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Anna F. "Ann" Risley (bornMadison, Wisconsin) is a retired American actress and comedian. She was a cast member of the TV seriesSaturday Night Live for the 12 episodes of the 1980–1981 season.[1] These 12 broadcasts were the first episodes afterproducerLorne Michaels left the show.
She was spotted byWoody Allen in a theatre production of his material and encouraged her to pursue an acting career in New York.[2] Risley was cast in small parts in Allen's filmsAnnie Hall,Manhattan andStardust Memories. Before joining the cast ofSaturday Night Live, she had a cameo on the show in 1976 as a psychiatrist's patient in the filmed sketch "Mobile Shrink".[3]
She was cast forSaturday Night Live byJean Doumanian, who had previously been the show's guest-booker, then associate producer. After12 episodes, Doumanian was replaced byDick Ebersol, who fired Risley along withGilbert Gottfried andCharles Rocket before his first episode. In a 1999 article inPeople, Risley was quoted as saying herSNL experience was "horrible".[4]
Prior to (and after)Saturday Night Live, Risley had roles in nine feature films, includingHonky Tonk Freeway andCome Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.
She appeared in starring roles in two television pilots (Off Campus andNight After Night), was a five-week guest star on the daytime soapThe Doctors, and appeared in five made-for-TV movies, includingThe Young Riders andTelling Secrets. After moving toTucson, Arizona, Risley ran an acting/improv studio called The Studio for Actors beginning in 1986.[5]
Some of the names here will be familiar only to die-hard fans; others, like Murphy, defined what was funny for generations of viewers.