Imagine this: You're 23 years old, hanging out in Los Angeles, and life feels pretty ordinary. Then, out of the blue, you get an offer that changes everything. That’s exactly what happened to Laraine Newman, who, if she hadn’t taken a chance and flown east to New York City in 1975, would have missed out on becoming part of one of the most iconic comedy shows in television history, Saturday Night Live. Lucky for us, she did. And boy, did she leave her mark! Laraine, now 69, is best known for creating unforgettable characters like Connie Conehead and the ditzy Valley Girl, Sherry. But her journey didn’t just happen by accident.
“A lot of people were offered the show, but they turned it down,” Laraine reveals in an exclusive interview with Closer Weekly. “I was pretty young, and honestly, I wasn’t doing anything else at the time. So, I thought, ‘Why not?’” And thank goodness she did. Because without Laraine Newman, the history of Saturday Night Live and its legendary original cast, The Not Ready for Prime Time Players, would look very different.
There’s no denying the early years of Saturday Night Live were nothing short of magical. Laraine and her fellow cast members, including the late John Belushi and the unforgettable Gilda Radner, paved the way for sketch comedy as we know it today. Now, Laraine is sharing her story in her own words through a new audio memoir, May You Live in Interesting Times, available exclusively on Audible. If you're a fan of comedy, history, or just great storytelling, this is one you won't want to miss.
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Scroll down below for Closer Weekly’s exclusive Q&A interview with Laraine Newman!
Why Now? The Memoir That’s Been Years in the Making
Laraine didn’t just wake up one morning and decide to write a memoir. This project has been brewing for a long time. “I actually started it on a family vacation when my kids were 7 and 11,” she shares. “And now, they’re 25 and 29! But it was always something I promised myself I would do.” Life gets busy, and it’s not always easy to carve out time for something as personal and meaningful as writing a memoir. Still, Laraine knew deep down that this was a story she needed to tell.
Choosing the Stories That Matter
Deciding what to include in a memoir is no small task. After all, life is full of moments—some funny, some tragic, and everything in between. For Laraine, the decision came down to sharing the experiences that shaped her. “I thought the way I grew up in Westwood Village was fascinating,” she explains. “Our parents weren’t in the entertainment business, but my sister went to school with Jan and Dean and Tommy Rettig, who played Rusty on Lassie. Then, in the '60s, we moved to Beverly Hills, where I went to school with movie stars’ kids. It was like living in a Less Than Zero novel.”
But it wasn’t just about growing up around celebrities. Laraine was also a huge fan of music, which meant she got to witness some of the biggest moments in music history firsthand. “I saw The Beatles twice, Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin—you name it,” she says with a smile. “I truly felt like I grew up in interesting times, because I was right there, front-row center, as so many cultural changes happened in this country.”
