# Who is the single greatest Saturday Night Live cast member? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2020, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546 "2020-07-17T03:55:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/41 "2020-07-18T01:49:04Z")
I have missed many, many casts. I’ll vote Dana Carvey. But let me give a most honorable shout out to Jack Handey. #3: **When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather. Not screaming in terror, like the passengers in his car.** #2: **If God dwells inside us, like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas because that’s what He’s getting.** #1: **It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.** ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/42 "2020-07-18T01:49:58Z")
Melissa Villasenor and Heidi Gardner are giving her a run for the money now but Cecily’s been there for a while and was a strong performer the whole time. She didn’t do well on Weekend Update but blame the producers for that. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/43 "2020-07-18T01:52:42Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I was a huge fan of the Phil Hartman, Mike Myers years, but honestly I think the cast has never been better than it was in about 2017. The only reason I didn’t pick Cecily Strong as my all time best is MacKinnon is better. Phil Harman is throwing me off a little because of the similarity to his Simpsons work. But I think he’s my best all-around. However, for me, Chris Farley is the funniest overall. The Matt Foley character is totally solidified. Introduction here (with awesome Hartman backing) : [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2VIEY9-A8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2VIEY9-A8) No one else could have done that. The [Chippendales Audition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stqG2ihMvP0) vs Patrick Swayze is hysterical. Again, no one else could have done that. The Lunch Lady: [Lunch Lady land](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY14zcUM9SI) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/44 "2020-07-18T02:20:51Z")
We’ve got two basic categories here. There are the STARS, like Murphy, Belushi, and McKinnon, who you simply can’t take your eyes off anytime they’re on camera; and there are the glues, like Hartman, Ackroyd, Carvey, and Jan Hooks, who played a hundred different characters well. So I’m going to pick one from Column A - Eddie Murphy - and one from Column B - Phil Hartman. Ask me on another day and I might give you two other names, and two different ones the day after that. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/45 "2020-07-18T02:27:25Z")
Very hard for me to pick between John Belushi and Kate McKinnon. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/46 "2020-07-18T03:31:45Z")
Jane Curtin had an amazing career after SNL. She did TWO hugely successful series where she played two very different characters, and never broke. She was mostly the straight character on _Kate & Allie_, but on _3rd Rock_, she finally got to have fun, and she did. It was the campiest show ever, except it was good. It was really, really good camp. I never did know what Susan Sontag thought of it, though. I wish I did. What’s more, they were shows in two very different styles. _3rd Rock_ was farce. _Kate and Allie_ was Dramady. Not as heavy-handed as some later shows, like _Family Ties_, but it had its heavy moments, and it tackled “issues.” It also played in the early hour, when it had to be superclean, but it still got its points across. But, we’ll never know what Gilda Radner might have done if she had lived. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/47 "2020-07-18T03:41:58Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > But let me give a most honorable shout out to Jack Handey. Jack Handey was a writer, not a cast member. He created not only Deep Thoughts but also Toonces the Driving Cat, Happy Fun Ball, and Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer. SNL has had many great writers over the years. “Who is the greatest SNL writer?” would be a fascinating discussion to have if enough of us knew enough about the writers and what they did, but I suspect most of us don’t. (I know I don’t.) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/48 "2020-07-18T03:46:52Z")
I disagree. Hader is great, but the problem that he and Fallon had is their tendency to break character and laugh during a skit. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/49 "2020-07-18T03:49:11Z")
If I had to pick just one, it’d be Phil Hartman. A very funny guy and an amazingly skilled actor, a chameleon who could play Ronald Reagan just as well as he could play Bill Clinton. Close after him I’d say Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Jon Lovitz, Tina Fey, Norm McDonald and Dana Carvey. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/50 "2020-07-18T04:39:02Z")
Nitpick to several posters in this thread: as I actually learned here on the Dope, the name is spelled “A **y** kroyd”, not “Ackroyd”. I’m shocked nobody has yet named Chevy Chase! 😜 ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/51 "2020-07-18T15:05:53Z")
RDJ also has an Oscar nomination for his work in Chaplin. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/52 "2020-07-18T15:49:33Z")
> [@EnolaStraight](#): > > RDJ also has an Oscar nomination So do Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Joan Cusack, and Randy Quaid. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/53 "2020-07-18T15:50:48Z")
Radner certainly was going to do well. She already had starred on Broadway (I happened to see her in _Lunch Hour_; she was fine\*). But Curtin’s success was head and shoulders above the rest. I don’t know if any other cast member won two Emmys for acting. \*Three of the other four actors on stage with her had long-term success on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/54 "2020-07-18T15:56:47Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Radner certainly was going to do well If she stuck to live performances (or filmed before a live audience). I think she required that immediate audience feedback to do her best work. I can’t think of a single memorable film scene. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/55 "2020-07-18T16:16:12Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > But Curtin’s success was head and shoulders above the rest. I don’t know if any other cast member won two Emmys for acting. From Wikipedia: **Julia Louse-Dreyfus** “has won the [Primetime Emmy Award](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primetime_Emmy_Award) for [Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primetime_Emmy_Award_for_Outstanding_Lead_Actress_in_a_Comedy_Series) seven times; once for her role on _[The New Adventures of Old Christine](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Adventures_of_Old_Christine)_ (2006) and six consecutive wins for playing [Selina Meyer](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selina_Meyer) on _[Veep](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veep)_ (2012–17), as well as [Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primetime_Emmy_Award_for_Outstanding_Supporting_Actress_in_a_Comedy_Series) on one occasion for _[Seinfeld](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seinfeld)_ (1996). As of 2017, she holds the record for the most Primetime Emmy wins as an actor for the same role and is tied with [Cloris Leachman](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloris_Leachman) for the most acting Primetime Emmy wins (with eight).” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/56 "2020-07-18T16:16:19Z")
Gilda Radner’s screen debut, as it happens, was in _The Last Detail_ with Jack Nicholson and (wait for it) Randy Quaid. She played a hippy at a New York party; I don’t think she had any lines. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/57 "2020-07-18T16:18:35Z")
Bill Murray. It’s a real Cinderella story. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/58 "2020-07-18T17:38:51Z")
Just for fun, **Phil Hartman** in President Reagan, Mastermind. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/b5wfPlgKFh8/maxresdefault.jpg "President Reagan, Mastermind - SNL") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wfPlgKFh8) ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/59 "2020-07-18T17:47:19Z")
“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? Maybe, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.” ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546/60 "2020-07-18T18:20:56Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I’m shocked nobody has yet named Chevy Chase! In my opinion Chevy was sometimes amazingly funny for about half of SNL’s first season and has seldom if ever been funny since then in any venue. FWIW a few years ago I rewatched that entire first season and was surprised by how (in hindsight) less impressive he seemed in comparison to John, Dan, and Gilda. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-single-greatest-saturday-night-live-cast-member/915546.md?page=4)