‘SNL’ legend Garrett Morris talks racism backstage

Saturday Night LiveBlack’s first cast member, Garrett Morris, revealed insights about racial dynamics in the show’s early years. Now 87, Morris recounted his experiences on the landmark comedy series. 1975 debut season in a recent interview addressing both institutional support and creative obstacles in a recent interview with The Guardian.

Morris, who originally joined as a writer before becoming a performer, made a scathing assessment of the show’s racial atmosphere. “I’ll say it to the end of my days: Lorne’s writers had a lot of racism,” Morris said. However, he distinguished the attitudes of the editorial staff from his own SNL creative Lorne Michaelsadding: “Lorne himself? Zero racism. Because, remember, when I was hired, I was the only black writer. Lorne wanted someone Black on TV at night. People didn’t want that. They were clamoring to make everything white. He didn’t.”

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His transition from writer to performer came after an unexpected meeting in the Studio 8H green room. Morris initially assumed the days SNL were numbered when Michaels called him for a one-on-one meeting. Instead, he found Michaels watching Cooley Highclassic noir cinema with Morris as a history teacher. The film was recommended by cast members Gilda Radner, Laraine Newman and Jane Curtin. “Because of that, I was asked to audition for Not Ready for Prime Time Players (the working title for SNL),” Morris explained, “and I went from being a writer to being part of the cast.”

Despite this breakthrough, Morris encountered resistance when looking for various roles. He recalled a pivotal interaction during the show’s first season: “I was really surprised when I was going through the first show. I didn’t have a skit, but I was looking at another one. I said to Lorne, “There’s a doctor in this scene. Why don’t I play doctor? And he says, “Garrett, people could be thrown by a black doctor.” Morris noted the irony of this response, adding, “Now, keep in mind that I had come from New Orleans, where you’re surrounded by black and black doctors. PhD students. In all the big cities in the South, for that matter.”

Morris’s most recognizable characters included Chico Escuela, a Dominican baseball player known for his catchphrase “base-e-bol been beddy-beddy good to me” and a deaf interpreter who simply repeated his news segments louder Chevy Chase instead of signing them. Throughout his tenure, Morris, an accomplished playwright before joining SNLtried to bring depth to potentially stereotypical roles.

However, his five-year run on SNL was complicated by personal struggles. “I made a lot of bad choices,” he admitted. “I was a Coke lover.” However, Morris completed 99 episodes before leaving for other television opportunities, including roles on Martini and The Jamie Foxx Show.

Morris’s impact continues to resonate with contemporary performers. Actor Lamorne Morris (no relation), who portrays him in the upcoming film “Saturday Night,” also spoke The Kelly Clarkson Show about their shared experience of being the only black cast members on television shows. “If you get in a room with Garrett, he’s the most talented person there. He did everything. The man helped desegregate unions. He protested during the Civil Rights Movement. Then it’s on SNL. I mean, you know what to call it,” said Lamorne Morris.

Reflecting on his legacy and current state of SNLMorris expressed both pride and concern: “I feel proud to have been a tiny part of the beginning of SNL and to have created the chair for the non-white performer.” However, he noted that today’s show seems to lack the “guts, the experimental impulses” that defined its first decade, adding: “I still expect it to attack in a funny way and bring out the foibles of not only individuals , but also of the government. and all that. And these days, even though people still check it out, I think it’s reaching too many people for too long.”