Gilda Radner was a popular
comedian noted for her performances on
Saturday Night Live. Gilda was born in
Detroit,
Michigan and attended the
University of Michigan. Here she studied
drama, but later dropped out to pursue a job in
Toronto, playing in the rock musical
Godspell.
Gilda then joined Second City, an improv comedy group. She later appeared in the National Lampoon Radio Hour and the National Lampoon Show.
When SNL was started, she was one of the original cast members. She wrote skits for it, as well as appearing at least three times a month. Her wacky portrayals of both fictional and real people earned her stardom, along with Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, and John Belushi. She was awwarded an Emmy for the show in 1978.
The following year, she had her own one-woman show called "Gilda Radner - Live From New York", which was later issued as a video.
Gilda also played in several movies, including The Woman in Red, in which she directed in co-starred with Gene Wilder, whom she later married.
After developing ovarian cancer, she wrote a book about her battle of the disease, titled "It's Always Something". She died of the cancer in 1989, the same year she wrote the book.