From
Wikipedia:
Saturday Night Live (1986--1994) After appearing in the
1986 films Jumpin' Jack Flash and ¡
Three Amigos!, Hartman joined the cast and writing staff of
NBC's variety show Saturday Night Live (
SNL). He told the
Los Angeles Times, "I wanted to do [SNL] because I wanted to get the exposure that would give me box-office credibility so I can write movies for myself." In his eight seasons with the show Hartman became known for his impressions, and performed as over 70 different characters. These included
Frank Sinatra,
Ronald Reagan,
Ed McMahon,
Barbara Bush,
Charlton Heston,
Phil Donahue and
Bill Clinton; the last was often considered his most well-known impression.
Hartman's original
Saturday Night Live characters included
Eugene, the Anal Retentive Chef and
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer. Hartman first performed his
Clinton impression on an episode of
The Tonight Show. When he met Clinton in
1993 Hartman remarked, "I guess I owe you a few apologies", adding later that he "sometimes [felt] a twinge of guilt about [his Clinton impression]". Clinton showed good humor and sent Hartman a signed photo with the text: "You're not the president, but you play one on TV. And you're OK, mostly."One of Hartman's more famous sketches as Clinton saw the president visit a McDonald's restaurant and explain his policies by eating other customers' food. The writers told him that he was not eating enough during rehearsals for the sketch -- by the end of the live performance, Hartman had eaten so much he could barely speak.
Backstage at SNL, Hartman was called "the
Glue", a name coined by
Adam Sandler, according to
Jay Mohr's book
Gasping for Airtime. SNL creator
Lorne Michaels explained the reason for the name: "He kind of held the show together. He gave to everybody and demanded very little. He was very low-maintenance."Hartman often helped other cast members. For example, he aided
Jan Hooks in overcoming her stage fright. Michaels added that Hartman was "the least appreciated" cast member by commentators outside the show, and praised his ability "to do five or six parts in a show where you're playing support or you're doing remarkable character work". Hartman was nominated for three
Emmy Awards for his work on SNL, winning in
1989 for
Outstanding Writing for a
Variety,
Music or
Comedy Program.
After his co-stars
Jon Lovitz,
Dennis Miller, Jan Hooks and
Dana Carvey had left, Hartman said he felt "like an athlete who's watched all his
World Series teammates get traded off into other directions
... It was hard to watch them leave because I sort of felt we were all part of the team that saved the show." This cast turnover contributed to his leaving the show in
1994. Hartman had originally planned to leave the show in
1991, but Michaels convinced him to stay to raise his profile; his portrayal of Clinton contributed to this goal.
Jay Leno offered him the role of his sidekick on The Tonight Show but Hartman opted to stay on SNL.
NBC persuaded him to stay on SNL by promising him his own comedy--variety show entitled
The Phil Show. He planned to "reinvent the variety form" with "a hybrid, very fast-paced, high energy [show] with sketches, impersonations, pet acts, and performers showcasing their talents". Hartman was to be the show's executive producer and head writer.Before production began, however, the network decided that variety shows were too unpopular and scrapped the series. In a
1996 interview, Hartman noted he was glad the show had been scrapped, as he "would've been sweatin' blood each week trying to make it work". In
1998, he admitted he missed working on SNL, but had enjoyed the move from
New York City to
Southern California.
Hartman had been divorced twice before he married Brynn (née Omdahl) in
1987; the couple had two children together. However, their marriage was fractured, due in part to Brynn's drug use. On May 28, 1998, Brynn shot and killed her husband while he slept in their
Encino, Los Angeles home, then committed suicide several hours later
. In the weeks following his death, Hartman was celebrated in a wave of tributes. Dan Snierson of
Entertainment Weekly opined that Hartman was "the last person you'd expect to read about in lurid headlines in your morning paper...a decidedly regular guy, beloved by everyone he worked with".
- published: 06 Jan 2011
- views: 367625