Following her fourth season of Saturday Night Live, Sarah Sherman recently revealed a strange connection to one of the show’s most beloved alums.
The comedian recalled finding out that her SAG residual checks were going to the estate of Gilda Radner, who was a castmember on the NBC sketch comedy show from its inception in 1975 until departing after Season 5 in 1980.
“I got a giant envelope in the mail with a handwritten letter that was like, ‘Hey, I’m Gilda Radner’s brother,” she said on Vulture’s Good One podcast. “Weird thing happened where I’ve been receiving all of your residuals checks for the past few months.’”
Sherman added, “I started, like, hysterically sobbing, obviously. Because I’m like, ‘Okay, God’s speaking to me right now.’ The fact that my SAG residuals checks had been sent to Gilda Radner’s estate?”
She also recounted SNL creator Lorne Michaels‘ reaction to the mix-up, following what sounded like a “schizophrenic” text.
“I texted Lorne [and] I was like, ‘Oh my God, my checks have been sent to Gilder Radner’s estate! Isn’t this like a crazy coincidence? I feel like this is like a miracle or like I feel like this is a spirit is talking,’” said Sherman, noting that Michaels simply texted back: “That’s sweet.”
One of SNL‘s original ‘Not Ready for Prime Time Players’, Radner was known for her character Roseanne Rosannadanna, as well as her impressions of stars like Barbara Walters and Lucille Ball. She died of ovarian cancer at age 42 in 1989.
