I was appalled to hear that some chapters of the cancer-fighting organizations bearing Gilda Radner’s name have elected to drop her identity from their organizations. This decision might be understandable if this were the early Twentieth Century but we live in the age of You Tube when evidence of Radner’s comic genius lives on. Surely the organizations can present clips, pictures and writings from this artist?

Is this an ethical issue? It’s borderline. The organizations have every right to name themselves as they wish. In a Friedmanesque world, to model themselves on businesses seeking the highest possible profits.

But there is also the fact that many of these charitable efforts would not exist except against the backdrop of Gilda Radner’s tragic death from cancer. 

Personally, I hold to the romantic belief that we live on as long as others speak our name. It would trouble me that we forget Gilda so soon.

James Pilant

What do you mean, you don’t know who Gilda Radner is? – Salon.com

From the article:

On-screen, Gilda Radner was fearless. The force of talent that brought to life such characters as Roseanne Roseannadanna, Lisa Loopner, Emily Litella, Baba Wawa and Candy Slice was incandescent. It was the broadness and boldness of Gilda’s work that made her, immediately, a bigger star than the other two women in “SNL’s” original cast, Laraine Newman and Jane Curtin. Jane was more cerebral and restrained, and it wasn’t until later seasons that the show’s writers began to recognize and exploit the depth of her talent. Laraine consciously decided to make her mark as “the sexy one,” and in many sketches she was sexy indeed. What she didn’t have was Gilda’s effusive personality, and that kept her from establishing the bond with audiences that Gilda seemed so effortlessly to achieve. As longtime “SNL” writer Jim Downey put it, “Sex bombs are never going to compete with people who want to be loved.”

What do you mean, you don’t know who Gilda Radner is? – Salon.com

Some clips are featured below:

 

 

 

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