- Gene Wilder and Gilda's cancer psychotherapist, Joanna Bull, established Gilda's Club in 1991. This was Gilda's wish that a place could be established where people of all ages diagnosed with cancer could come together and support one another through the illness. The centers are non-medical and very homey, with an art center, exercise facility, game rooms and a children's room called Noogieland, so named for "noogies", one of Gilda's comedic actions. No such place as Gilda's Club existed when she battled her ovarian cancer. Gilda's Club currently has centers all over the United States and Canada.
- Her mother named her after the title character played by Rita Hayworth in the film noir Gilda (1946).
- Is the only female player from Saturday Night Live (1975) to win an Outstanding Performance Emmy Award for her work on the show.
- 30 Rock (2006) star and creator (and ex-Saturday Night Live (1975) writer and player) Tina Fey has named Gilda as the main reason she became a comedy writer.
- Was a mentor to actress Catherine O'Hara.
- She was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on June 27, 2003 (the day before what would have been her 57th birthday).
- Her SNL character Roseanne Roseannadanna is the partial inspiration for the sobriquet of Glasgow, Scotland post-hardcore/indie-pop rock band Dananananaykroyd, as is the real name of her Saturday Night Live (1975) "Weekend Update" co-star, Dan Aykroyd.
- Following her death, she was interred at Long Ridge Cemetery in Stamford, Connecticut. She passed away on May 20, 1989, one month away from what would have been her 43rd birthday on June 28.
- One of the members of the Toronto comedy troupe Second City.
- Dated Martin Short during the early 1970s, after meeting him during the run of the legendary 1972 Toronto production of "Godspell". In addition to Radner and Short, this production also starred Victor Garber, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas and Andrea Martin, with Paul Shaffer as musical director. Radner's understudy, Canadian comic actress Nancy Dolman began dating Short in 1974 and married him in 1980.
- She was considered for the role of Shirley Feeney on the sitcom Laverne & Shirley (1976) according to Penny Marshall. The role eventually went to Cindy Williams.
- Won a Posthumous Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording (1990).
- Radner once complained that she found Ghostbusters (1984) difficult to watch because stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis were all ex-boyfriends of hers.
- Classic recurring characters include Roseanne Rosannadanna, Judy Miller, Emily Litella, Baba Wawa (a parody of Barbara Walters), Lisa Loopner, Candy Slice and Rhonda Weiss.
- She was of Russian Jewish, Polish Jewish, and Lithuanian Jewish ancestry.
- Attended and graduated from The Liggett School (now University Liggett School) in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan (1966).
- She was romantically involved with Peter Firth in the late 1970s.
- Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 718-720. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons (1999).
- Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 499-500. New York: Oxford University Press (2002).
- Born on the exact same date as Bruce Davison (of Willard (1971) and Harry and the Hendersons (1987) fame).
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content