The actress and comedienne Gilda Radner was born on June 28, 1946 in Detroit, Michigan, meaning on this birthday she would be in her late 60s if she were still around. It is hard to picture the ever-youthful Radner in her old age. But it is not difficult to imagine what Radner, who passed away from ovarian cancer in May 1989, would be doing now. She would be making us smile.
I was a kid when Saturday Night Live premiered in 1975, and I remember staying up late to watch it with my older sister and her boyfriend (both who wished I would go to bed). Live television was something new for my generation, and there was something strange and wonderful about the new show. Although I had no idea how the Not Ready for Prime Time Players would ultimately be a constant presence in my life, I did sense that those folks would be around awhile. It was just too bad that some of them like Radner and John Belushi did not stick around longer.
In 1979, during one of her final seasons on Saturday Night Live, Radner appeared on Broadway in Gilda Radner – Live From New York, and one of the performances was later taped for television. In this segment she captures some of that childhood innocence in the song “Honey (Touch Me With My Clothes On).” If you watch closely, you’ll catch Paul Shaffer on piano, and the saxophone player is Howard Shore, who went on to win three Academy Awards for writing the themes to the Lord of the Rings trilogy movies. [2016 Update: Unfortunately, the video of the performance is no longer available, but you may hear it below.]
More recently, Radner’s performance of “Honey (Touch Me With My Clothes On)” was sampled in Kid Koala’s “Vacation Island.”
We miss you Gilda.
What is your favorite Gilda Radner performance? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)