Gilda Radner was born on 28 June 1946, in Detroit, Michigan USA, to parents Henrietta and Herman of Jewish heritage, and was best known as a comedian who had been in the original cast of ‘’Saturday Night Live’’. She passed away in 1989.
So just how rich was Gilda Radner? Authoritative sources report that Radner’s net worth was as high as $2 million, accumulated from her career in the acting industry as a comedian on Broadway and in the movies.
Gilda Radner Net Worth $2 million
Gilda attended University Liggett School in Detroit, and after matriculating enrolled into the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1964. However, she never graduated, dropping out in her senior year. She then moved to Toronto where she made her acting debut with the Second City Comedy troupe. Gilda joined National Lampoon Radio Hour, a comedy radio program widely recognized across the US, playing alongside John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Richard Belzer, among others. Subsequently she teamed up with the cast of “Saturday Night Live” in the first season in 1975, and in addition to making notable appearances in the show, she was included in writing a lot of the material too. Having landed a successful role in a widely recognized television show, Radner was gaining a lot of recognition. One of her colleagues stated that she was the first one to make fun of the news anchors, and now everybody does that. Many agree that her acting skills were a significant addition to the show throughout the mid- and late-‘70s, especially portraying the elderly woman Emily Litella, and so receiving an Emmy Award for her work. Her net worth was certainly well set.
In the upcoming period, Radner went on to parody celebrities such as Lucille Ball and Patti Smith, and due to her success in the industry, she was offered her own variety television show in 1979, but she turned this opportunity down. As of the same year, she was the host of Music for UNICEF concert, and made a Broadway appearance in ‘’Gilda Radner – Live From New York’’, which was recorded and released as a movie entitled ‘’Gilda Love’’ in the same year, but which received poor reviews. In the forthcoming year, all of the original members of SNL were released.
At that time, Radner was working with Sam Waterson on the play “Lunch Hour”, which received acclaim and was praised by the critics, newspapers and magazines nationwide.
In addition to being an actress and comedian, Gilda wrote an autobiography ‘’It’s Always Something’’. She had two notable movie roles in mid ‘80s in the movies ‘’ The Woman in Red’’ and ‘’ Haunted Honeymoon’’, adding somewhat to her net worth.
Radner received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992.
In her personal life, Gilda left college to follow her boyfriend who moved to Toronto. She was married twice, firstly to G. E. Smith, a musician who worked on her Broadway play with her. Her second husband was actor Gene Walder – the couple married on 18 September 1984 in Saint-Tropez. They went on to make another movie together, and remained together until Gilda’s death in 1989. Throughout her life, she dealt with several eating disorders, however, Radner died of ovarian cancer. She had been treated for it once before, but the illness eventually returned. Her husband subsequently established Gilda Radner Hereditary Cancer Program, a hospital at Cedars-Sinai, with the purpose of the hospital being the screening of women who are at high risk of developing cancer.
Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album, CableACE Award, Primetime Emmy Award for Individual Performance - Variety Or Music Program
Nominations
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy-Variety Or Music Program, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Comedy Series
Movies
Saturday Night Live, Haunted Honeymoon, The Woman in Red, Hanky Panky, Gilda Live, First Family, The Rutles, The Last Detail, Movers & Shakers, Animalympics, Witch's Night Out, It Came from Hollywood, Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins, Music for UNICEF Concert, The Gift of Winter
TV Shows
Saturday Night Live, Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins, Music for UNICEF Concert
There is no real security except for whatever you build inside yourself.
2
Some stories don't have a clear beginning middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity...
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Fact
1
She was romantically involved with Peter Firth in the late 1970s.
Her SNL character Roseanne Roseannadanna is the partial inspiration for the sobriquet of Glasgow, Scotland post-hardcore/indie-pop rock band Dananananaykroyd, as is the real name of her Saturday Night Live (1975) "Weekend Update" co-star, Dan Aykroyd.
She was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on June 27, 2003.
6
30 Rock (2006) star and creator (and ex-Saturday Night Live (1975) writer and player) Tina Fey has named Gilda as the main reason she became a comedy writer.
7
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives." Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 718-720. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.
8
Attended and graduated from The Liggett School (now University Liggett School) in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan (1966).
9
Classic recurring characters include Roseanne Rosannadanna, Judy Miller, Emily Litella, Baba Wawa (a parody of Barbara Walters), Lisa Loopner, Candy Slice and Rhonda Weiss.
10
Biography in: "American National Biography." Supplement 1, pp. 499-500. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
11
She was of Russian Jewish, Polish Jewish, and Lithuanian Jewish ancestry.
12
Won a Posthumous Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording (1990).
13
Is the only female player from Saturday Night Live (1975) to win an Outstanding Performance Emmy Award for her work on the show.
14
Gene Wilder and Gilda's cancer psychotherapist, Joanna Bull, established Gilda's Club in 1991. This was Gilda's wish that a place could be established where people of all ages diagnosed with cancer could come together and support one another through the illness. The centers are non-medical and very homey, with an art center, exercise facility, game rooms and a children's room called Noogieland, so named for "noogies", one of Gilda's comedic actions. No such place as Gilda's Club existed when she battled her ovarian cancer. Gilda's Club currently has centers all over the United States and Canada.
15
Her mother named her after the title character played by Rita Hayworth in the film noir Gilda (1946).
16
Following her untimely death, she was interred at Long Ridge Cemetery in Stamford, Connecticut.
17
One of the members of the Toronto comedy troupe Second City.
18
Dated Martin Short during the early 1970s, after meeting him during the run of the legendary 1972 Toronto production of "Godspell". In addition to Radner and Short, this production also starred Victor Garber, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas and Andrea Martin, with Paul Shaffer as musical director. Radner's understudy, Canadian comic actress Nancy Dolman began dating Short in 1974 and married him in 1980.
Barbra Warblers / Brenda Springer / Cora Lee Perrier / ... (voice)
Witch's Night Out
1978
TV Movie
The Godmother (voice)
The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash
1978
TV Movie
Mrs. Emily Pules
The Gift of Winter
1974
TV Short
Nicely / Malicious / Narrator (voice)
The Collaborators
1974
TV Series
Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins
1974
TV Series
Jack: A Flash Fantasy
1974
TV Movie
Jill of Hearts
The Last Detail
1973
Nichiren Shoshu Member
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Stealing Time
2009
performer: "Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland"
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Dan Aykroyd
2005
Video performer: "The Sound of Music" - uncredited
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Gilda Radner
2005
Video performer: "Stayin' Alive" uncredited, "We Gather Together" uncredited, "Gimme Mick" uncredited, "Stretch Marks", "F-U-L-L-F-I-L-L-M-E-N-T", "My Songs Are My Children", "You'll Be Sorry Someday", "Vantage Blues", "Evil Ways" uncredited
Saturday Night Live: The Best of John Belushi
2005
TV Special performer: "What'd I Say" - uncredited
Saturday Night Live Christmas
1999
Video performer: "Winter Wonderland" - uncredited
Postcards from the Edge
1990
writer: "I Love to Be Unhappy"
Haunted Honeymoon
1986
performer: "Always in All Ways", "Ballin' the Jack"
Saturday Night Live
1975-1980
TV Series performer - 16 episodes
Gilda Live
1980
Documentary performer: "Let's Talk Dirty to the Animals", "The Audition/I Love to Be Unhappy", "Don Kirshner/Rhonda Weiss Introduction/Go...", "If You Look Close/Gimme Mick", "Emily Litella", "Roseanne Roseannadanna", "Honey Touch Me With My Clothes On"
Bob & Ray, Jane, Laraine & Gilda (TV Special)
1979
performer: "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" - uncredited
Things We Did Last Summer
1978
TV Movie performer: "Things We Did Last Summer"
The Muppet Show
1978
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Gilda Radner: It's Always Something
2002
TV Movie book "It's Always Something"
The Best of Gilda Radner
1989
Video documentary
Gilda Live
1980
Documentary
Saturday Night Live
1975-1978
TV Series additional material - 3 episodes
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
Life with Jeannie
2013
TV Series thanks - 1 episode
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
It's Garry Shandling's Show.
1988
TV Series
Herself
Late Night with David Letterman
1983-1986
TV Series
Herself - Guest
Reading Rainbow
1985
TV Series
Herself
The New Show
1984
TV Series
Herself / Various
The Making of 'The Woman in Red'
1984
TV Movie documentary
Herself
Hour Magazine
1983
TV Series
Herself
It Came from Hollywood
1982
Documentary
Herself
Today
1980
TV Series
Herself - Guest / Herself
The 34th Annual Tony Awards
1980
TV Special
Herself - Presenter: Best Direction of a Musical
Gilda Live
1980
Documentary
Herself / Various Characters
Saturday Night Live
1976-1979
TV Series
Herself / Conchita / Girl / ...
Mr. Mike's Mondo Video
1979
Herself
Since '45
1979
Documentary
'Saturday Night' performer
Good Morning America
1979
TV Series
Herself - Guest
Bob & Ray, Jane, Laraine & Gilda (TV Special)
1979
Herself / Patty / Amy Kaplan / ...
The Music for UNICEF Concert: A Gift of Song
1979
TV Special
Introduction
Things We Did Last Summer
1978
TV Movie
Herself
The 30th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
1978
TV Special
Herself - Winner: Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music
The Muppet Show
1978
TV Series
Herself - Special Guest Star
The 29th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
1977
TV Special
Herself - Nominee: Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music and Presenter
4th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards
1977
TV Special
Herself
Dinah!
1975
TV Series
Herself - Guest
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Entertainment Tonight
2015-2016
TV Series
Herself
The Eighties
2016
TV Mini-Series documentary
Herself
The Seventies
2015
TV Series documentary
Herself
Live from New York!
2015
Documentary
Herself / Various Characters
The Insider
2015
TV Series
Herself
Saturday Night Live: 40th Anniversary Special
2015
TV Special
Herself - Cast Member (In Memoriam)
An SNL Valentine
2015
TV Special
Lisa Loopner / Various
DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: The Story of the National Lampoon
2015
Documentary
Herself / Actrice
Saturday Night Live: Christmas Special
2014
TV Special
Various
Saturday Night Live: Thanksgiving Special
2014
TV Special
Jean Loud
Saturday Night Live
1989-2014
TV Series
Baba Wawa / Dancer
Saturday Night Live: Thanksgiving
2013
TV Special
Jean Loud (uncredited)
Saturday Night Live Backstage
2011
TV Special documentary
Various
The Women of SNL
2010
TV Movie
Emily Litella / Various
SNL Presents: A Very Gilly Christmas
2009
TV Movie
Herself (uncredited)
Saturday Night Live: Just Shorts
2009
TV Special
La Dolce Gilda (uncredited)
A Company of Players
2008
Video documentary short
Herself (uncredited)
Role Model: Gene Wilder
2008
TV Movie documentary
Kate Hellman (uncredited)
E! True Hollywood Story
1997-2007
TV Series documentary
Herself
Making Trouble
2007
Documentary
Herself
Second City: First Family of Comedy
2006
TV Mini-Series documentary
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Dan Aykroyd
2005
Video
Various Characters (uncredited)
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Gilda Radner
2005
Video
Herself / Various Characters
Live from New York: The First 5 Years of Saturday Night Live
2005
TV Special documentary
Herself
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Commercial Parodies
2005
TV Movie
Various Characters (uncredited)
Saturday Night Live: The Best of John Belushi
2005
TV Special
Herself / Various (uncredited)
101 Most Unforgettable SNL Moments
2004
TV Movie
Herself
The Trials of Henry Kissinger
2002
Documentary
Baba Wawa (uncredited)
Gilda Radner: It's Always Something
2002
TV Movie
Herself
Gilda Radner's Greatest Moments
2002
TV Special
Herself / Various
SNL Remembers John Belushi
2002
TV Special
Herself
The Making of 'Tron'
2002
Video documentary
Animalympics characters
Saturday Night Live: Game Show Parodies
2000
TV Special
Mrs. Mel (uncredited)
Saturday Night Live Christmas
1999
Video
Herself (uncredited)
Saturday Night Live 25
1999
TV Special documentary
Herself / Various (uncredited)
SNL: 25 Years of Music
1999
TV Movie
Various
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Steve Martin
1998
TV Special
Various Characters (uncredited)
50 Years of Funny Females
1995
TV Movie documentary
Herself
Best of Schiller's Reel
1994
Video
Herself
Friends of Gilda
1993
TV Movie
Herself
Saturday Night Live: Presidential Bash
1992
TV Special
Baba Wawa, Miss Lillian Carter (uncredited)
Saturday Night Live Goes Commercial
1991
TV Special
Various Characters (uncredited)
Funny Women of Television
1991
TV Movie documentary
Herself
The Best of Gilda Radner
1989
Video documentary
Herself / Judy Miller / Roseanne Rosannadanna / ...
Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary
1989
TV Special
Herself
The Best of Chevy Chase
1987
Video documentary
Herself
The Best of Dan Aykroyd
1986
Video
Herself / Various Characters
The Best of John Belushi
1985
Video
Herself / Various Characters
The Winds of Whoopie
1983
TV Movie
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
2003
Star on the Walk of Fame
Walk of Fame
Television
Posthumously. On 27 June 2003. At 6801 Hollywood Boulevard.
1978
Primetime Emmy
Primetime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music
Saturday Night Live (1975)
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1988
Primetime Emmy
Primetime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Guest Performer in a Comedy Series
It's Garry Shandling's Show. (1986)
1979
Primetime Emmy
Primetime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Comedy-Variety or Music Program
Saturday Night Live (1975)
1977
Primetime Emmy
Primetime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music
Saturday Night Live (1975)
Known for movies
Saturday Night Live (1975-2014) as Various / Emily Litella / Baba Wawa / Herself / Ro
Haunted Honeymoon (1986) as Vickie Pearle
Animalympics (1980) as Barbra Warblers / Brenda Springer / Cora Lee Perri