Ellen Cleghorne

Last updated
Ellen Cleghorne
Ellen Cleghorne Aviano.jpg
Cleghorne at the La Bella Vista Club in 2008
Born
Education Hunter College
Occupation(s) Actress, comedian
Years active1984–present
Children1

Ellen Leslye Cleghorne [1] is an American actress and comedian. Cleghorne is best known for her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1991 to 1995. She was the sketch comedy show's second African-American female repertory cast member, succeeding Danitra Vance in its eleventh season, and the first African-American female cast member to stay for more than one season. She returned for its 40th anniversary special on February 15, 2015. Cleghorne was ranked the 69th greatest Saturday Night Live cast member by Rolling Stone magazine. [2]

Contents

Early life

A native of the Red Hook Projects in Brooklyn, Cleghorne is a graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School and Hunter College. [3] She first established her talents in New York City comedy clubs and career started when she competed in the Johnnie Walker Comedy Search in 1989 where she was directed in a video by Saturday Night Live short film producer Neal Marshad at the comedy club Caroline's in the South Street Seaport. In 1991, she appeared on Def Comedy Jam and landed minor roles in season two of In Living Color , where she was discovered by producers of Saturday Night Live.

Career

Cleghorne joined Saturday Night Live in 1991, and remained on the show for four seasons until 1995. [3] During her tenure she performed impressions such as Alfre Woodard, Dr. Dre, Anita Baker, Florence Griffith Joyner, Debbie Allen, Mary J. Blige, Natalie Cole, Patti LaBelle, Marla Gibbs, Robin Quivers, Toni Morrison, Joycelyn Elders, Tina Turner, and Whoopi Goldberg. [4] She also had two recurring characters: Zoraida, an NBC page, and Queen Shenequa, who appeared frequently on the recurring Weekend Update sketch. [4] Cleghorne was the third black woman to be credited on Saturday Night Live, after Yvonne Hudson and Danitra Vance, and the first woman of color to appear on the series as a full-fledged cast member for longer than a single season. [5] She later said, "I was the first [woman of color] cast member ... with a contract. And if you read, or do research, they didn't used to give black people contracts on SNL. That was cold-blooded. They didn't even give them credit. The credits roll, your name's not even on there. That was a joke because that's how you got residuals." [5] Her former Saturday Night Live costar Jay Mohr's book Gasping for Airtime notes that Cleghorne did not get along well with some of the other cast members during her time on the show. He also mentions a tiff with host Sally Field during a pitch meeting. [6]

In 1995, Cleghorne left SNL to star as single mother Ellen Carlson on Cleghorne! , a sitcom that aired for one season on The WB network, and which also starred fellow SNL alumnus Garrett Morris, and Sherri Shepherd in her first acting role. [5] [7] Cleghorne later said, "I don't think I was ready. In terms of being strong and saying, 'I can write, this is what I do,' and feel confident in that. And to be able to say, 'No, this does not work, this works better.'" [5]

In 1993 and 1994, Cleghorne made appearances on the Nickelodeon children's TV show The Adventures of Pete and Pete playing a bus driver who served as the love interest of Pete's regular bus driver. She later appeared in independent films and comedies including Mr. Wrong (1996), Armageddon (1998), Coyote Ugly (2000), Little Nicky (2000), and Old School (2003). She has also had a series of skits played on Sirius XM Radio's Raw Dog Comedy channel.[ citation needed ]

Cleghorne was mentioned on a segment of the Family Guy DVD Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story , when Stewie asks if "they ever found a suitable vehicle for Ellen Cleghorne." Seth MacFarlane claimed that she called the show's staff about the joke, which Cleghorne has denied. [8]

In 2013, Cleghorne appeared in a small role in Grown Ups 2 . [9]

In 2015, Cleghorne was one of the contestants for Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition , finishing in 3rd place.[ citation needed ] The same year she appeared in the 40th anniversary special of Saturday Night Live, calling the experience "a cleansing". [8]

Saturday Night Live

Celebrity impressions

Recurring characters

In 2018, she played the role of Shaniqua in Second Act .

Education

In 2014 Cleghorne received her PhD in Performance Studies at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danitra Vance</span> American comedian and actress (1954–1994)

Danitra Vance was an American comedian and actress who was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) during its eleventh season in 1985.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> American late-night live TV sketch comedy and variety show

Saturday Night Live (SNL) is an American late-night live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The show's premiere was hosted by George Carlin on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. The show's comedy sketches, which often parody contemporary American culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, with featured performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that was usually based on political events and ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", properly beginning the show.

<i>Cleghorne!</i> 1995 American TV series or program

Cleghorne! is an American sitcom television series starring comedian Ellen Cleghorne that aired on The WB from September 10 to December 17, 1995. Garrett Morris and Alaina Reed Hall costarred as Ellen's character's parents, Sidney and Lena, with Steve Bean, Cerita Monet Bickelmann, Michael Ralph and Sherri Shepherd.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> season 20 Season of television series

The twentieth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 24, 1994, and May 13, 1995.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> season 19 Season of television series

The nineteenth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 25, 1993, and May 14, 1994.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> season 18 Season of television series

The eighteenth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 26, 1992, and May 15, 1993.

The seventeenth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 28, 1991, and May 16, 1992.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> season 11 Season of television series

The eleventh season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between November 9, 1985, and May 24, 1986.

Yvonne Hudson is an American television actress who is best known for being the first African-American female cast member on Saturday Night Live. She joined the cast as a featured player in the show's 1980–1981 season. She is also the third African-American to become an SNL cast member following Garrett Morris and Eddie Murphy. Hudson first appeared on the show in 1978 as an uncredited extra in many episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate McKinnon</span> American actress and comedian (born 1984)

Kate McKinnon Berthold is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2012 to 2022, where she became known for her character work and celebrity impressions. For her work on the series, she was nominated for ten Primetime Emmy Awards, including one for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics and nine for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning in 2016 and 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie Jones (comedian)</span> American comedian and actress (born 1967)

Annette Leslie Jones is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She was a cast member and writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2014 to 2019, and hosted the ABC game show Supermarket Sweep. She has also been a featured performer at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal and the Aspen Comedy Festival. In 2010, her one-hour comedy special, Problem Child, was broadcast on Showtime. Jones starred in Ghostbusters (2016) as Patty Tolan. In 2017 and 2018, Jones was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on Saturday Night Live.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cecily Strong</span> American actress

Cecily Legler Strong is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2012 to 2022. She is the longest-tenured female cast member in the show's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sasheer Zamata</span> American actress and comedian (born 1986)

Sasheer Zamata Moore is an American actress and stand-up comedian. She is best known for her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2014 to 2017. Since her departure from SNL, she has garnered wider attention for her leading roles in the TV series Woke (2020–2022) and Home Economics (2021–2023). Zamata is starring in the upcoming Disney+ Marvel show Agatha All Along. She has also served as a celebrity ambassador for the American Civil Liberties Union.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> 40th Anniversary Special Episode of the 40th season of Saturday Night Live

"Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special" is a three-and-a-half-hour prime-time special that aired on February 15, 2015, on NBC, celebrating Saturday Night Live's 40th year on the air, having premiered on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. It is produced by Broadway Video. This special generated 23.1 million viewers, becoming NBC's most-watched prime-time, non-sports, entertainment telecast since the Friends series finale in 2004. It is the third such anniversary special to be broadcast, with celebratory episodes also held during the 15th and 25th seasons.

The sketch comedy television show Saturday Night Live (SNL) has for almost three decades aired a number of sketches parodying Hillary Clinton, from her time as First Lady, and during both her presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chloe Fineman</span> American actress and comedian (born 1988)

Chloe Rose Fineman is an American actress and comedian. She became a featured player on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live starting in its 45th season in September 2019, and was promoted to repertory status in 2021 at the beginning of season 47.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Holt</span> American actress and comedian (born 1991)

Lauren Elizabeth Holt is an American actress and comedian. She began her career with the Upright Citizens Brigade, an improv and sketch comedy troupe in Los Angeles. In 2020, Holt, alongside Andrew Dismukes and Punkie Johnson, was hired to join the cast of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live as a featured player, appearing during the show's 46th season between 2020 and 2021. Holt left Saturday Night Live after one season and went on to appear in the 2022 film Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm and the 2023 films Pastacolypse and Barbie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punkie Johnson</span> American actress and comedian (born 1985)

Jessica Williams, known professionally as Punkie Johnson, is an American comedian and actress based in New York City and began her career as a stand-up comedian at The Comedy Store in California. Johnson is best known for being a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live for four seasons, joining its 46th season in 2020 and leaving in 2024 after its 49th season.

The sketch comedy television series Saturday Night Live (SNL) has parodied President Joe Biden since 1991, covering his time as a United States Senator, his time as Vice President under President Barack Obama, during his campaign to defeat president Donald Trump for the presidency, and as the president of the United States.

The forty-seventh season of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live premiered on October 2, 2021, during the 2021–22 television season with host Owen Wilson and musical guest Kacey Musgraves, and concluded on May 21, 2022 with host Natasha Lyonne and musical guest Japanese Breakfast. For the first time, the season's first five episodes and the remainder from episode ten onward were live-streamed on the streaming service Peacock in addition to its coast-to-coast live television broadcast.

References

  1. Cleghorne, Ellen. "158th Commencement, Hunter College" (PDF). Hunter College Library Catalog. Hunter College. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  2. "'Saturday Night Live': All 145 Cast Members Ranked". Rolling Stone.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Wright, Megh (August 14, 2012). "Saturday Night's Children: Ellen Cleghorne (1991-1995)" . Vulture . Archived from the original on July 6, 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Potempa, Philip (November 27, 2013). "Offbeat: Funny Ellen Cleghorne could give NBC's SNL casting advice". The Times of Northwest Indiana . Retrieved June 12, 2020 via nwi.com.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Hoglund, Andy (December 13, 2018). "How SNL's Ellen Cleghorne Laid the Groundwork for a Generation of Black Comedians". Slate . Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  6. Mohr, Jay (June 2004). Gasping for Airtime: Two Years In the Trenches of Saturday Night Live. Hyperion Books. ISBN   978-1401300067.
  7. Variety staff (December 17, 1995). "WB Net Revamps Sunday Slate". Variety . Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  8. 1 2 Bellino, Damian (February 16, 2015). "SNL Alum Ellen Cleghorne on Black Women in Comedy and What She's Been Up To Since the Show". VH1 . Archived from the original on October 7, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  9. 1 2 Martin-Osuagwu, Deanna (June 11, 2014). "What Ever Happened to ... Ellen Cleghorne?". Jet . Archived from the original on February 22, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2020.