NEW YORK (AP) â Live from New York! for âSNL.â
The landmark NBC sketch comedy show âSaturday Night Liveâ premiered Oct. 11, 1975, with drop-dead dark humor and pratfalls, George Carlin as host and not one but two musical guests: Billy Preston and Janis Ian.
On Saturday nights, in those early years, young people gathered around TVs to watch the production that served up counterculture to the mass market via the Not Ready for Prime Time Players.
âWhat is attractive and unusual about the program is that it is an attempt, finally, to provide entertainment on television in a recognizable human, non-celebrity voice, and in a voice, too, that tries to deal with the morass of media-induced show business culture that increasingly pervades American life,â The New Yorker's Michael J. Arlen wrote in a 1975 review.
Sept. 28, when the first episode of âSNL'sâ half-century season is set to air in a lead-up to a three-hour live primetime special Feb. 16 on, gasp, a Sunday. Jean Smart will host to open the season, with Jelly Roll as musical guest.
Over the decades, some seasons were better than others, with breakout stars like Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Mike Myers and more following the original seven. So what became of the very first cast, the freshman class, post-"SNL?" Here's a catchup.
John Belushi
âNational Lampoon's Animal House,â âContinental Divide,â âNeighborsâ and all things The Blues Brothers. to pursue music and film projects. That he did, to bad reviews and good.
Following years of drug use, he died March 5, 1982, at 33 after overdosing at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. Belushi's death stunned and saddened his friends and fans and symbolized the end of the hard-living '70s.
In addition to his mischievous, often frenzied performances on âSNL,â Belushi appeared in other films as well, including the drama âOld Boyfriendsâ and the poorly-reviewed Steven Spielbergâdirected historical comedy â1941."
Before that, Belushi birthed his âJolietâ Jake Blues, joining fellow âSNLâ cast member Dan Aykroyd as brother Elwood. Their TV debut as the brothers blue came on âSNLâ in 1978.
The sunglass-wearing, dark-suited Blues Brothers took on a fame of their own with the self-titled 1980 movie, directed by John Landis. After Belushi's death, âBlues Brothers 2000â was released in 1998 in tribute with most of the first film's original cast.
After Belushi's death, many of his loved ones, including his widow Judith Belushi Pisano, were angered by the negative narrative tone of âWired,â the Bob Woodward book about the comic genius. Belushi Pisano and Tanner Colby responded with a book of their own, âBelushi: A Biography.â
Belushi Pisano, his high school sweetheart, died in July from cancer. John Belushi shared a writing Emmy with fellow âSNLâ cast members and writers in 1977.
Gilda Radner
Nasally Roseanne Roseannadanna. Weird teen Lisa Loopner. Weekend Update's ânever mindâ complainer Emily Litella. Radner contributed an endearing sweetness to the inaugural season of âSNL.â She stayed for five years.
In 1979, the Emmy and Grammy winner took to Broadway to perform a one-woman show, âGilda Live.â Included were some of her most beloved âSNLâ characters, including Baba Wawa, a spoof of Barbara Walters. The show was filmed and released as a movie.
Radner appeared in several other films, including âFirst Familyâ and âThe Woman in Red,â the latter a 1984 hit written and directed by her co-star and future husband, Gene Wilder. Among other projects: She starred in the 1980 Broadway drama âLunch Hour.â
Radner died May 20, 1989, at age 42 after a long battle with ovarian cancer. Her book detailing her cancer fight was released earlier that year. was released in 2018.
Chevy Chase
Chase was the first to utter the words: âLive from New York, it's Saturday night!â And he has a long list of post-"SNL" credits, including many commercial successes and his share of flops. He was also the first cast member to leave the show.
Initially hired as a writer, he was known on âSNLâ for âWeekend Update,â his bumbling President Gerald Ford, his pratfalls in general and his feuds with cast members. Chase was replaced in the middle of the second season by Bill Murray.
Years later (2013), Chase exited TV's âCommunityâ during the fourth season amid complaints about racial slurs directed at fellow cast member Donald Glover.
In between âSNLâ and that moment, Chase worked a lot, at least for a time.
There were two âFletchâ movies. There was âCaddyshackâ and a poorly-received sequel. âThere was âThe Three Amigos!â There were five âVacationâ movies, though his appearance in the last one (in 2015) was a cameo.
Chase's first hit was âFoul Playâ with Goldie Hawn in 1978. He tried his hand at a late-night talk show, âThe Chevy Chase Show,â on Fox in 1993. It was canceled after six weeks.
Among his awards: A writing Emmy for âSNLâ in 1976, a performance Emmy on the show the same year and a shared writing Emmy for âThe Paul Simon Specialâ in 1977.
Chase put out a biography in 2007, âI'm Chevy Chase ... and You're Not," named for his famous catchphrase as anchor of âWeekend Update.â In his book, he detailed childhood physical abuse at the hands of his mother and stepfather, John Cederquist â both of whom are dead.
Now 80, Chase has taken in recent years to hosting screenings with audience Q&As for "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation,â the most enduring movie in that franchise.
He also makes chicken sounds and posts fan meetups and family gatherings on TikTok, where he has 1.2 million followers.
Laraine Newman
She left âSNLâ in 1980 after portraying Connie Conehead, Valley Girl stewardess Sherry and ditzy public access TV co-host Christie Christina. She was also a recurring reporter on âWeekend Update."
Newman has spoken openly about her struggles with depression and drug addiction during that time. She got sober in 1987.
Before leaving âSNL,â Newman appeared in the 1978 film âAmerican Hot Wax.â Steady film, TV and voice work followed through the 1980s into the 2000s. She was the antagonist in the 1991 comedy âProblem Child 2â and appeared in 1993âs âConeheadsâ as Connieâs Aunt Laarta.
Newman, 72, appeared in episodes of âFriends,â â3rd Rock from the Sun,â â7th Heaven,â âLaverne & Shirley" and âSt. Elsewhere,â and in the 1994 live action âFlintstonesâ film.
She lent her voice to several animated hit films, including âWall-E,â âUp," âToy Story 3" and âTangled.â And she has worked as a magazine writer and editor. In 2021, she put out an audio memoir.
Fun fact: After high school graduation, Newman studied mime in Paris with Marcel Marceau.
In 2017, with the rest of âSNL'sâ original cast, she was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
Dan Aykroyd
When he wasn't bleeding out as Julia Child or declaring, âJane, you ignorant slut!â on âWeekend Update,â Aykroyd swagged with Steve Martin as one of two wild and crazy guys, and led the Conehead family as patriarch Beldar.
And he before leaving in 1979, including as half of The Blues Brothers and impersonations of talk show host Tom Snyder, Rod Serling and two presidents: Nixon and Carter.
With Belushi, his close friend, and backed by legit players, the bluesy and soulful brothers caught on as a band. They played gigs and released a multimillion-selling album, âBriefcase Full of Blues.â
His post-"SNL" work has taken him even higher. He and Belushi had a smash with âThe Blues Brothersâ film. Hit after hit followed: âNeighborsâ in 1981, âTrading Placesâ in 1983 and the 1984 âGhostbustersâ that launched a franchise (Aykroyd and Harold Ramis wrote the first two). He also appeared in â1941.â
Aykroyd, 72, wrote and narrated a recent audio documentary,
In 1985, Aykroyd co-wrote and starred with Chase in âSpies Like Us,â directed by Landis. Aykroyd earned a supporting actor Oscar nomination for 1989's âDriving Miss Daisy."
The â90s werenât so kind. There were many flops, including his directorial debut in 1991, âNothing but Troubleâ starring Demi Moore, Chase, John Candy and Aykroyd with a grisly prosthetic face. A bright spot was the acclaimed âGrosse Pointe Blank,â in which he played a rival hitman to star John Cusack.
With Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Isaac Tigrett, Aykroyd co-founded House of Blues, a chain of live music halls and restaurants that became a division of Live Nation in 2006.
Jane Curtin
Curtin left âSNL,â in 1980, after five seasons. She was a master of deadpan, often playing the straight woman off such outsized performers as Belushi and Radner. A regular on âWeekend Update,â she was also known for the Coneheads sketches as matriarch Prymaat and as Enid Loopner with fellow nerds Radner and Murray.
Curtin, 76, has spoken about being bothered by the drug-fueled lifestyles of some of her castmates. She won two Emmys for her 1980s sitcom âKate & Allie.â She later starred as Dr. Mary Albright in the hit series â3rd Rock from the Sunâ (1996-2001).
Her post-"SNL" work stayed mainly on television, including some busts like the 1990 sitcom âWorking it Out.â It was canceled after 13 episodes. With Fred Savage, she appeared in the sitcom âCrumbsâ in 2006. It was canceled four months later.
There was some Broadway work: Miss Proserpine Garnett in âCandida,â âLove Lettersâ and the 2002 revival of âOur Townâ that marked Paul Newman's return to Broadway after 38 years.
Garrett Morris
Initially hired as a writer, he was the oldest on âSNL'sâ first cast at 37. He came to the show after 17 years as a singer and arranger with Harry Belafonte, as an actor in plays and musicals, as a playwright and as a civil rights activist who helped desegregate Actorâs Equity.
Morris was raised in New Orleans by his grandmother and Baptist minister grandfather, spending his childhood singing in the church choir. He later became a Buddhist after moving to New York, where he was homeless for a time well before âSNL.â
Morris, 87, trained at The Julliard School. Belafonte gave him his first professional break. Morris performed with the Harry Belafonte Singers for 10 years, starting when he was just 22.
He remained on âSNLâ until 1980. He was known for his character Chico Escuela, the Dominican baseball player whose catchphrase, âBaseball has been berry berry good to me,â caught on in pop culture. He also performed as the shouting interpreter in the âNews for the Hard of Hearingâ segments and did impersonations of Idi Amin, James Brown, Sammy Davis, Jr., Bob Marley and Muhammad Ali.
Morris once sang a Mozart aria on âSNLâ as the musical guest. He also sang a Schubert composition on the show.
In 1994, Morris was shot and seriously wounded in an attempted holdup in Los Angeles.
In the '80s, Morris appeared in a string of horror films. Later, he was a regular on the series â2 Broke Girls" and performed on TV comedies âMartin,â âThe Jamie Foxx Showâ and âThe Wayans Brothers.â He also appeared on âMarried with Children,â âFamily Guyâ and âThe Jeffersons.â
He competed with his family on âCelebrity Family Feudâ in 2016, appeared on âThis is Usâ in 2018 and on a âBlack Lady Sketch Showâ in 2019.
Morris also has a long list of film credits: Sidney Lumetâs âThe Anderson Tapes,â the classic âCooley High,â âThe Longshots,â âPawn Shopâ and Marvelâs âAnt-Manâ included.
Leanne Italie, The Associated Press
