Comedienne-actress Radner began her career with the Second City improvisation troupe in Toronto; her fellow members included John Belushi, with whom she starred on radio in the "National Lampoon Radio Hour" and The National Lampoon Show. In 1975 she was the first cast member named for the new sketch-comedy series "Saturday Night Live," thus becoming one of the original "Not Ready for Prime-Time Players;" she quickly became popular for the characters she created on the show. In 1979 she starred on Broadway in Gilda Live, which was filmed and theatrically released in 1980. From 1980-82 she was married to "Saturdy Night Live" musician (later bandleader) G.E. Smith. In 1984 she married actor-filmmaker Gene Wilder, and costarred with him in several of his films. She died from ovarian cancer at age 42. She authored an autobiography, It's Always Something (1989).
Gilda Radner
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- Made her stage debut in a 1972 Toronto production of Godspell.
- Joined a Second City Toronto troupe in 1973 that included Dan Aykroyd, Brian Doyle-Murray and Eugene Levy.
- Made her first film appearance in 1973's The Last Detail, which featured future Saturday Night Live cast member Randy Quaid
- Notable SNL characters Emily Litella, Roseanne Roseannadanna and Baba Wawa were included in her 1979 Broadway debut Gilda Radner: Live From New York, which was released on film and as an album titled Gilda Live!
- Met future husband Gene Wilder while filming the 1982 movie Hanky Panky and made her final film appearance opposite him in 1986's Haunted Honeymoon.
- Wrote about her battle with ovarian cancer in the best-selling, posthumously published memoir It's Always Something.
- The Gilda Radner Hereditary Cancer Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center conducts research for women at risk for breast and ovarian cancers.