![]() ![]() Newman and Radner were close during their respective 1975-80 tenures on the show, but the two lost touch after that. “She was the one who organized birthday parties for the cast and made cookies for the crew” in the early “ SNL” days, says castmate Laraine Newman. Talented as she was as a writer and performer, Radner was also endowed with a natural warmth and a sunny, albeit neurotic, disposition. Those who knew Radner best say an element of the real Gilda shone through in every one. Radner was beloved for her mastery of characters, from the crotchety malaprop-afflicted Emily Litella (“nevermind”) to the bombastic, frizzy-haired Roseanne Roseannadanna to punk rocker Candy Slice and many others. She honed her skills performing in revues with such future stars as John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Eugene Levy, Joe O’Flaherty, Rosemary Radcliffe and Catherine O’Hara. She got her start in the early 1970s with the launch of the Toronto chapter of the renowned Chicago-based Second City comedy troupe. Radner grew up in 1950s Detroit and in Florida. “We always had a lot to talk about that had nothing to do with work.” “She was a normal person, except that she was incredibly funny and talented,” says Rachel McCallister, chairman of MPRM Communications and a publicity veteran who represented Radner in her final years. She easily cracked jokes both dark and silly about her predicament. She fashioned scarfs and turbans around her head as she lost her hair to chemo. She wrote a memoir, “It’s Always Something,” published weeks after her death, that is by turns candid, heartbreaking and hilarious in detailing her odyssey through misdiagnoses, surgeries and two rounds of aggressive chemo treatments.įriends say the way Radner carried herself - sitting courtside at Laker games, attending industry parties with Wilder and shopping outings with them - was inspiring. ![]() Radner was on the cover of Life magazine with spiky short hair to promote wellness groups and the new wave of holistic mind-body approaches to cancer treatment that she’d experienced. As her health deteriorated, Radner worked to raise awareness about the need for early detection and for better support systems for cancer patients and their families. Her public profile was magnified by her 1984 marriage to comedy superstar Gene Wilder. Equally powerful is the enduring example that Radner set by the way she handled the blow of dealing with cancer at such a young age. ![]()
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