If you surveyed 100 people, Family Feud-style, and asked them who was Saturday Night Live’s first Black cast member, Eddie Murphy would be the number one response. But in fact it was Garrett Morris who kicked that door down.
For five seasons, beginning with SNL’s launch in 1975, he broke ground as the show’s only Black cast member, dutifully serving as the show’s Black conscience. After that breakout, Morris went on to become a TV fixture for the next half-century, starring in hit sitcoms alongside Martin Lawrence, Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Coolidge – the great friend who introduced Morris at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony earlier this year.
Now 87, Morris has lost some strength in his voice and his body; arthritis forces him to get around with a walker. Otherwise, he is as sharp as ever, reflecting on his tremendous life over a two-hour Zoom call from Los Angeles while puffing on a joint.
