Gidabio

Gilda Susan Radner was born on June 28th 1946 in Detroit, Michigan. She had two loving parents, Henrietta and Herman, and one older brother Michael. She was very close to her family, and they ended up playing a vital role in her career. Gilda was especially close to her father. When she was little she was surrounded by many performers. She would often see her father laugh so hard at their jokes that he would "shake like a leaf". So in return she made it a goal to make him shake too. When Gilda was fourteen her father died of a brain tumor. Alan Zwiebel said "It was like she was performing for him".

        After high school Gilda went to the University of Michigan, but never graduated. Regardless she is listed in the hall of fame. Instead she moved to Toronto, Canada. She began performing pantomime for local elementary schools for sixty dollars a week. From there she on Toronto's Second City. She was in the first cast with Andrea Marian, Eugene Levy and John Candy, among others. After her run with Second City she moved to New York City to be in a production of "Godspell" directed by John Belushi. She played "the girl". Soon after that, Lorne Michaels (producer of SNL) wanted her to be in a new and controversial TV show. At the same time she had an offer to be in a Toronto talk show, for twice the pay. She decided to go with her heart and stay in NYC for the new show. She was the first cast member hired for Saturday Night Live.

       As we all know, SNL is what made her famous. She developed many wonderful characters including, Roseanne Rosanna Danna, Emily Litella, Baba Wawa, and Candy Slice. Gilda became the toast of the town and then country. People Magazine called her "America's Sweetheart". After Gilda's very successful four year run on SNL (1975- 1979) she went on to fulfill another childhood dream, being on Broadway. She starred in her own Broadway play, produced by Lorne Michaels, called "Gilda Live". Gilda Live was a compilation of all her SNL characters. It had a successful 7-week run in Manhattan's Winter Garden Theater.

    In the cast of "Gilda Live" was SNL lead guitarist G.E. Smith. She fell in love with him. The couple we're married in 1980. Gilda says, "The brilliant musician and the spirited comedienne had a civil ceremony in downtown Manhattan. I wore a crinoline on my head an d carried a bouquet of lollipops. G.E. wore his best jeans." The two lived in the famous Dakota apartment building and, "held each other tight the night John Lennon was killed." In August 1981 Gilda began work on a new movie, "Hanky Panky". Her co-star was Gene Wilder. Gilda said "I saw him in person, my heart fluttered- I was hooked..... I was bitten by love and you can tell in the movie....It wasn't good for my movie career, but it changed my life." But at the time she was still married to G.E., in 1982 they divorced. Gene and Gilda began seeing each other, and on September 18, 1984 they were married in the South of France. Gilda say's, "The whole ceremony was in French and I didn't understand a word. I would wait till there was a pause and then say "Oui" (I do). Then the mayor would have to say, "Attendez! Attendez!" (Wait, wait!), so then I'd wait for the next pause. For a comedienne, my timing was really off....It was raining that day and someone said that meant good luck, but I have a feeling people say things like that so you won't feel bad wearing a raincoat over your wedding gown."

    Gilda has always wanted to have children. She and Gene had tried desperately to have children, but they soon found out her tubes were closed. They decided to together that she would have the major surgery to have them re-opened. After that, they tried every method under the sun to have children, including invitro fertilization. While working on the movie "Haunted Honeymoon", when they hadn't been trying to get pregnant, they found out she was pregnant. They celebrated, and decided to only tell a few close friends. Three weeks later, Gilda miscarried. Gilda said she "didn't mourn as much as the thought", but at least she knew she could get pregnant. But before the movie wrapped, she began feeling ill. Tired all the time with achy bones, she wanted to know what was wrong with her.

      In October 1985, after being diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus, She found out she had cancer. "A flush went through my body, and out of my mouth came an sound like a guttural animal cry." And after a four years of a courageous fight Gilda died on May 29th, 1989. She left a wonderful legacy that continues to encourage, support and give hope to everyone who love Gilda.

For more information please read "It's Always Something" Gilda's Autobiography
"Bunny, Bunny: a Sort of Love Story" by Alan Zwiebell.