Gilda Susan Radner was born in Detroit on June 28, 1946. In her autobiography, she stated that she was named after Rita Hayworth's character in the film Gilda, which premiered three months earlier.
Through her father, Radner developed a love of the theatre, as he would often take her to New York for shows on the Broadway stage. Back in their native Detroit, he managed the famed Seville Hotel, where countless artists stayed while performing in the Motor City.
In 1969, Radner dropped out of college and moved to Toronto. It was here that she made her theatrical debut, in a production of Godspell, opposite future box office stars Eugene Levy, Victor Garber, and Martin Short. From there, she joined Toronto's famed Second City comedy troupe, working with future greats like John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, and Dan Aykroyd.
Of course, Radner is most famous as one of the original cast members of Saturday Night Live, which she began in 1975. Over the next five years, she introduced a slew of classic characters, including the hard-of-hearing Emily Litella and advice specialist Roseanne Roseannadanna, roles that would land her an Emmy Award in 1978. She left the show in 1980 and appeared in a string of mostly forgettable box office comedies.
In 1985, Radner was on location with her husband, actor Gene Wilder, her co-star in one of the aforementioned films, the 1986 bomb Haunted Honeymoon. It was during production when Radner first started to notice that something was wrong. She complained of severe fatigue and leg pain, but doctors were stumped. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She'd spend the next four years as the public face of the disease, but, with Gene at her side, she ultimately passed away on June 28, 1946. She was just 42 years old.
Gilda Radner was laid to rest in Long Ridge Union Cemetery in Stamford, Connecticut.
 |
| Location: Center of the cemetery Inscription: Comedienne - Ballerina |
Rest in peace.
Trivia
- If you want to learn more about Gilda Radner, take a voyage to Amazon. Its all in books.
- Despite the inscription on her headstone, this blogger can find no evidence that Radner was into ballet.
- Following her death, Radner was recognized with a series of awards, including a 1990 Grammy for the narration of her memoirs. She was also inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the same hospital where she passed, now has the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Center.
- According to Penny Marshall, Radner was considered for the role of Shirley Feeney on Laverne and Shirley, the role that ultimately went to Cindy Williams.
- In 1991, Gener Wilder co-founded Gilda's Club, a national non-profit organization that offers support to people living with cancer. In 2009, it was rechristened as the Cancer Support Community, but still offers many of the same services. Check out their website for more information.
- Two years after Radner's passing, Gene Wilder took his fourth wife, a speech pathologist he'd worked with on the film See No Evil, Hear No Evil, which could never be made today. They remained married until his death in 2016, which could explain why he was not buried with Radner. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered.
