Terry Sweeney Biography

Fast Facts

• Was the first openly gay player in "Saturday Night Live" history and the first to appear on American network television
• Graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in Spanish and Italian in 1973
• Started out as a counselor and waiter before deciding to pursue screenwriting
• Quote: "It's not always the homophobia; it's a lot of times just that's not your world․ If you're straight․․․You think that you find a gay guy over there, and a straight guy's over here, and it doesn't occur to people that they're ever in the same place․"
• Quote: "(On "Saturday Night Live"): "I think the writers came to think of me as just the gay guy․․․it's just a question where I would feel like, 'Hey, I can do this [straight roles] too․' So I think I felt the brunt of some prejudice․""
• Best known as a writer and cast member on "Saturday Night Live" and as a writer on "MADtv․"
• Did impersonations of Diana Ross, Patti LaBelle, Joan Collins, Nancy Reagan, and Ted Kennedy, the last of which was his only male impersonation
• Got his writing job at "Saturday Night Live" by posing as a sandwich delivery man in order to give producer Jean Doumanian his sketch scripts