NEW YORK — Live from New York! It’s 50 seasons later for “SNL.” The landmark NBC sketch comedy show “Saturday Night Live” premiered Oct. 11, 1975, with George Carlin as host and not one but two musical guests: Billy Preston and Janis Ian. Fast-forward to this year, Sept. 28, when the first episode of “SNL’s” half-century season is set to air in a lead-up to a three-hour live primetime special on Feb. 16.
So what became of the freshman “SNL” class?
John Belushi
“National Lampoon’s Animal House,” “Continental Divide,” “Neighbors” and all things The Blues Brothers. Belushi birthed his “Joliet” Jake Blues, joining fellow “SNL” cast member Dan Aykroyd as brother Elwood. Belushi left “SNL” in 1979 to pursue music and film projects.
Following years of drug use, he died from an overdose on March 5, 1982, at 33. Belushi’s death stunned friends and fans, and symbolized the end of the hard-living ’70s.
Gilda Radner
Nasally Roseanne Roseannadanna. Weird teen Lisa Loopner. Weekend Update’s “never mind” complainer Emily Litella. Radner contributed an endearing sweetness to the inaugural season of “SNL.” She stayed for five years. In 1979, the Emmy and Grammy winner took to Broadway to perform a one-woman show, “Gilda Live.” Some of her most beloved “SNL” characters, including Baba Wawa, a spoof of Barbara Walters, were included. Radner died in 1989 at 42 after a battle with ovarian cancer.
Chevy Chase
Chase was the first to utter the words, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” Initially hired as a writer, he was known on “SNL” for “Weekend Update,” his bumbling President Gerald Ford and his feuds with cast members. In his post-SNL years, there were two “Fletch” movies, “Caddyshack” and “The Three Amigos!” and five “Vacation” movies, though his appearance in the 2015 one was a cameo.
Laraine Newman
She left “SNL” in 1980 after portraying Connie Conehead, Valley Girl stewardess Sherry and ditzy public access TV co-host Christie Christina.
Newman, 72, has spoken openly about her struggles with depression and drug addiction during that time. She got sober in 1987.
Steady film, TV and voice work followed. She was the antagonist in the 1991 comedy “Problem Child 2,” appeared in 1993’s “Coneheads” as Connie’s Aunt Laarta, and performed in episodes of “Friends” and “3rd Rock from the Sun.”
Dan Aykroyd
When he wasn’t bleeding out as Julia Child or declaring, “Jane, you ignorant slut!” on “Weekend Update,” Aykroyd swagged with Steve Martin as one of two wild and crazy guys and led the Conehead family as patriarch Beldar.
He lent so much more to “SNL” before leaving in 1979, including his half of The Blues Brothers and impersonations of talk show host Tom Snyder, Rod Serling and two presidents: Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter.
With Belushi, his close friend, and backed by legit players, the bluesy and soulful brothers caught on as a band. They played gigs and released a multimillion-selling album, “Briefcase Full of Blues.”
His post-SNL work took him even higher. Hit after hit followed “The Blues Brothers: “Neighbors” in 1981, “Trading Places” in 1983 and “Ghostbusters” in 1984. Aykroyd earned a supporting actor Oscar nomination for 1989’s “Driving Miss Daisy.”
Jane Curtin
Curtin left “SNL” in 1980 after five seasons. She was a master of deadpan, often playing the straight woman off such outsized performers as Belushi and Radner. A regular on “Weekend Update,” she was known for the Coneheads sketches as matriarch Prymaat and Enid Loopner with fellow nerds Radner and Murray.
Curtin, 76, has spoken about being bothered by the drug-fueled lifestyles of some of her castmates. She won two Emmys for her 1980s sitcom “Kate & Allie.” She later starred as Dr. Mary Albright in the hit series “3rd Rock from the Sun.”
Garrett Morris
Initially hired as a writer, he was the oldest member of “SNL’s” first cast at 37. He came to the show after 17 years as a singer and arranger with Harry Belafonte, a stage actor, a playwright and a civil rights activist who helped desegregate Actor’s Equity.
He remained on “SNL” until 1980. He was known for his character Chico Escuela, the Dominican baseball player whose catchphrase, “Baseball has been berry, berry good to me,” caught on in pop culture. He also performed as the shouting interpreter in the “News for the Hard of Hearing” segments. In the ’80s, Morris appeared in a string of horror films. Later, he was a regular on the series “2 Broke Girls” and performed on TV comedies “Martin,” “The Jamie Foxx Show” and “The Wayans Brothers.”
