Gilda's Club Madison Changing Name Because College Kids Don't Know Who Gilda Radner Is
Photo of Gilda Radner from the \<em\>Saturday Night Live\<\/em\> credits.
This sketch features Chicago\'s (probably) favorite \<em\>SNL\<\/em\> cast-member, Bill Murray. Sparks (sorta) fly in this super nerdy makeout session.\r\n\<br\>\<br\>\r\n\<iframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=278679\" frameborder=\"0\"\>\<\/iframe\>
Personally, this is one of my favorite \<em\>Saturday Night Live\<\/em\> sketches of all time. Radner accurately plays a bored little girl passing time in her room by starting \"The Judy Miller Show.\" At nearly five minutes, this is much longer than your usual \<em\>SNL\<\/em\> sketch, and that may be to fill time toward the end of Charles Grodin\'s somewhat disastrous turn as host. Well, it wasn\'t exactly disastrous. Grodin\'s performance was \<a href=\"http://splitsider.com/2011/12/the-awkward-hostile-and-absolutely-hilarious-late-night-appearances-of-charles-grodin/\"\>awkward and unique\<\/a\>, as he pretended to be oblivious to the s\cript and even the format. Radner\'s performance is delightful, and if you\'ve ever met a hyperactive 7-year-old girl, you\'ll know just how perfect this sketch is.\r\n\<br\>\<br\>\r\n\<iframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http://www.hulu.com/embed.html?eid=adk29r0ypcmib_vkqenqea\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen\>\<\/iframe\>
Here\'s \"Let\'s Talk Dirty To The Animals\" from her one-woman show \<a href=\"http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080790/\"\>\<em\>Gilda Live\<\/em\>\<\/a\>. You can\'t tell us you never wanted to say, \"Fuck you, Mr. Bunny.\"\r\n\<br\>\<br\>\r\n\<iframe width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/zKxjBsO-Bvk\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen\>\<\/iframe\>
Radner parodies Patti Smith as the character \"Candy Slice\" in this sketch. It starts with a number of celebrity impersonations by the ensemble and ends with Radner\'s killer musical number at the \"Rock Against Yeast Infections\" benefit concert. Radner comes in around 3:30, and her performance starts around 5:30.\r\n\<br\>\<br\>\r\n\<iframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http://www.hulu.com/embed.html?eid=l7eql0j_ypfo_y_-z6ut7w\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen\>\<\/iframe\>
Roseanne Roseannadanna is probably Radner\'s most popular character. She took on celebrities in a way that makes us think Miss Roseannadanna would be a great addition to the \<em\>TMZ\<\/em\> television show. Here is a sketch from \<em\>Gilda Live\<\/em\> in which Roseannadanna gives the graduation speech at the Columbia School of Journalism.\r\n\<br\>\<br\>\r\n\<iframe width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/qd_syuD-N_k\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen\>\<\/iframe\>
Emily Litella is another of Radner\'s well-known \"Weekend Update\" characters. She\'s a little old lady who doesn\'t have the best hearing, but she\'s always willing to be outspoken about her views... on the wrong topic. We really do think there should be more violins on television.\r\n\<br\>\<br\>\r\n\<iframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=278728\" frameborder=\"0\"\>\<\/iframe\>
Several outposts of cancer support group Gilda's Club are changing the name of their organization because college-age girls don't know who Gilda Radner is. Gilda's Club Madison is the fourth group to change its name; it will become Cancer Support Community Southwest Wisconsin in January.
Executive director Lannia Syren Stenz told the Wisconsin State-Journal Madison is changing its name because, "We want to make sure that what we are is clear to them and that there’s not a lot of confusion that would cause people not to come in our doors."
"One of the realizations we had this year is that our college students were born after Gilda Radner passed, as we are seeing younger and younger adults who are dealing with a cancer diagnosis," Stenz said.
First of all, if today's young people aren't familiar with Radner's work, that's just sad. Her name is commonly mentioned alongside the likes of Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett. The Detroit native was a Second City player in Toronto before she joined the original cast of Saturday Night Live, aka the Not Ready For Prime Time Players. If you're one of these so-called "young people," cruise the videos in the gallery above and acquaint yourself.
Radner died of ovarian cancer in 1989. Her final work was the autobiography It's Always Something — named for her character Roseanne Roseannadanna's signature saying — and its delightful audiobook.
The theory behind Gilda's Club's format was inspired by Radner's lighthearted approach to the disease, specifically when she called cancer "membership to an elite club I'd rather not belong to." Her husband Gene Wilder started the organization, and it's core tenet is "no one has to live with cancer alone." If you're not familiar, this is what Gilda's Club is all about:
Gilda's Club Chicago is a support community for men, women and children living with cancer, and families and friends. We offer a place where members join together to give and receive support.
...
Cancer happens to the entire family and its social network, so club membership is extended to include all who are impacted by cancer.
And what's in a name, anyway? Does it matter as long as the organization does good work? Do you know who Susan G. Komen is? Well she wasn't even a celebrity, and the organization bearing her name has invested $2 billion toward finding a cure for breast cancer.
Komen's sister started the organization bearing Susan G. Komen's name as a way to keep her sister's memory alive and to fulfill her promise to "do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever." If our "young people" are unfamiliar with Radner, that's all the more reason to keep the name on the company's welcoming red doors.
UPDATE: While many of the organization's affiliates are changing their name, Gilda's Club Chicago has vowed to keep Radner's name. "Gilda’s Club Chicago will remain Gilda’s Club Chicago in honor of the courageous way Gilda, and all of our members, live with cancer." said LauraJane Hyde, CEO, Gilda’s Club Chicago.
