30 People You Completely Forgot Were in the Cast of SNL
From Robert Downey Jr. to Joan Cusack, you’ll be surprised by this trip down memory lane.
From controversial SNL sketches to famous quotes (“More cowbell!”), Saturday Night Live has produced its share of memorable live TV moments in the years since it first aired in 1975. The tenures of some of its cast members, however, haven’t remained so vivid in our memories. For some, their time on the show lasted only one season (or less). For others, later successes overshadowed their SNL runs. For many, it was both. Read on to see 30 former cast members you might have forgotten ever graced the SNL stage.
1. Robert Downey Jr.
At just 20 years old, Robert Downey Jr. was relatively inexperienced when he joined the 1985–86 SNL cast. He never quite found his footing on the show, and his first season was also his last.
Robert Downey Jr.
Clearly, Downey Jr.’s failure to connect with SNL audiences wasn’t a harbinger of things to come. Two Academy Award nominations, three Golden Globe awards, and multiple movie franchises later, he’s one of Hollywood’s most universally loved actors.
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2. Ben Stiller
In 1989, at the age of 24, Ben Stiller was hired to the cast of SNL. He lasted less than one season, however, before he quit and decamped to Los Angeles to pursue a movie career.
Ben Stiller
Nearly a decade would pass before Stiller gained widespread fame with his starring role in There’s Something About Mary. Subsequent hits, not least among them the Meet the Parents and Night at the Museum franchises, made him a household name.
3. Damon Wayans
As a cast member in SNL’s 1985–86 season, Damon Wayans’ promise as a sketch comedian was undeniable. When he made a change to a character without getting approval from the show’s producers, however, his talent couldn’t save him. He was fired, and he later told The Weekender that SNL creator Lorne Michaels “did the right thing.”
Damon Wayans
Thankfully, Wayans’ dismissal from SNL didn’t prompt him to leave skits behind for good. His four-season run on the Fox series In Living Color secured his place as a sketch comedy star and ensured a long career as a comic entertainer.
4. Sarah Silverman
Given her flair for pushing boundaries, it’s surprising that Sarah Silverman’s stint on SNL was largely unremarkable. She appeared in only a handful of sketches and not one of the skits she wrote ever made it to air.
Sarah Silverman
Since her time on SNL, Silverman has released three comedy specials, made many TV appearances, headed up multiple programs of her own, held roles in movies like School of Rock and Wreck it Ralph, and become a poster child for acerbic, taboo-flouting comedy.
5. Billy Crystal
Thanks in part to his role as Jodie Dallas on the NBC comedy Soap, Billy Crystal was already well known when he joined the cast of SNL in 1984. His knack for impressions made him one of the show’s most successful players, but he left after just one season.
Billy Crystal
Crystal’s star continued to rise after SNL. He’s since added classic comedies like When Harry Met Sally, City Slickers, Analyze This, and Monsters, Inc. to his filmography; hosted the Oscars nine times; and won a Tony Award for his one-man stage show, 700 Sundays.
6. Gilbert Gottfried
In 1980, Lorne Michaels had just left SNL, the entire cast had gone with him, and associate producer Jean Doumanian was handed the reins. A young comedian named Gilbert Gottfried joined the show for what was, by all accounts, a dismal season. After twelve episodes, Doumanian was replaced and Gottfried was fired along with several other members of the cast.
Gilbert Gottfried
Although his tenure on SNL was brief, Gottfried’s eventual presence on comedy staples like The Howard Stern Show and Comedy Central’s celebrity roasts established his reputation with adult audiences, while his voicing of Aladdin’s Iago endeared him to younger ones, making Gottfried—and his voice—iconic.
7. Joan Cusack
When Lorne Michaels returned to produce SNL in 1985, he hired all new cast members, including Joan Cusack. After the season received low ratings, he fired nearly all of them, including Joan.
Joan Cusack
Like many others on this list, Cusack recovered well after getting fired from SNL. She went on to earn Oscar nominations for her roles in Working Girl and In & Out and was nominated for an Emmy for her role in Showtime’s Shameless four times before winning in 2015.
8. Randy Quaid
Randy Quaid had already earned an Oscar nomination for his supporting role in 1974’s The Last Detail when he joined the cast of SNL’s ill-fated 1985 season. He, too, was let go at season’s end.
Randy Quaid
Recent years have seen Quaid receive more attention for his exploits offscreen, but we’ll never forget his star turn as Cousin Eddie in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
9. Laurie Metcalf
In 1981, years before she rose to fame as Jackie Harris on Roseanne, Laurie Metcalf made her SNL debut. A writer’s strike forced the show into hiatus directly following the episode, and when SNL resumed, it did so without her.
Laurie Metcalf
Although her time on SNL was brief, Metcalf’s success as an actor has been anything but. She won three Emmys for her role on Roseanne, her work in theater has garnered two Tony Awards, and her role in Lady Bird earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
10. David Koechner
During SNL’s 1995–96 season, David Koechner hatched a few memorable recurring characters, including the excessively fawning British fop Fagan, but it didn’t prove to be enough. He wasn’t asked back the next season.
David Koechner
Koechner’s stint on SNL was far from fruitless, however. He went on to add more memorable characters to his repertoire, including sports reporter Champ Kind in former cast mate Will Ferrell’s 2004 ensemble comedy Anchorman and traveling salesman Todd Packer of The Office.
Kristen Zwicker is a freelance writer and music composer. Her writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, the Boston Globe, and Time Out New York. She loves dark humor and the sound a York Peppermint Patty makes when you break it.
Jacob is a Temporary Partnerships Editor at Hearst based in Queens, New York with his partner and cat Tiger. He loves learning and writing about Film and TV, Video Games, and the weird histories of unexpected subjects.
