It’s been almost 50 years since the premiere episode of Saturday Night Live back in October 1975. However, despite time’s passing, this iconic television variety and sketch comedy show has found a way to stay relevant to this day, leaving an everlasting mark on the entertainment industry. Created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol, SNL became, one season at a time, a benchmark of comedy and a household name for American viewers and audiences around the world.
Michaels is the fundamental pillar of the project and, except for a few years in the 1980s when he left SNL to pursue other opportunities, he remains in his role as showrunner to this day. However, his journey on the show may soon come to an end, as rumors are swirling that Lorne wishes to retire on SNL‘s 50th anniversary on the air.
Throughout its 48 seasons, Saturday Night Live has put out some of the best sketch comedy of all time, and showcased an array of performers, many of whom have been able to capitalize on the project to launch their careers to stardom. Some of SNL‘s most relevant cast members over the years are Will Ferrell, Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Adam Sandler, and Andy Samberg, among many, many comedians who are now major stars in the industry. Many of them have also remained on the show as writers or have even hosted it occasionally. As SNL evolved and adapted to cultural changes and trends throughout its run on the air, its cast also changed considerably, bringing in new comedic talent to breathe new life into the project.
However, its original cast, which was once dubbed “The Not Ready For Prime-Time Players,” remains an integral part of the entertainment history. Sadly, John Belushi and Gilda Radner, two of the original cast members, passed away in the 1980s, shortly after leaving SNL. The remaining members of the original cast are still active in the industry to this day. Here’s what they are doing now.
Laraine Newman
By the time Laraine Newman joined the original cast of SNL, the performer was already one of the pioneering members of the improvisational comedy group The Groundlings, which also housed some of the industry’s most prominent comedians. For five seasons, Newman was featured on Saturday Night Live until she decided to leave the show in 1980 to pursue a career in film.
While she has appeared in a few film productions over the years, such as Coneheads and The Flintstones, her focus has undoubtedly been on television and voice acting. Newman has voiced several characters in animated shows such as Rugrats, CatDog, and Avatar: The Last Airbender, and in movies such as Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and Cars, among many others.
The latest film in which she was seen on-screen is, so far, the 2016 romantic comedy The Late Bloomer, directed by Kevin Pollak and starring Johnny Simmons. On television, she landed guest roles in a few episodes of shows such as Dice, The Spookys, and Ghosts, the CBS sitcom that was renewed for a third season last January.
Jane Curtin
Jane Curtin was on the show as long as Newman, leaving the cast in 1980. But, unlike her castmate, Curtin decided to pursue television rather than film projects, although she has appeared in a few movies over the years. Among her most relevant projects after SNL we can mention the show Kate & Allie, which won her an Emmy Award, as well as 3rd Rock from the Sun, the sitcom in which she co-starred alongside John Lithgow, Kristen Johnson, French Stewart, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Over the last few years, her contributions to the industry have not been as many, but she has still been involved in some projects. After starring in Michael Lembeck’s rom-com Queen Bees in 2021, Curtin played Sandy Ryan in the ABC sitcom United We Fall, a woman who utterly disrupts the lives of her daughter and family when she moves in with them. Her most recent cameo appearance so far was in an episode of The Conners‘ fifth season.
Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd was the youngest member of the show’s first cast, and although he was originally hired as a writer, he ended up becoming one of the seven main performers. His run on SNL lasted four seasons, but he managed to stand out and become one of the most iconic cast members of the production, creating the hit act The Blues Brothers with John Belushi and winning an Emmy Award for his work as a writer, among many other accolades.
Undoubtedly, one of the biggest projects of his career is the Ghostbusters franchise, which kicked off in 1984 with him serving as writer and co-star. Over the years, Aykroyd has played Dr. Raymond Stantz in a number of productions in the franchise, the latest so far being the 2021 comedy Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Aside from his work on these films in recent years, Dan landed a supporting role on Catherine Reitman’s series Workin’ Moms, which he played in the show’s first and seventh seasons, and also served as the narrator of the 2020 show Hotel Paranormal.
Garrett Morris
Garrett Morris was the oldest member of the original cast, and before joining the project he had already been working both as an actor and musician for several years. While his time on SNL remains among the most acclaimed credits of his career, after five seasons on the show, Morris left to pursue roles in film and television. He has been featured in productions such as The Jeffersons, The Jamie Foxx Show, and 2 Broke Girls, as well as several films and short films over the years. The latest is the 2019 comedy Grand-Daddy Day Care, which wraps up the Daddy Day Care trilogy.
In recent years, Morris has been mostly active in television, where he took part in different episodes of shows like Grand Crew and How I Met Your Father. His latest major project so far is the Netflix drama show Self Made, inspired by the life of Madam C. J. Walker and starring Octavia Spencer.
Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase was the member of the original cast who spent the least amount of time on SNL, but he still managed to linger in the audience’s mind with his memorable lines and sketches. For his work as an actor and writer on the show, Chase won a Golden Globe and two Emmy Awards before quitting SNL in 1976. From then on, he pursued a career primarily in film, going on to star in hit productions such as Caddyshack and National Lampoon’s Vacation. The most recent film in his portfolio is the 2021 animated children’s production Panda vs. Aliens.
While Chase has made a name for himself in movies, his most popular role in recent years was as part of a TV production: the NBC sitcom Community. In this Dan Harmon show, Chevy played Pierce Hawthorne alongside actors such as Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs and Danny Pudi. However, Chase’s inappropriate and disrespectful behavior on set and his constant fights with the crew and cast resulted in his departure from the series upon mutual agreement with the production following the show’s fourth season.
John Belushi
John Belushi may have had a brief career in the entertainment industry, but he has left an indelible mark that remains to this day. He was an SNL cast member for four years, as was his friend and collaborator Dan Aykroyd, and during his run on the show, he delivered memorable sketches and characters.
One of his greatest contributions was The Blues Brothers, which he created with Aykroyd for SNL and later ran as a band. The two even starred in a movie featuring the group, which was one of the reasons why they eventually left the show. After SNL, Belushi pursued a career in film, starring in productions such as Goin’ South, Animal House and Continental Divide.
His last film role was in the 1981 comedy Neighbors, and one year after that, he passed away in West Hollywood, California as a result of a drug intoxication, an addiction he had been carrying since his early years in the industry.
Gilda Radner
Gilda Radner rounded out the original cast of Saturday Night Live, and like some of her co-stars, she remained on the show for five seasons until 1980, also contributing as a writer for some of her sketches. By 1979, she premiered her one-woman show on Broadway, which was later made into a film and released as Gilda Live.
After leaving SNL, Radner starred in a few films, such as Hanky Panky and The Woman in Red, and made appearances on several TV shows, mostly as herself. In 1986, the actress and comedian was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, a condition that led to her passing in 1989.