SNL Opening and Phil Hartman

Cafe Society
1

Once again, I am struck by this thought while watching the opening montage for an episode of SNL:

During the 91-92 season, the opening montage for Saturday Night Live showed the cast members out around the town, doing whatever. When they show Phil Hartman, he’s sitting at a table with a woman whose back is to the camera. You can only see that she has long, straight blonde hair, maybe a bit of the side of her face, and one earring.

My question: is that Brynn Hartman, the woman who in later years would shoot her husband Phil and then herself? Whenever we see this opening montage, are we not only seeing Phil but also his killer in the same frame?

It seems quite possible to me, since she was something of an actress herself, and it probably would have been convenient to have Phil’s own wife sit opposite him for the montage. I can’t find anything about this on the net, though; does anyone have inside information, by chance?

2

Hmmm…interesting question.
I always thought it was Jan Hooks.

3

Don’t have a cite, but I heard from some E! documentary on Hartman’s life that the woman in that shot was his wife. The documentary stated that she was constantly screwing up the shot by wanting to have her face be seen along with his; supposedly, the director tricked her, acting like they were not taking the shot when in fact they were.

4

Hence the earring swinging as the clip is shown (she turned her head and the director used that footage.)

Happy

5

I can confirm that - I saw the same show.

6

findadeath.com says that it was his wife.

7

I remember Mike Myers’s speech at the MTV movie awards the year of the murder/suicide. He dedicated one of his Austin Powers awards to Phil, which of course got a huge ovation, then he astonished everybody by adding “and to his wife Bryn, one of the most loving mothers I’ve ever known”. There was some very awkward clapping and a major buzzkill feeling over the room. (Of course if she’d been THAT loving, she wouldn’t have snorted coke and killed their Dad; the most disturbing tales were those told by Hartman’s previous wife about the woman’s psychotic letters to her.)

8

I concur with Phil’s NewsRadio co-star, Joe Rogan, in his characterization of Brynn Hartman: She was an evil c’nt.

9

Didn’t Bryn have depression problems, along with drug and alcohol problems that contributed to her behavior? Mike probably knew her as well as he knew Phil and was making the point that it wasn’t the Bryn that they knew and loved that did that.