Gilda Radner Talks SNL, Her Career, and Meeting Gene Wilder | Cinema Showcase (July 12, 1986) 

One day, New York circa 2005ish, I was in line at a deli and I spotted Gene Wilder in line in front of me. I am not someone who gets star struck but I am an enormous Gilda fan and, well, seriously, this was Willy Wonka! I was dying to tell him how wonderful I thought he was, but mostly I had about a thousand questions about Gilda that I wanted to ask. Lucky for him I'm too shy to approach anyone like that. Based on his interaction with the clerk he was a regular at this deli. The clerk asked him something along the lines of, "you have a big day planned?" Gene replied, "Just heading up to visit Gilda." and I thought that was amazing. Gilda passed away 15 years before that and he was still visiting her grave. True love.

She was wonderfully hilarious on SNL. Died so very young at age 42 of ovarian cancer. You are truly missed Gilda !

she had such a beautiful spirit. you can see it when she smiles.

I miss Gilda Radner so much. She was a talented, and very funny woman.

she was so lovely. I miss her a lot.

This was one of the best interviews with Gilda Radner that she gave. It's hard to believe that she was 40 years old when she did this interview--she looks much younger. It's also hard to believe that she would be 77 years old now in 2023.

This interview was about four months before she was diagnosed with the ovarian cancer that took her life less than three years after this interview was done. She had been sick for about a year before this interview, but they unfortunately didn't properly diagnose her until October 1986. A great tragedy, she was much too young. She was a great talent who I appreciate even more today when I look at the old clips.

Gilda was the first SNL cast member ever hired in the history of the show.

What a genuine person she was.... humility. Another one taken too soon.💔

Such a talented and down-to-earth lady. Miss her.

In these days going back to her is a joy as she was .

I think this is the most down-to-Earth I've ever seen Gilda.

I've been watching SNL since the beginning.....Even today, it's the only show I make sure I see. There was no one better than Gilda.

Gilda was a true angel. At least she had a true love in her life before she left us. We are lucky she will always be online or on film for the future generations to enjoy.

I saw that run of 'Godspell' that Gilda was in, in Toronto with a girlfriend when we were about fourteen. There was a wonderful energy to it and while we waited for our drive home, we watched the cast come out and joke together before they went their separate ways. Gilda was such a bright light. Gone too soon.

Unfortunately all the love we had for Gilda was not enough to cure her. RIP Sweet Gilda Radner

Gilda is a wonderful person and would probably still be on tv if she was here today. Rest in Peace Gilda

🌸🏵🌺She was so kind and beautiful.🌺🌼🏵

I love that she is so supportive of her fellow comedians, especially those she never met, when she says at about 2:38 "the show has spawned wonderful talented people and will continue to as long as the show goes on." Think of everyone after her cast who are part of U.S. comedy history, many of whom she would never come to know: Eddie Murphy, Will Farrel, Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Kristin Wiig, Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Molly Shannon, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Seth Myers, Jimmy Fallon, Martin Short, Adam Sandler, David Spade...

Love Gilda Radner..... Everything she said about love felt spot on. So sad for me that she is gone much too soon!! Beautiful woman and soul............

Loved Gilda Rander miss her and her husband, Gene Wilder 💕💕🤣😢🌸🌼🌺🌈🦋🌈🌼🌸

Gilda, what a treasure.

Miss you Gilda! Wish we could have treated illness with love.

Beautiful person . May she and Gene live in our hearts forever.

I like her advice on working where you are.

She is/was and always be a huge inspiration.

Such a grand and gentle soul. I love the way she lit up when she first mentioned Gene. I miss them both as if they were friends of mine.

Such a beautiful and wise woman

I miss you so much, you were, and still are my absolute favorite. Beautiful, talented, and lively.

The One, and Only Gilda Radner

Your still the best Gilda, so made me laugh, 45 years ago, way ahead of yourself, God Bless!

What a lovely talented lady..taken away far too soon..R.I.P. Gilda!

She seems so sweet in this interview. I did not know she was Canadian.

Roseanna RoseannaDanna(excuse the spelling) is my favorite character of all time. I still miss this BEAUTIFUL LADY.

I've never seen her this way, she's lovely and it helps for to not keep her in that space in my mind where I know she died sadly. More importantly though, she had a wonderful life and a love anyone would envy

❤❤❤❤ lovely funny lady ,hard to believe she died more than 30 years ago!

Gilda has such beautiful hair and her interviewer too.

April 2024 Now at 78 I am so glad that I got to see Gilda perform in SNL. Reading her book IT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING taught me how to react to debilitating illness...a sense of humor is a key to accepting what is. To this day Emily and Roseannadana are still alive in me. I enjoy saying NEVER MND in Emily's old lady voice and IT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING in a brash Roseannadana voice. Like millions of others, I love Gilda and miss her very much. 😊😢

She's so beautiful.. wow. (Funny too.) Can't beat that combination.

Wow. She was so sharp. In every way.

Beautiful, strong, benevolent spirit. Love to Gilda, you gorgeous ballerina dancing lightly on dreams.

Gilda Radner: I always thought she was hysterical. Then I go back and watch old clips. She was even better than I thought. God Bless Her. Taken way too soon. I will say that she is right that it was all new so they had no one to compare them too. But I disagree about the talent level. Lorne Michaels found an incredibly talented group that could deliver multiple characters in a way that has not been replicated since.

Funniness! Dearness! Unforgettableness! Foreverness! Hers is a huge warm, comforting crying low-jaw laugh or smile like Karen Carpenter’s or Ruth Buzzi’s or Judith Durham’s among others.

A legend

Not long after this interview ( about three months ) Gilda was was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer. She fought it, beat it, then it came back a few years later and in 1989, she died.

She Was Special,.They Don't Make People Like Her Anymore. ❤

Such a wise take on seeking your goal- should it be on the stage/TV.

I love Gilda ! 😍thank you

I was in summer camp - the camp took a trip to Canada - we were given a choice in Toronto - we could see the show GODSPELL or see THE CARPENTERS in concert - it was put to a vote -- since the Carpenters were not considered cool my fellow campers voted to see Godspell - I was one of the lone votes for The Carpenters - in retrospect we should have seen Karen Carpenter sing what a shame to have missed that - the Godspell production we saw had in its cast Gilda Radnor, Andrea Martin, Martin Short, Eugene Levy with Paul Schaeffer as musical director - but we did not know who they were at the time this was way before SNL or SCTV - time flies

Such a joy to the world

Enormously talented!!!

Truly A Beautiful S O U L

How can anyone not miss this beautiful unassuming woman. Gene did. RIP to both.

It’s too bad love wasn’t enough to save Gilda. RIP. A true legend 💕🙏🏼

Snl was the best show back in the days.

i love gilda

I loved Gilda like everyone else, but the first thing I noticed in this interview was the long red hair of the lady interviewing Gilda. Nice!

Captivating

Rest in peace Gilda radner

Awesome lady gone to soon! 🙏 RIP

Lovely person

Gilda Susan Radner (Detroit, Míchigan, 28 de junio de 1946 - Los Ángeles, California, 20 de mayo de 1989), conocida como Gilda Radner, fue una comediante y actriz estadounidense de origen judío, recordada principalmente por sus cinco años como parte del reparto original de la serie de sketches estadounidense de la NBC Saturday Night Live.​ Radner utilizó su identidad judía como elemento esencial de su incisivo humor, y su muerte temprana, a los 42 años, por un cáncer de ovario, conmocionó a los Estados Unidos. 78 AÑOS 42 AÑOS 36 AÑOS.

Rosannnadanandana is still one of my alltime favorite charachters. She was a great comedian and actor. Cancer in my opinoin, is Satan incarnate...

One of a kind. The good kind.

So beautiful in and out 🥰

She married Gene Wilder on purpose ??? They had a good, though all too short marriage, she is sorely missed!!!

She is brillant and modest

so sad to think that this was a few months before she was diagnosed with cancer. She already had cancer here and was undiagnosed. Like many women with ovarian cancer, she was diagnosed too late.

I wish her words after 5.00 were true maybe she would have still been around many years after the interview if they were.

Just a thought. Here, she was much more low key and serious than ever seen before. It's as though she retired from being a comedian. And it's tragically ironic how she talks about the idea of love curing "illnesses". I think she knew something then.

🤩 ♥ ♥ ♥

Be a part of it all.

Gilda Radner; SHERO!

😂 Busting school children no no it's busing school children ow ow never mind 😂

I could never imagine Gene Wilder as a ladies man , but I guess I couldn't picture any man as a ladies man besides myself.

Love it .it's not ALL hormones...REAL LOVE..+ There's More going on...+

It terms of raw comedic talent no SNL lady ever came close to her. Kate McKinnon's versatility is reminiscent of Gilda's.

3:27 and they all been gone since 1989😔💔

“zippity doo dah”

If only they could have treated illness with love.

I think she was wearing a wig during her treatment RIP i hate cancer

Isn't she pretty?

Why don’t women look as pretty anymore? Is it the hair?

Love Gilda! But that 80s hair, yuccckkk!

She is such a likeable person. What a nice interview.