The 42nd President of the United States,

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

, has been parodied on ''

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. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' (''SNL'') since 1992. Clinton was in office from 1993 to 2001, and has been portrayed on the show over a hundred times, most often by

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 ...

Background

''Saturday Night Live'' has parodied U.S. presidents and other politicians since the show started in 1975. The numerous sketches on Clinton are often inspired by aspects of his presidency, the

Lewinsky scandal Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist and writer. President Bill Clinton admitted to having an affair with Lewinsky while she worked at the White House as an intern in 1995 and 1996. The affair, and its repercus ...

, and his relationship with his wife, herself a frequent subject in ''SNL's'' political sketches.

Phil Hartman (1992–1994)

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 ...

was the first cast member to portray Bill Clinton and did so until he left the show in 1994. Among his 18 appearances as Clinton, a December 1992 sketch, in which Clinton enters a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

and eats customers' food while talking about politics, has been noted as a successful one.

Darrell Hammond (1995–2019)

Darrell Hammond took over the role during his ''SNL'' tenure from 1995 to 2009. Like Hartman, Hammond has been considered one of ''SNLs best political impersonators, and on the show he parodied several other American politicians. SNL's ratings rose at the peak of the Lewinsky-scandal, and when

Monica Lewinsky Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist and writer. President Bill Clinton admitted to having an affair with Lewinsky while she worked at the White House as an intern in 1995 and 1996. The affair, and its repercus ...

guested the show in 1999, she appeared with Hammond's Clinton. In the sketch, Clinton dreams of the life after his presidency, and Lewinsky is his wife. In 1997, he appeared as Clinton at the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner. According to Hammond, he met Clinton at the White House before the event "in full Clinton drag". Telling Clinton that he felt foolish, the president replied "I think you look ''terrific''." He also did an impression of Clinton as part of a 2001

White House Correspondents' Association The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the president of the United States. The WHCA was founded on February 25, 1914, by journalists in response to an unfounded rumor t ...

dinner performance, after Clinton left office. Hammond has returned as Clinton several times since he left the cast, and has played the part on the show over 90 times.

Others

A 1994 sketch had several cast members auditioning to play Clinton, including

Chris Farley Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. Farley was known for his loud, energetic comedic style, and was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the ...

David Spade David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, television host, and writer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1990s, and he later began an acting career in both film and television. He also s ...

Chris Elliott Christopher Nash Elliott (born May 31, 1960) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He appeared in comedic sketches on '' Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1988), created and starred in the comedy series '' Get a Life'' (1990–1992) ...

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...

, and

Tim Meadows Timothy Meadows (born February 5, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the longest-running cast members on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he appeared for ten seasons and for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy ...

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 '' ...

briefly played Clinton after Hartman, at the end of 1994.

Dana Carvey Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, impressionist, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his seven seasons as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1986 to 1993, which earned him fiv ...

once appeared as a "young Clinton" in a 1996 sketch where

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

(

Norm Macdonald Norman Gene MacdonaldThe capitalization of Norm Macdonald's surname has been inconsistently reported in publications such as ''TV Guide''. Books that discuss him, such as ''Shales'' (2003) and Crawford' (2000), as well as other sources such as ...

) uses a time-machine.

Beck Bennett Christopher Beck Bennett (born October 1, 1984) is an American actor, comedian, and writer, who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' for eight seasons (2013–2021). Before then, he performed in AT&T "It's Not Complicated" commercials in ...

played Clinton once, in 2013.

References

{{Bill Clinton Cultural depictions of Bill Clinton Cultural depictions of presidents of the United States Cultural depictions of Monica Lewinsky Saturday Night Live sketches Saturday Night Live in the 1990s Saturday Night Live in the 2000s Saturday Night Live in the 2010s American political satire

Background

Phil Hartman (1992–1994)

Darrell Hammond (1995–2019)

Others

See also

References