Family Connections
Some cast members are related to former staff of the show. One example is Jim Belushi, who is the younger brother of cast member John Belushi. Before that, Bill Murray's older brother, Brian Doyle-Murray, was a writer and cast member. When Dan Aykroyd left the show in 1979, he was replaced by a series of short-lived featured players, one of whom was his brother Peter Aykroyd. Short-lived featured player Matthew Laurence was the identical twin brother of 1977-1980 associate director and bit player Mitchell Laurence. Long-time writer and sometime performer Jim Downey is former cast member Robert Downey, Jr.'s uncle. Former SNL cast member Abby Elliott is the daughter of former cast member Chris Elliott (and granddaughter of Bob Elliott, who appeared on SNL as a guest performer on the 1978 Christmas episode hosted by Elliott Gould).
Other staff are related by marriage. For instance, cast member Gilda Radner was briefly married to G. E. Smith, who later became the show's bandleader. Michael O'Donoghue was married to SNL band pianist Cheryl Hardwick. Cast members Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall were married in 1987. Former cast member and head writer Tina Fey is married to former show composer Jeff Richmond.
Read more about this topic: Saturday Night Live Cast Members
Famous quotes containing the words family and/or connections:
“I worry about people who get born nowadays, because they get born into such tiny families—sometimes into no family at all. When you’re the only pea in the pod, your parents are likely to get you confused with the Hope Diamond. And that encourages you to talk too much.”
—Russell Baker (b. 1925)
“Growing up human is uniquely a matter of social relations rather than biology. What we learn from connections within the family takes the place of instincts that program the behavior of animals; which raises the question, how good are these connections?”
—Elizabeth Janeway (b. 1913)