Gilda: An Intimate Portrait

by David Saltman

In an intimate biography of the comedienne who created Roseanne Roseannadanna and other memorable characters for "Saturday Night Live" and Second City, a longtime friend of Gilda's reveals what she was like before her final bout with cancer.

Genres: Nonfiction

246 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1992

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read David Saltman's Gilda: An Intimate Portrait over ten years ago, back when I was in high school and somewhat new to all things Gilda Radner-related. Truthfully, I remembered none of its content when I spotted it at the library all these years later, so it seemed like a good time to read it again.

It isn't really a typical biography on Gilda Radner's life; it's more of a memoir from a friend of hers, author David Saltman, who knew her from their college days in Michigan, up until Gilda's death from ovarian cancer in May of 1989.

I think the strong points of this book are the earlier chapters, about the young Gilda before she hit the big time on Saturday Night Live because the early years of SNL have been pretty well-documented in other sources. I was also surprised to see so little space dedicated to her marriage to Gene Wilder, but I think if you're interested in that period of time, Gilda's own memoir, It's Always Something, is the best place to look because she writes about their relationship quite extensively.

As always, whenever I read something about Gilda, I just get the feeling that I wish she could still be here. The world was robbed of so much laughter when she died, and I'm sure she had some truly great material in her that she can never share with us now. But at least we have all of her performances on SNL and in the movies to look back on. There will never be another quite like Gilda.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's GIlda. It's written by someone who loved her. Sigh.

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book about Gilda Radner-her life, cancer, humor and talent.