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Starring Jami Gertz, Tom Rooney, Ari Cohen, Eric Siegel, Mather Zickel, Maureen Ross Neilson, Dan Di Julio,
and Jennifer Irwin
Gilda Radner was one of comedy's brightest lights, creating unforgettable characters that are still
making new generations laugh. Now her bittersweet life story is told from her own perspective, from her beginnings as a child
cut-up to her reign as a comedic icon, in this dramatization based on her bestselling autobiography.
In the biopic,
Gilda (Jami Gertz) tells her own story, beginning with her childhood as a chubby girl who loved to perform for her adoring
dad and doting nanny. In her 20s she joined Second City in Toronto, where she honed her comedic chops alongside John Belushi,
Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray. Lorne Michaels signed Gilda first, then eventually brought all four of them to New York where
they became the wildly popular Not Ready for Primetime Players on Saturday Night Live. The telefilm captures how Gilda
helped make SNL a cultural phenomenon with her irrepressible and unforgettable characters, including Roseanne Rosannadanna,
Lisa Loopner, Baba Wawa and Emily Litella. It also reveals the friendships with her co-stars, as well as the dizzying heights
of fame she experienced while privately battling bulimia.
The movie details Gilda's lifelong quest to find true love.
She had numerous relationships and a brief marriage to musician G.E. Smith, but Gene Wilder was the love of her life. They
met on the set of their movie Hanky Panky, and a great romance eventually led to marriage. They had a few glorious
years together before Gilda became ill with ovarian cancer, but with Gene's unflagging support and the help of therapist Joanna
Bull, Gilda found ways to revel in humor and hope despite her illness. She wrote her autobiography, "It's Always Something,"
and finished recording it three weeks before she died, at the age of 42. Her book went on to be No. 1 on The New York Times
bestseller list.
Gilda's legacy continues today with Gilda's Club (founded in 1991), a network of centers across the
country where people living with cancer, and their families and friends, come together for emotional and social support.
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