20 castmember, Chris Elliott (and whose grandfather Bob Elliott appeared on SNL as a guest performer on the 1978 Christmas episode hosted by Elliot Gould).

Other family connections exist that do not share the same name. For instance, cast member Gilda Radner was briefly married to G.E. Smith, who later became the show's bandleader. Michael O'Donoghue was married to SNL band pianist Cheryl Hardwick. Cast members Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall were an item during their tenure, and were married in 1987. Cast member and writer Tina Fey is married to musical director Jeff Richmond.

Saturday Night Live Curse

Although SNL is well-known as the launchpad for many successful careers, a few cast members (and active crew members) have died prematurely. This has given rise to a superstition known as the "Saturday Night Live Curse".^[2][3][4]

Two cast members have died due to drug overdose at their age of 33, in parallel situations. Both John Belushi, deceased March 5, 1982, and Chris Farley, deceased December 18, 1997, overdosed from a "speedball," an injection of cocaine and heroin. Belushi's death led to the conviction of Cathy Smith for administering the fatal injection. Nearly four years prior to Belushi's death, SNL aired a short sketch titled Don't Look Back In Anger featuring an elderly John Belushi as the last living of the "not ready for prime time" cast members. Farley's death occurred nearly two months after he came back to host SNL, which turned out to be his last television appearance.

Yep, they all thought I'd be the first to go. I was one of those live-fast, die-young, leave-a-good-looking-corpse types, you know?

—John Belushi

Cast member Gilda Radner, deceased May 20, 1989, succumbed to ovarian cancer after a long struggle. Radner was scheduled to host the last episode of season 13 (1987-1988), a first for a female former cast member, but the show was cancelled due to a writer's strike. Her condition worsened over the next year. Shortly before the last episode of the 1988-1989 season, Season 14, news came of Radner's death, and the host Steve Martin delivered a visibly shaken monologue, followed by the sketch called "Dancing in the Dark" that he performed with Radner on an episode he hosted in 1978, and a musical tribute to Radner performed by her former husband G. E. Smith and the SNL Band.

Repertory player Danitra Vance, deceased August 21, 1994, died from breast cancer.

Michael O'Donoghue, deceased November 8, 1994, died of a cerebral hemorrhage; the cast member and writer long suffered from severe chronic migraine headaches. Bill Murray honored his memory in an appearance on the season 20 (1994-1995) episode (hosted by Sarah Jessica Parker with musical guest R.E.M.) by replaying O'Donoghue's sketch, "Mr. Mike's Least Loved Bedtime Stories: The Soiled Kimono" from December 1977.

Long-time performer Phil Hartman, deceased May 28, 1998, was killed by his wife while he slept in his Encino, California home. Before committing the act, Brynn consumed a combination of alcohol, cocaine and the prescription drug Zoloft, and committed suicide hours later in her bedroom.

Doumanian-era performer Charles Rocket was found dead by local police in his Canterbury, Connecticut backyard on October 7, 2005. The death was ruled a suicide; Rocket had allegedly taken his own life by cutting his neck with a pair of box-cutters.

Survivor

Julia Sweeney was diagnosed with cervical cancer in the mid-1990s, but has survived and transformed her experiences into a one-woman show, God Said, Ha!, developed at LA's alternative comedy show, "Un-Cabaret". Miramax released the film version of the show in 1998, produced by Quentin Tarantino. The film version of the play earned the Golden Space Needle Award, while Sweeney's recording earned her a Grammy nomination for best comedy album. It was released on DVD in 2003.

Contracts

SNL received some negative publicity in 1999 when it was leaked that, henceforth, actors joining the show would have to agree in their five-to-six year contract that, upon request, they would act in up to three movies by SNL Films, for fees of US$75,000, US$150,000, and then US$300,000; and also that, upon request, they would leave SNL and act in an NBC sitcom for up to an additional six years. This appeared to be a reaction to former cast members such as Adam Sandler and Mike Myers going on to movie stardom.

Some agents and managers sought to characterize the long-term contracts as involuntary servitude, arguing that young, undiscovered comics would agree to exploitative contractual restrictions for the opportunity to launch a career via the show. NBC publicly defended the new contracts, saying that SNL was doing a service to young comics by launching so many careers.

Jay Mohr reported in Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live (ISBN 1-4013-0006-5), that his starting salary of his 5 year deal was US$5,500 per episode (in 1994) plus $1,500 for his writing credit. The following year's salary was $6,500 per episode, up to $12,500 for a 5th year tenured player.

See also

• Bad Boys of SNL
• List of Saturday Night Live cast members who have hosted

References