Gilda Radner Biography

Fast Facts

• Was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003
• Studied Drama at the University of Michigan, but left early to being her acting career in Toronto
• Was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1985 and eventually succumbed to the disease in 1989, after which her husband, Gene Wilder, founded the cancer support community Gilda's Club
• Made her acting debut in a production of "Godspell" in 1972, and soon after joined Second City in Toronto
• Was a featured player on "The National Lampoon Show" and "The National Lampoon Radio Hour" in 1973
• Best known as a "Saturday Night Live" cast member and as Vickie Pearle in "Haunted Honeymoon․"
• Performed in her one-woman show, "Gilda Radner - Live from New York" in 1979, and later recorded the production as the film "Gilda Live!"
• Created the original "Saturday Night Live" characters Lisa Loopner, Roseanne Rosannadanna, and Candy Slice and also did impersonations of Patti Smith, Lucille Ball, and Olga Korbut
• She was the first cast member that creator Lorne Michaels hired for "Saturday Night Live" in 1975