, the late-night live variety series ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
'' (''SNL'') has featured 163 cast members. The ensemble was originally referred to as the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players".
Complete list
The list below includes both repertory and featured players past and present, but omits ''SNL'' writers and others who were not listed as cast members during the show's credits. The dates given are those of the years they were part of the cast. The chart also shows whether the cast member has served as a guest host, appeared as the anchorperson of the "
Weekend Update
''Weekend Update'' is a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typic ...
" segment (by any of its titles), or has been the subject of their own "Best of" home video collection. Many of the cast members were writers as well. "Middle group" performers are introduced after the main cast by the announcer saying "...with" and reading off these performers before ending with featured players.
Sid Caesar
Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor, comedian and writer. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950†...
has the distinction of being the only person who has been named an honorary cast member. Caesar was presented with a plaque during the goodnights of his hosting stint in
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
.
Table
Timeline
Lighter colors denote "featured players" versus repertory cast members.
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bar:belushi text:"John Belushi"
bar:chase text:"Chevy Chase"
bar:coe text:"George Coe"
bar:curtin text:"Jane Curtin"
bar:morris text:"Garrett Morris"
bar:newman text:"Laraine Newman"
bar:odonoghue text:"Michael O'Donoghue"
bar:radner text:"Gilda Radner"
bar:murray text:"Bill Murray"
bar:davis text:"Tom Davis"
bar:franken text:"Al Franken"
bar:aykroydp text:"Peter Aykroyd"
bar:downey text:"Jim Downey"
bar:murraybr text:"Brian Doyle-Murray"
bar:novello text:"Don Novello"
bar:schiller text:"Tom Schiller"
bar:shaffer text:"Paul Shaffer"
bar:shearer text:"Harry Shearer"
bar:zweibel text:"Alan Zweibel"
bar:dillon text:"Denny Dillon"
bar:duke text:"Robin Duke"
bar:gottfried text:"Gilbert Gottfried"
bar:hudson text:"Yvonne Hudson"
bar:kazurinsky text:"Tim Kazurinsky"
bar:laurance text:"Matthew Laurance"
bar:matthius text:"Gail Matthius"
bar:metcalf text:"Laurie Metcalf"
bar:murphy text:"Eddie Murphy"
bar:piscopo text:"Joe Piscopo"
bar:prager text:"Emily Prager"
bar:risley text:"Ann Risley"
bar:rocket text:"Charles Rocket"
bar:rosato text:"Tony Rosato"
bar:weathers text:"Patrick Weathers"
bar:ebersole text:"Christine Ebersole"
bar:gross text:"Mary Gross"
bar:bhall text:"Brad Hall"
bar:kroeger text:"Gary Kroeger"
bar:louisdreyfus text:"Julia Louis-Dreyfus"
bar:belushiji text:"Jim Belushi"
bar:crystal text:"Billy Crystal"
bar:guest text:"Christopher Guest"
bar:rhall text:"Rich Hall"
bar:short text:"Martin Short"
bar:stephenson text:"Pamela Stephenson"
bar:brown text:"A. Whitney Brown"
bar:cusack text:"Joan Cusack"
bar:downeyr text:"Robert Downey Jr.
bar:dunn text:"Nora Dunn"
bar:hall text:"Anthony Michael Hall"
bar:lovitz text:"Jon Lovitz"
bar:miller text:"Dennis Miller"
bar:quaid text:"Randy Quaid"
bar:sweeney text:"Terry Sweeney"
bar:vance text:"Danitra Vance"
bar:vitale text:"Dan Vitale"
bar:wayans text:"Damon Wayans"
bar:carvey text:"Dana Carvey"
bar:hartman text:"Phil Hartman"
bar:hooks text:"Jan Hooks"
bar:jackson text:"Victoria Jackson"
bar:nealon text:"Kevin Nealon"
bar:myers text:"Mike Myers"
bar:stiller text:"Ben Stiller"
bar:farley text:"Chris Farley"
bar:meadows text:"Tim Meadows"
bar:rock text:"Chris Rock"
bar:sandler text:"Adam Sandler"
bar:schneider text:"Rob Schneider"
bar:spade text:"David Spade"
bar:sweeneyj text:"Julia Sweeney"
bar:cahill text:"Beth Cahill"
bar:cleghorne text:"Ellen Cleghorne"
bar:fallon text:"Siobhan Fallon"
bar:hutsell text:"Melanie Hutsell"
bar:smigel text:"Robert Smigel"
bar:macdonald text:"Norm Macdonald"
bar:mckean text:"Michael McKean"
bar:mohr text:"Jay Mohr"
bar:silverman text:"Sarah Silverman"
bar:banks text:"Morwenna Banks"
bar:elliott text:"Chris Elliott"
bar:garofalo text:"Janeane Garofalo"
bar:kightlinger text:"Laura Kightlinger"
bar:mckinney text:"Mark McKinney"
bar:shannon text:"Molly Shannon"
bar:breuer text:"Jim Breuer"
bar:ferrell text:"Will Ferrell"
bar:hammond text:"Darrell Hammond"
bar:kattan text:"Chris Kattan"
bar:koechner text:"David Koechner"
bar:oteri text:"Cheri Oteri"
bar:quinn text:"Colin Quinn"
bar:walls text:"Nancy Walls"
bar:wolf text:"Fred Wolf"
bar:gasteyer text:"Ana Gasteyer"
bar:morgan text:"Tracy Morgan"
bar:fallonj text:"Jimmy Fallon"
bar:parnell text:"Chris Parnell"
bar:sanz text:"Horatio Sanz"
bar:dratch text:"Rachel Dratch"
bar:rudolph text:"Maya Rudolph"
bar:fey text:"Tina Fey"
bar:minor text:"Jerry Minor"
bar:edwards text:"Dean Edwards"
bar:meyers text:"Seth Meyers"
bar:poehler text:"Amy Poehler"
bar:richards text:"Jeff Richards"
bar:armisen text:"Fred Armisen"
bar:forte text:"Will Forte"
bar:mitchell text:"Finesse Mitchell"
bar:thompson text:"Kenan Thompson"
bar:riggle text:"Rob Riggle"
bar:sudeikis text:"Jason Sudeikis"
bar:hader text:"Bill Hader"
bar:samberg text:"Andy Samberg"
bar:wiig text:"Kristen Wiig"
bar:wilson text:"Casey Wilson"
bar:elliotta text:"Abby Elliott"
bar:moynihan text:"Bobby Moynihan"
bar:watkins text:"Michaela Watkins"
bar:pedrad text:"Nasim Pedrad"
bar:slate text:"Jenny Slate"
bar:bayer text:"Vanessa Bayer"
bar:brittain text:"Paul Brittain"
bar:killam text:"Taran Killam"
bar:pharoah text:"Jay Pharoah"
bar:mckinnon text:"Kate McKinnon"
bar:bryant text:"Aidy Bryant"
bar:robinson text:"Tim Robinson"
bar:strong text:"Cecily Strong"
bar:bennett text:"Beck Bennett"
bar:jost text:"Colin Jost"
bar:milhiser text:"John Milhiser"
bar:mooney text:"Kyle Mooney"
bar:oBrien text:"Mike O'Brien"
bar:wells text:"Noël Wells"
bar:wheelan text:"Brooks Wheelan"
bar:zamata text:"Sasheer Zamata"
bar:che text:"Michael Che"
bar:davidson text:"Pete Davidson"
bar:jones text:"Leslie Jones"
bar:rudnitsky text:"Jon Rudnitsky"
bar:day text:"Mikey Day"
bar:moffat text:"Alex Moffat"
bar:villaseñor text:"Melissa Villaseñor"
bar:gardner text:"Heidi Gardner"
bar:null text:"Luke Null"
bar:redd text:"Chris Redd"
bar:nwodim text:"Ego Nwodim"
bar:fineman text:"Chloe Fineman"
bar:yang text:"Bowen Yang"
bar:dismukes text:"Andrew Dismukes"
bar:holt text:"Lauren Holt"
bar:johnson text:"Punkie Johnson"
bar:athari text:"Aristotle Athari"
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bar:Bryant from:09/28/2013 till:05/21/2022 color:purple
bar:Robinson from:09/15/2012 till:05/18/2013 color:pink
bar:Strong from:09/15/2012 till:09/27/2013 color:lightorange
bar:Strong from:09/28/2013 till:12/17/2022 color:orange
bar:Bennett from:09/28/2013 till:10/02/2015 color:limegreen
bar:Bennett from:10/03/2015 till:05/22/2021 color:green
bar:Jost from:03/01/2014 till:10/02/2015 color:skyblue
bar:Jost from:10/03/2015 till:end color:blue
bar:Milhiser from:09/28/2013 till:05/17/2014 color:lavender
bar:Mooney from:09/28/2013 till:10/02/2015 color:pink
bar:Mooney from:10/03/2015 till:05/21/2022 color:red
bar:OBrien from:09/28/2013 till:05/17/2014 color:lightorange
bar:Wells from:09/28/2013 till:05/17/2014 color:limegreen
bar:Wheelan from:09/28/2013 till:05/17/2014 color:skyblue
bar:Zamata from:01/18/2014 till:10/02/2015 color:lavender
bar:Zamata from:10/03/2015 till:05/20/2017 color:purple
bar:Che from:09/27/2014 till:09/30/2016 color:pink
bar:Che from:10/01/2016 till:end color:red
bar:Davidson from:09/27/2014 till:09/30/2016 color:lightorange
bar:Davidson from:10/01/2016 till:05/21/2022 color:orange
bar:Jones from:10/25/2014 till:09/30/2016 color:limegreen
bar:Jones from:10/01/2016 till:05/18/2019 color:green
bar:Rudnitsky from:10/03/2015 till:05/21/2016 color:skyblue
bar:Day from:10/01/2016 till:09/28/2018 color:lavender
bar:Day from:09/29/2018 till:end color:purple
bar:Moffat from:10/01/2016 till:09/28/2018 color:pink
bar:Moffat from:09/29/2018 till:05/21/2022 color:red
bar:Villaseñor from:10/01/2016 till:09/28/2018 color:lightorange
bar:Villaseñor from:09/29/2018 till:05/21/2022 color:orange
bar:Gardner from:09/30/2017 till:09/27/2019 color:limegreen
bar:Gardner from:09/28/2019 till:end color:green
bar:Null from:09/30/2017 till:05/19/2018 color:skyblue
bar:Redd from:09/30/2017 till:09/27/2019 color:lavender
bar:Redd from:09/28/2019 till:05/21/2022 color:purple
bar:Nwodim from:09/29/2018 till:10/03/2020 color:pink
bar:Nwodim from:10/03/2020 till:end color:red
bar:fineman from:09/28/2019 till:10/02/2021 color:lightorange
bar:fineman from:10/02/2021 till:end color:orange
bar:Yang from:09/28/2019 till:10/02/2021 color:limegreen
bar:Yang from:10/02/2021 till:end color:green
bar:Dismukes from:10/03/2020 till:09/30/2022 color:skyblue
bar:Dismukes from:10/01/2022 till:end color:blue
bar:Holt from:10/03/2020 till:05/22/2021 color:lavender
bar:Johnson from:10/03/2020 till:09/30/2022 color:pink
bar:Johnson from:10/01/2022 till:end color:red
bar:Athari from:10/02/2021 till:05/21/2022 color:lightorange
bar:Johnsonja from:10/02/2021 till:end color:limegreen
bar:Sherman from:10/02/2021 till:end color:skyblue
bar:Hernandez from:10/01/2022 till:end color:lavender
bar:Kearney from:10/01/2022 till:end color:pink
bar:Longfellow from:10/01/2022 till:end color:lightorange
bar:Walker from:10/01/2022 till:end color:limegreen
Tenures
Longest tenures
Shortest tenures
Two people have been publicly announced as having been hired to the cast, but never performed as cast members:
*
Catherine O'Hara, hired in 1981 but quit before ever appearing on air. She has subsequently hosted the show twice.
*
Shane Gillis
Shane Gillis (born December 11, 1987) is an American stand-up comedian, radio personality, sketch comedy writer, and podcaster. He is co-host of ''Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast'' with fellow stand-up comedian Matt McCusker. Sanneh, Kelefa (Sep ...
was announced as a cast member in 2019, but the offer was withdrawn due to controversies surrounding his past use of racial slurs.
One person was credited as a cast member but did not actually appear on the show as such.
*
Emily Prager
Emily Prager is an American author and journalist. Prager grew up in Texas, Taiwan, and Greenwich Village, New York City. She is a graduate of the Brearley School, Barnard College and has a master's degree in Applied Linguistics. She has written ...
was hired as part of Ebersol's temporary
season six cast following the termination of
Jean Doumanian
Jean Doumanian ( Karabas; born July 28, 1936) is an American stage, television and film producer. She briefly produced ''Saturday Night Live'', between November 1980 and March 1981.
Early life
Doumanian was born Jean (or Jeannine) Karabas, th ...
. She was credited for one episode even though she did not appear on the show, as her skit was cut after dress rehearsal. She was not chosen for
season seven of the show. Prager had worked as a writer on the show, and also made several appearances in skits prior to being officially named as a member of the cast.
The following cast members spent less than a full 20-episode season on the show.
President of the United States impressionists
Portraying the sitting President of the United States is considered "about as high
..an honor that can be bestowed upon a cast member."
Darrell Hammond had the longest tenure portraying a U.S. president, portraying Bill Clinton from 1995–2001 and George W. Bush during 2003. He,
Joe Piscopo
Joseph Charles John Piscopo ( ; born June 17, 1951) is an American actor, comedian and conservative radio talk show host. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1980 to 1984, where he played a variety of recurring characters. His f ...
, and
Phil Hartman
Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States w ...
are the only cast members to have portrayed two sitting presidents.
George H. W. Bush grew fond of Dana Carvey's impersonation of him. Carvey was invited to headline a White House Christmas party in 1992, during the
lame duck period after Bush had lost the
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
. Two years later, on October 22, 1994, when Carvey hosted the show for the first time, Bush appeared in pre-recorded videos, in both the cold open and the opening monologue, critiquing Carvey's impersonation of him.
Presidents are not usually portrayed on ''Saturday Night Live'' after they leave office. Exceptions are limited to the portrayal of former president Richard Nixon who left office prior to the launch of the show in 1975, Bill Clinton who appeared in sketches related to the presidential campaigns of his wife
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
, and Donald Trump who continued to be politically active after leaving office. Dan Aykroyd portrayed Nixon from 1975–79, and Darrell Hammond portrayed Nixon on episode 12 of season 34.
James Austin Johnson
James Austin Johnson (born July 19, 1989) is an American comedian and actor originally from Nashville, Tennessee. He has garnered attention for his impression of former President Donald Trump, sometimes being referred to as "the best Trump imper ...
portrayed Trump in several episodes of season 47.
Impersonation of Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
, having been a public figure before being president,
was portrayed by several cast members over the years. He was portrayed by
Phil Hartman
Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States w ...
(1988–1990),
Darrell Hammond
Darrell Clayton Hammond (born October 8, 1955) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2009, and has been its announcer since 2014.
Upon his departure, Hammo ...
(1999–2011, 2015–2016),
Jason Sudeikis
Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 20 ...
(2012) and
Taran Killam
Taran Hourie Killam (born April 1, 1982) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for his television work on ''The Amanda Show'', ''How I Met Your Mother'', ''MADtv'', ''New Girl'', ''Saturday Night Live'', and ''Single Parents''. ...
(2015).
Alec Baldwin started impersonating Trump as a guest during the
42nd season of ''SNL'' in late 2016, when Trump was the Republican nominee during the
2016 United States presidential elections
The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...
. Baldwin continued with the guest impersonations of Trump after the elections when Trump was
president-elect
An ''officer-elect'' is a person who has been elected to a position but has not yet been installed. Notably, a president who has been elected but not yet installed would be referred to as a ''president-elect'' (e.g. president-elect of the Unit ...
, as well as after
Trump was sworn in as president. Baldwin continued to impersonate Trump throughout
Trump's presidency.
Alec Baldwin's impersonation of Donald Trump earned him
an Emmy award in 2017, in spite of his public declaration that he "loathes the role." At the end of
Season 44, Baldwin publicly announced that he will cease impersonating Trump, but changed his mind prior to the beginning of
Season 45 after ''SNL'' executive producer
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...
convinced him to continue with the impersonation. Following the
2020 presidential elections in which Trump lost re-election, Baldwin tweeted "I don't believe I've ever been this overjoyed to lose a job before!"
Trump has criticized Baldwin's portrayal on multiple occasions. In response, Baldwin taunted Trump with statements such as "release your tax returns and I'll stop." In June 2021, after Trump had left office, it was reported that while Trump was in office he had inquired if the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
or the
United States Justice Department
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
could force ''SNL'' to stop portraying him. Trump denied that he has ever made such an inquiry, but claimed that his portrayal by ''SNL'' "should be considered an illegal campaign contribution from the
Democrat Party." He also criticized Baldwin's portrayal of him, but praised Darrell Hammond's portrayal of him.
Returning to host
Several former ''SNL'' cast members have returned to host the show. The first former cast member to come back and host the show was
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
in February 1978. While the majority of cast members who also hosted the show were first cast members and then hosted after leaving the show, there have been two cast members who have hosted the show prior to joining the cast:
Billy Crystal
William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. ...
(he hosted the show twice during the
ninth season prior to joining the cast in the
tenth season) and
Michael McKean
Michael John McKean (; born October 17, 1947) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, composer, singer, and musician known for various roles in film and television such as Lenny Kosnowski in '' Laverne & Shirley'', David St. Hubbins in '' ...
(he hosted the show in the
tenth season and joined the cast in the
nineteenth season). McKean is also the only eventual cast member who first appeared as a musical guest (with Spinal Tap, May 1984).
Eddie Murphy is the only cast member to have hosted the show while still a cast member. He also holds the distinction of having the longest gap between successive hosting of the show. There was a 35 year and 6 day gap between his second and third hosting of the show.
Adam Sandler and
Dan Aykroyd tie the record of the longest gap between leaving the show as a cast member and returning as a host. Both hosted the show for the first time nine days shy of 24 years from last appearance as cast. However, both made appearances on the show during the gap. On the flip side,
Bill Murray
William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...
holds the record for having the shortest gap between leaving the show and returning to host at 287 days after leaving the cast.
The "''SNL'' Curse"
Although ''SNL'' is best known as the launchpad for many successful careers, eight former cast members have died before the age of 60. This has given rise to a superstition known as the "''Saturday Night Live'' Curse".
See also
*
Saturday Night Live Band
The Saturday Night Live Band (referred to in the closing credits as The Live Band) is the house band of the NBC television program '' Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'').
Role on ''Saturday Night Live''
The band consists of mostly jazz, R&B, a ...
*
List of ''Saturday Night Live'' guests
*
List of ''Saturday Night Live'' writers
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
External links
A visual historyfrom ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''
A 2015 rankingfrom ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
''
{{DISPLAYTITLE:List of ''Saturday Night Live'' cast members
Cast
Cast may refer to:
Music
* Cast (band), an English alternative rock band
* Cast (Mexican band), a progressive Mexican rock band
* The Cast, a Scottish musical duo: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis
* ''Cast'', a 2012 album by Trespassers William
...
Lists of comedians