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February isBlack History Month , and 2025 marks the50th day of remembrance of the long - course seriesSaturday Night Live . Known asSNL , the sketch drollery series has been enchant buff every Saturday evening withhilarious skitsand the clever ways it weaves social , economic , and political issues into everything from its inhuman clear to skits , shorts , and monologue .
Through the show ’s 50 - year run to appointment , starting way back in 1975,SNLhas had many influential cast members , some of whom have gone on to attain great succeeder in flick . This let in many Black cast members who left their grade on the show , some of whom wholly changed the secret plan .
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Garrett Morris (1975-1980)
Garrett Morris was the first Black roll member inSNLhistory , and a member of the original cast . He was eff for both whistle classical music and notable characters like the Dominican baseball game player Chico Escuela who spoke broken English and always reduplicate the same set phrase about how “ baseball game … been berra berra good to me . ” Another memorable fibre was the United States President of a school for the hard of hearing who would shout the tidings on Weekend Update in place of sign language on screen .
Not amazingly for the time , Morris was often type in roles specifically write for a Black character . In fact , this is something that displeased him , as noted in the bookSaturday Night : A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live . His experiences on the show , however , were polar for shameful stamp members who came after , encouraging them to push to limn character that went beyond their race .
Danitra Vance (1985-1986)
While Danitra Vance was only a member of the cast for a single class , that fateful 11th season make out as “ The Weird Year , ” she make theSNLhistory script as the first Black female to come along on the show as a principal cast member , as well as the first lesbian cast member after Denny Dillon . She was one of the few new cast members with sketch funniness experience who was engage during a transitional year when Godhead Lorne Michaels returned to shake thing up . As fans may recall , and as chronicled in the fourth episode of the Peacock docuseriesSNL50 : Beyond Saturday Night , this is the year when the plaster bandage was made up of mostly immature movie player , like Robert Downey Jr. , Randy Quaid , Anthony Michael Hall , and Joan Cusack .
Vance play graphic symbol like That Black Girl , a Black actress try on to make it big , and Cabrini Green Jackson , a professional teen female parent who notify others on teen maternity . She also did impressions of renown like Diahann Carroll , Cicely Tyson , Leslie Uggams , and Lola Falana . InSNL50 : Beyond Saturday Night , past and current Black female mould member like Ego Nwodim cite Vance as being an breathing in , and someone who unfold the doorway for them to play along in her footstep .
Eddie Murphy (1980-1984)
Eddie Murphy is one of the most prolific comedian of this generation and he was intact to the succeeder ofSaturday Night Livein the early ‘ 80s . He portrayed some of the most iconic characters from that time , which still go down as some of the best characters ever onSNL , overall . These include Buckwheat , Velvet Jones , Mr. Robinson , and Gumby . Mr. Robinson is a stand - out , Murphy ’s take on Mister Rogers Neighborhood except Mr. Robinson lives in a tougher neighbourhood and he ’s often up to no goodness . The advice he grant to kids is n’t exactly right , but he gives it in such a sweet , comfort voice that ’s contradictory to what he ’s actually saying .
Murphy ’s impression of everyone from James Brown to Stevie Wonder were slur on as well . In the documentaryLadies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music , former cast members like Maya Rudolph point out that what was so great about Murphy ’s melodious performances is that he can really talk well , which made them all the more convincing . He stay one of the good cast penis ever to be on the show . It comes as no surprise that Murphy went on to become a massive pic maven .
Maya Rudolph (2000-2007)
lately return toSNLto portray former vice president Kamala Harris , Maya Rudolph proved that fair sex could do fantastic impressions , too . She also brought a musically comedic style to the show , take on icon like Whitney Houseton and Tina Turner . Whether she was pay homage to Beyonce or pretending to be Oprah , she leave every performance her all through her incumbency on the show .
Rudolph ’s effect overstep race as she portray instrumentalist like Christina Aguilera and icon like Donatella Versace as well . Never afraid to go over - the - top with her comedy , Rudolph was also part of one of the most iconic Digital Shorts , D**k in a Box . Her forcible comedy , opinion , and tremendous comedic timing was shape by the shameful female cast members who came before her , and has influenced many others who arrive after .
Tracy Morgan (1996-2003)
Recalling inSNL50 : Beyond Saturday Night how creator Lorne Michaels convinced him to continue when he did n’t feel like he conform to in , lover are happy that he did . That ’s because Tracy Morgan ’s off-the-wall personality made him a delight to see on the sketch comedy show . He take iconic characters into the mix , like Dominican Lou , Astronaut Jones , and Brian Fellow , the enthusiastic emcee of a show called Safari Planet who ironically did n’t make out much about animals .
Also be intimate for his impression , including everyone from Bobby Brown to Cuba Gooding Jr. and Busta Rhymes , Morgan had fans in stitches every time he appear on screen . But he has never shied from discourse his intuitive feeling of closing off while on the show , namely pertaining to his race , raising awareness of the issues Black cast member faced .
Leslie Jones (2014-2019)
Leslie Jones did n’t appear in a lot of cartoon , initially hired as a writer . But she would frequently appear on the Weekend Update segment , unremarkably talk over a seasonable issue in her touch loud and abrasive style . She made chronicle as the oldest person to join the cast when she was 47 and her inclusion body made it the first timeSNLhad more than one calamitous woman in the cast and a record of five pitch-dark individuals at the same metre in season 40 .
Earning a Primetime Emmy Award for her work on the show , Jones was n’t afraid to discuss cultural topics and even agitate the gasbag . In one appearance on Weekend Update , for deterrent example , she played an mental image expert who spoke out against Lupita Nyong’o being named People Magazine ’s Most Beautiful Person , propose they need to put out a “ most useful ” list alternatively . Despite make out with controversy through her metre on the show , she persevered and support her ground . After personal photos of her were leaked , for object lesson , Jones addressed it on the show , jokingly suggest , “ if you need to see photos of Leslie Jones raw , just expect ! ” She never took herself too seriously and her self - vilipend wittiness made her relatable and endear .
Kenan Thompson (2003-)
Kenan Thompson contain the record as not only the longest - running Black plaster cast appendage but also the longest - running cast member inSNLhistory , period . start room back in 2003 , he is still going strong , now in his 22nd . As a member of some ofthe bestSNL casts , he is also the longest - tenure cast appendage who was born after the show first go on the air . Thompson does n’t just hide among the mould either . He ’s often front and center in multiple cartoon every instalment .
realize six Primetime Emmy nomination for his work on the show and pull ahead one , he also admit the record for the most celebrity picture ever do , from Al Roker and Al Sharpton to Charles Barkley and O.J. Simpson . It ’s in original character where Thompson unfeignedly ordinarily excels , however , like DeAndre Cole , the host of the show What ’s Up With That ? who constantly interrupts his guest to break into singing the show ’s theme song again and again . There ’s also Elliot Pants , host of the game show What ’s Wong With This Picture ? where objector keep move over elaborate and unfitting answers instead of pointing out the obvious . As the show ’s most long-suffering star , Thompson has madeSNLhis career .
Jay Pharoah (2010-2016)
Jay Pharoah represent a new coevals of cast members and remains one of the best at doing opinion of everyone from Barack Obama to Kanye West and Jay - Z. Any clock time Pharoah was question , he ’d often be asked to do a series of picture , leave people bewildered at just how good he is . by nature , this interpret well to his C. W. Post onSNLwhere he could not only spiel these fame , but do so convincingly well .
It was after he did an impression of Obama on the show , however , that Pharoah started to get more screen time and his star begin to rise as one of the best cast extremity through his tenure . While Pharoah did appear in a few vignette as fictitious characters , he try that an impressionist could add so much value to sketches , pave for the path for newfangled cast members like James Austin Johnson and Chloe Fineman who excel in this same area .
Tim Meadows (1991-2000)
Before Darrell Hammond then Kenan Thompson broke the track record for being the longest - tenure shape appendage , Tim Meadows held that honor . He was on the show for 10 season and was one of only five cast members who were n’t lease go during the handsome purge of 1995 , the first since the “ weird time of year ” 11 in 1984 . His humor and comedic timing pass to a successful TV and movie career after , including reprising hisSNLcharacter Leon Phelps , a.k.a . The Ladies Man , for the film of the same name .
Along with doing dozens of mental picture and portraying The Ladies Man in the uproarious recurring resume , Meadows also popularized a sketch whereby he played himself doing or saying dizzy things . He found ways to get covert time even when there were n’t specific character for him . Despite being on the show for so long , Meadows is one of the most under - tell on former form member . When you rewatch sketches with him , you gain a swell admiration for his ability to command the blind , even for just a few arcminute on Weekend Update , and leave you in stitches .
Michael Che (2014-)
There has arguably been no other stamp penis so is so authentically themselves as Michael Che . Starting on the show as a writer , he worked his style up to become on - screen door carbon monoxide - legion of Weekend Update , solidifying its position as one of the most popular , if notthemost democratic , weekly segments of the show . fan love his alchemy with co - emcee Colin Jost and the means they roast one another , Che never shying away from have race - ground antic that some might find controversial . A favorite is when they write jokes for one another that the other does n’t see until they register them on the live show .
