From Chris Farley’s speedball overdose to Norm Macdonald’s unexpected death in 2021, these stories highlight how many Saturday Night Live cast members died tragically young.
Since it premiered in 1975, the joy of Saturday Night Live has come from its cast members. Comedians like Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, and countless others skyrocketed to fame on the variety show. But sadly, some of SNL’s most talented cast members have met early ends.
The very first SNL cast member to die was also one of the most beloved: John Belushi. A member of the original SNL cast, Belushi was known for his dynamic performances both on the show and in cult classics like Animal House. But Belushi also had a drug problem.
By the end of his life, Belushi was so trapped in the cycle of addiction that he was spending more than $2,000 a week on cocaine. Still, John Belushi’s death at the age of just 33 came as a total shock — and a warning to many of his friends in comedy.
But Belushi was far from the last SNL cast member to die young. Some, like Chris Farley, sadly followed in Belushi’s footsteps. Others, like Gilda Radner, died shockingly young of natural causes. And Phil Hartman was murdered by his own wife when he was just 49.
These are the stories of Saturday Night Live cast members who died far too young, from their time on the show to the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
‘Gilda, We Miss You’: Gilda Radner’s Death At 42
NBCGilda Radner was part of SNL’s original cast, known as the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players.”
Gilda Radner was the very first cast member to be hired for Saturday Night Live — originally called NBC’s Saturday Night — which premiered in 1975. And less than 20 years later, Radner tragically became one of the first of the original cast to pass away. She died of ovarian cancer on May 20, 1989 at the age of 42.
Born on June 28, 1946 in Detroit, Michigan, Radner was introduced to show business at a young age. According to her obituary in The New York Times, her father, a born performer who liked doing magic tricks, owned a hotel where show business types often passed through.
As an adult, Radner sought to become a performer herself. After a brief stint at the University of Michigan, where she majored in drama, Radner moved to Canada and performed with the Toronto branch of the Second City improv group. In New York, she went on to perform in The National Lampoon Radio Hour and The National Lampoon Show and caught the eye of producer Lorne Michaels, who was casting for a new variety show for NBC.
“I felt there was a remarkable quality to her, a goodness which came through whatever she was doing,” Michaels remarked.
Part of the original cast known as the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players,” Radner made her mark on Saturday Night Live with characters like Roseanne Roseannadanna, Lisa Loopner, and Emily Litella. Warm, zany, and magnetic, Radner delighted SNL fans. But things were often tumultuous behind the scenes. Radner struggled with eating disorders for much of her adult life, and reportedly had an ill-fated romance with her fellow cast member Bill Murray.
NBCGilda Radner and Steve Martin on SNL.
Radner left SNL in 1980 and went on to perform in films. But she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1986, and died of the disease in 1989.
“Cancer is probably the most unfunny thing in the world,” she wrote in her autobiography, It’s Always Something. “But I’m a comedienne, and even cancer couldn’t stop me from seeing humor in what I went through.”
On the day of her death, SNL host Steve Martin started the show with a clip that he and Radner had previously filmed, and remarked that the vignette showed “how great she was and how young I looked.” He added: “Gilda, we miss you.”
