Whatever Happened To The Original Cast Of Saturday Night Live?

Love it or hate it, "Saturday Night Live" is an institution that's been impacting culture for over 50 years. The show has given the world countless spot-on impressions, featured some of the most powerful politicians in modern American history, racked up more Emmy nominations than any other show on television, and started the careers of some of the most influential writers and performers in entertainment, including Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Bill Murray, Adam Sandler, and Amy Poehler. Without "SNL," the world wouldn't have access to some of the best Kate McKinnon transformations, and there might not have been drama between Elon Musk and Chloe Fineman. And it would be criminal not to mention all the late night hosts that got their start on "SNL."

But none of that would've been possible without the inimitable original cast. In 1975, Lorne Michaels gathered a group of some of the funniest people to ever live, and they didn't just make audiences laugh week after week or add another credit that would eventually be included on their IMDb. That group of people changed the world as we know it, and their contributions to society are still felt today. But "SNL" wasn't the end-all, be-all for that original cast. They all moved on from the show eventually. Here's what happened to the original cast of "Saturday Night Live."

Few cast members of "Saturday Night Live" have left as big of an impact as Gilda Radner. The comedian was on the show for its first five seasons, making a name for herself with characters like Baba Wawa, Lisa Loopner, and Emily Litella, and inspiring countless other performers with her most iconic character, Roseanne Roseannadanna. After her time on "SNL," Radner continued acting, finding work in a handful of films including "Hanky Panky," "The Woman in Red," and "Haunted Honeymoon." Sadly, Radner's career was cut short. Three years after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she died at the age of 42. This was one of the first tragic deaths of several "Saturday Night Live" stars.

Radner's loss was felt deeply by the comedy community, especially those who worked with her at "SNL." The show paid tribute to the former cast member after her death during an episode hosted by Steve Martin. During Martin's monologue, the show aired a sketch called "Dancing in the Dark" that he and Radner had recorded a decade prior. Holding back tears, Martin noted that it's the people at "SNL" who keep him returning to host, and after the clip aired, he finished the tribute by saying, "When I look at that tape, I can't help but think how great she was and how young I looked. Gilda, we miss you."

When asked to think of a member of the original cast of "Saturday Night Live," there's a good chance the first person named would be Chevy Chase. The comedian was the first performer to host the famed "Weekend Update" segment, and he became well-known for his character Land Shark and his impression of president Gerald Ford. Though widely associated with the show's inception, Chase was only an "SNL" cast member for a little over one season, leaving midway through the second season to focus on other projects. His gambit proved successful, and Chase went on to star in films like "Caddyshack," "Three Amigos!", and the "National Lampoon's Vacation" series. Chase is still a working actor, best known to modern audiences for his role in the hit sitcom "Community."

Though Chase left "SNL" earlier than some might have anticipated, he remained close with the show for many years. He's part of the Five-Timers Club, and he's appeared on the show as recently as 2013. However, Chase was noticeably absent from "SNL 50: The Anniversary Special," which gathered stars of the show and celebrities who've been part of the institution to celebrate its massive milestone. And Chase wasn't pleased with the snub. "I expected that I would've been on the stage too with all the other actors. When Garrett [Morris] and Laraine [Newman] went on the stage there. I was curious as to why I didn't. No one asked me to. Why was I left aside?" Chase asked in the CNN documentary "I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not." "They should've had me on that stage. It hurt."

Dan Aykroyd is a "Saturday Night Live" legend. The comedian was part of the cast for the first four seasons of the show, with his time there defined by characters like Elwood Blues and Fred Garvin, as well as impressions of presidents Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon. After leaving the show, Aykroyd remained a comedic stalwart, appearing in films like "Coneheads," "Tommy Boy," and, of course, "The Blues Brothers." Aykroyd also had some opportunities to flex his dramatic acting muscles, appearing in films like "My Girl" and "Pearl Harbor," and even earning an Oscar nomination for his work in "Driving Miss Daisy." Aykroyd is still acting today, with much of his work coming from voice roles.

Another classic film that Aykroyd was part of in his post-"SNL" days is "Ghostbusters." Aykroyd wrote the original film with Harold Ramis, and he starred in it alongside Ramis, Bill Murray, and Sigourney Weaver. "Ghostbusters" has remained a theme in Aykroyd's life as he wrote and starred in the film's sequel, appeared in the gender-swapped reboot in 2016, and received writing and acting credits for some spin-off "Ghostbusters" projects. 

All these years later, Aykroyd is still happy to discuss the franchise. In a 2024 interview for the YouTube channel Jake's Takes, he shared that he and the team wrote the film at his home in Martha's Vineyard, but he made everyone stay in the basement until the script was finished. "I said, 'No, we're not going to look at that view. We're going to go downstairs where we can't see anything,' and we basically refined it to come up with the shooting draft in those two weeks. That was so much fun," Aykroyd said.

John Belushi was on "Saturday Night Live" for the first four seasons, quickly becoming one of the most popular performers on the cast. He dazzled audiences with his character work — Jake Blues and Samurai Futaba among the most popular — and he delivered memorable impressions of Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Marlon Brando, William Shatner, and more. Belushi starred in four films after leaving "SNL": "1941," "The Blues Brothers," "Continental Divide," and "Neighbors." Tragically, in 1982, Belushi died at 33 years old. The actor was found in his hotel room at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, and it was later determined that he died from a drug overdose.

In the first episode after his death, "SNL" paid tribute to Belushi. His friend and co-star Brian Doyle-Murray said of the late performer, "John put me up when I first came to New York and took care of me." Doyle-Murray continued with a remarkable story of how Belushi once saved his life and ended his tribute by saying, "I always thought he was indestructible. Speaking for the current cast, the band, the staff backstage, and the crew here in the studio, hundreds of people who knew and worked with John, we mourn his death, and we miss him very much." Belushi's impact on the show is still felt. At "SNL50," a short film called "Don't Look Back in Anger," featuring Belushi and the entire original cast, was played as a tribute.

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Jane Curtin is a "Saturday Night Live" legend in her own right. While some of her original co-stars left "Saturday Night Live," Curtin remained part of the cast for five seasons, spending four of them as the host of "Weekend Update," making her the second host, and first female host, in the segment's history. After Curtin moved on from "SNL," she continued acting, appearing in both movies and TV shows like "Coneheads," "Kate & Allie," "3rd Rock from the Sun," and "I Love You, Man." Curtin was one of many former "SNL" cast members who appeared on "SNL50: The Anniversary Special," and she and Laraine Newman ended the night by paying tribute to their fellow original cast member Gilda Radner by holding up a picture of the late comedian.

Like many of the original cast members, Curtin has been open about what the first few years at the iconic show were like for her. In a 2023 interview with People, the actor shared that while she got along with everyone on the cast, she lived a quieter life than some of her co-stars. She also acknowledged she didn't always get on well with John Belushi. "I did have problems with John. But that was because John wasn't John. He was an addict," Curtin said. "I had a life — a dog, a husband, an apartment with a little garden. It was a life I really enjoyed ... John, obviously, he could party with the best of them, but the next day these guys were just so miserable. Plus, the 90 minutes on the show were so exciting and adrenaline-pumping, I felt all the other stuff was self-indulgent and seemed hard," she said.

Laraine Newman is another original "Saturday Night Live" cast member who stayed at the show for its first five seasons. Her time there was defined by her impressions of famous females including Katharine Hepburn, Margaret Trudeau, and Olivia Newton-John, as well as playing one of the Coneheads. After leaving "SNL," Newman followed the same steps as most of her co-stars, acting in other projects like "Coneheads" and the 1994 live-action adaptation of "The Flintstones," but she eventually switched gears and focused on voice acting. Now, Newman is one of the most prolific voice actors in Hollywood, with projects like "Rugrats," Monsters, Inc.," "Madagascar," "Up," "Inside Out," and "SpongeBob SquarePants" among her credits — and that's just scratching the surface.

In a 2024 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Newman shared why she opted to focus on voice acting. "When I had my kids, I was doing TV here and there. But the hours were stressful because I felt guilty and worried about their care. I also started to develop a bad stage fright with regard to auditions. So I took stock and realized my favorite thing to do was characters," she said. Newman has done some more live-action work in recent years, and her legacy has officially poured into the next generation — she's the famous mom of "Hacks" star Hannah Einbinder.

Though he was part of the original cast, George Coe only appeared on a handful of episodes of "Saturday Night Live" — nine total throughout Seasons 1, 4, and 12. These days, "SNL" is usually the first major credit to a cast member's acting resume, but when the show first started, quite a few of the actors were already established in the industry. Before "SNL," Coe had appeared in two soap operas and "The Stepford Wives," and he had received an Oscar nomination for his short film "De Duva: The Dove."

After his short time at "SNL," Coe continued working as an actor, appearing in films like "Kramer vs. Kramer," "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and "Reservoir Dogs." He also appeared in dozens of popular television shows, like "The Golden Girls," "L.A. Law," "The West Wing," and "Grey's Anatomy." Coe was a true character actor, and one of his last projects was one of his most notable. The actor died in 2015, but not before lending his voice to the popular animated series "Archer." Shortly after Coe's death, "Archer" creator Adam Reed took to Esquire to remember the comedian. "When we're casting, we get all the auditions in and listen to them in one long session, hearing the same few lines over and over and over, so people tend to melt into the furniture. But two seconds into George's takes, everyone sat bolt upright ... The voice George had come up with for Woodhouse just had this sort of perfect 'chipper sadness' to it," Reed said.

Garrett Morris stayed on "Saturday Night Live" for the first five seasons, and he was known for recurring characters like Chico Escuela, Cliff, and Hodo. After leaving "SNL," Morris continued acting, appearing in films like "Coneheads" and "Silent Fury," but primarily leaving his mark on the entertainment industry through sitcoms like "Martin," "The Jamie Foxx Show," and "2 Broke Girls." Morris even returned to sketch comedy later in his career for an episode of "A Black Lady Sketch Show."

Morris hasn't appeared in another regular episode of "SNL" since exiting the cast, but he has been part of the milestone anniversaries, which seems to be indicative of his time at the show. Morris was the first Black actor on "SNL," and he was the only Black actor the entire time he was a member of the cast. "Being the one Black guy, I was just concerned about whether I'd be used at all. It was not an unusual experience to be the one Black person in a cast of mostly white people. I had to fight to get people to write for me," Morris said in an essay written for Time ahead of the show's 50th anniversary. Despite the challenges he faced, Morris is glad to be part of the "SNL" legacy. "There was a lot of energy, and a lot of beautiful people ... They were all just such talented people, and I was really honored to be a part of that group," he said of the original cast.

Michael O'Donoghue wasn't a main cast member, but he was an important part of the roster. He not only uttered the very first line on the first episode of "Saturday Night Live," but he served as the show's head writer for a few seasons. O'Donoghue did appear in other sketches over the years, and he wrote during his entire tenure at "SNL," even returning for the 11th season as a writer and not a performer. In his post-"SNL" work, O'Donoghue acted in four projects: "Head Office," "The Suicide Club," "Wall Street," and the classic Bill Murray Christmas film "Scrooged," the last of which O'Donoghue co-wrote. Sadly, in 1994, O'Donoghue died unexpectedly from a cerebral hemorrhage at age 54.

Like most members of the "SNL" universe, O'Donoghue was paid tribute to on the show after his death. Murray introduced a sketch of O'Donoghue's and talked about the late comedian with humor and heart. "Michael used to say, 'You only live once, usually not even then,' but Michael lived well, and we all loved him," Murray said of his friend. Members of the "SNL" cast and crew also gathered privately at O'Donoghue's apartment for a wake. Murray paid tribute to O'Donoghue at the wake, as did others, including Chevy Chase. "Michael told me 'Someday you'll make a mediocre movie star.' I don't know how to say this but I loved Michael and I'm crushed that he's dead," Chase said, as reported by the Daily Beast.