Get this: Gilda's Club -- the cancer support group named for Gilda Radner, who once claimed that cancer is "an elite club I'd rather not belong to" -- is getting a new name. The reason? People born after 1989 don't know who Gilda Radner is. Uh, interesting: 20-year-olds seem to know who John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and Dan Aykroyd are, but Gilda Radner, arguably the most original and explosive talent in SNL history, slides under the radar? This is unspeakable news in the worst way possible.
Quick, please memorize these six points and tell them to everybody you know who is born in the '90s. This is an important performer for many reasons. Save the advanced knowledge about her Toronto Godspell stint, Second City, Candy Slice, her Baba Wawa impersonation that used to infuriate Barbara Walters, First Family, The Woman In Red, and the failure of Haunted Honeymoon for semi-advanced children.
1. She's the only female Saturday Night Live cast member to win an Emmy for her work on the show.
2. Her most famous character is Roseanne Roseannadanna, and she annoyed Jane Curtin at the Weekend Update desk.
3. The greatest SNL short wasn't a Lonely Island production; it was Gilda in a commercial for Jewess Jeans.
4. She was married to Gene Wilder. It was the most kickass marriage of all time.
5. Her Broadway show Gilda Live turned into a movie directed by Mike Nichols. Yes, of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Working Girl, kids.
6. Her memoir It's Always Something was published around the time of her death. It contains amazingly candid revelations, such as the following: "I coped with stress by having every possible eating disorder from the time I was nine years old." Best celebrity memoir ever? Potentially.
Spread this message! Go forth!
And please, please add your own essentials in the comments.
