Gilda Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989) was an American actress and comedian, one of the seven original cast members of the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live. She won an Emmy Award for the show in 1978, and also appeared in several films, on stage, and continued to work on TV.
She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1986 and died in 1989. Before her death, she published her autobiography, It’s Always Something. Her widower, Gene Wilder, carried out her wish that the story of her cancer experience be used to help other people, including organizations that emphasize early detection.
Posthumously, Radner won a Grammy Award in 1990. Many comedians have cited Radner as an influence on their work.
Below we list words of wisdom from Gilda Radner.
“… every time I got disappointed I’d remember the Roseannadanna philosophy that says that you shouldn’t cry over split milk ’cause if you spill some milk and instead of cleaning it up you just walk over it and start crying, they’re gonna put you on lithium.”
“You feel completely in control when you hear a wave of laughter coming back at you that you have caused.”
“I would rather be funny than gorgeous, absolutely. Because it’s too hard to be gorgeous, you know. I could make a stab at gorgeous as long as I had something funny to say to get out of it.”
“It’s like my father always said to me, he said to me, he said, Roseanna Roseanadana, it’s always something. If it isn’t one thing–it’s another! It’s always something.”
“Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next.”
“I’ve learned what I can control is whether I am going to live a day in fear and depression and panic, or whether I am going to attack the day and make it as good a day, as wonderful a day, as I can.”
“There are those who open their hearts to others…who never think twice about giving of themselves. They are the wonderful warmhearted people who make all the difference in our lives.”
“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle and end.”
“There is no real security except for whatever you build inside yourself.”
“I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive.”
“I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn’t itch.”
“Humor is just truth, only faster!”
“While we have the gift of life, it seems to me the only tragedy is to allow part of us to die – whether it is our spirit, our creativity or our glorious uniqueness.”
“[Motherhood is] the biggest gamble in the world. It is the glorious life force. It’s huge and scary-it’s an act of infinite optimism.”
“I love being a woman. You can cry. You get to wear pants now. If you’re on a boat and it’s going to sink, you get to go on the rescue boat first. You get to wear cute clothes. It must be a great thing, or so many men wouldn’t be wanting to do it.”
“Having cancer gave me membership in an elite club I’d rather not belong to.”
“Cancer is probably the most unfunny thing in the world, but I’m a comedian, and even cancer couldn’t stop me from seeing the humor in what I went through.”
“The goal is to live a full, productive life even with all that ambiguity. No matter what happens, whether the cancer never flares up again or whether you die, the important thing is that the days that you have had you will have lived.”
“Fame changes a lot of things, but it can’t change a light bulb.”
“Adopted kids are such a pain – you have to teach them how to look like you.”
“I can always be distracted by love, but eventually I get horny for my creativity.”
“Dreams are like paper, they tear so easily.”
“What we put into every moment is all we have. You can drug yourself to death or you can smoke yourself to death or eat yourself to death, or you can do everything right and be healthy and then get hit by a car. Life is so great, such a neat thing, and yet all during it we have to face death, which can make you nuts and depressed.”
“… I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Suddenly I had to spend all my time getting well.”
“It’s such an act of optimism to get through a day and enjoy it and laugh and do all that without thinking about death. What spirit human beings have!”
“I think clothes should make you feel safe. I like clothes you want to go to sleep in. I sometimes stand in front of a mirror and change a million times because I know I really want to wear my nightgown.”
“I have always found men who were funny irresistible. It’s rare that I ever based love on looks or superficial things, but if a guy made me laugh-and that didn’t mean he had to be in comedy professionally – I was hooked.”
“I’m not really an impersonator.”
“It is so hard for us little human beings to accept this deal that we get. It’s really crazy, isn’t it? We get to live, then we have to die. … What spirit human beings have! It is a pretty cheesy deal – all the pleasures of life, and then death.”
“My life had made me funny, and cancer wasn’t going to change that.”
“Show business is like riding a bicycle – when you fall off, the best thing to do is get up, brush yourself off and get back on again.”
“I would say that Lucy, ‘I Love Lucy,’ she was my idol.”
“Comedy is very controlling – you are making people laugh.”
“You cannot live in Los Angeles for any period of time without eventually trying to write a screenplay. It’s like a flu bug that you catch … Even the plumber has a screenplay in his truck.”
“I grew up in front of a television. I guess I’ll grow old inside of one.”
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