Watch Shelley Duvall Rock Out with the Women of the First Saturday Night Live Cast
The Shining star, who died on July 11, hosted SNL in 1977 — and the show shared a highlight from the episode.
Actress and producer Shelley Duvall died on July 11, 2024, at age 75. Though Duvall had only taken one film role in the last 20 years, eschewing Hollywood for life in her native Texas in the 1990s, she remains a screen icon for her roles in The Shining and many Robert Altman movies, including her turn as Olive Oyl in Popeye with Robin Williams. And like many buzzy stars of their era, Duvall hosted Saturday Night Live on May 14, 1977, sharing the Studio 8H stage with most the original SNL cast.
In memory of Duvall, SNL shared a few memorable moments from her Season 2 episode on their Instagram: Her out-of-the-ordinary cold open (Season 2 was still a deeply experimental time for the show), and even better, a badass glam rock number starring Duvall, Gilda Radner, Laraine Newman, and Jane Curtin.
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Shelley Duvall's rock 'n roll SNL monologue
Duvall's episode was the second-to-last installment in Season 2 — and thus, the second-to-last show for most of the original cast save for Chevy Chase, who'd already departed. The musical guest was folk singer Joan Armatrading.
"I'm not Miss USA. I'm Shelley Duvall," the actress announced as she took the stage in a bumblebee costume ("Love her for chewing gum during her monologue, what a boss," one Instagram commenter noted).
"Originally, we were gonna start the show tonight with me and John Belushi doing the love scene from 'Flight of the Bumblebee' — that's why I'm dressed like this," Duvall explained, in a moment reminiscent of SNL Five-Timer Paul Simon's turkey-costumed monologue earlier in the season. But the network decided to re-air an expensive boxing match instead to get their money's worth.
That's when we cut to a backstage scene that finds Radner, Newman, and Curtin squabbling and fighting like a crew of rowdy roller derby teammates. Then Duvall, whose foregone her bee costume for a chic gold lamé unitard, joined in on their ribbing until they're told to get onstage.
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With Newman and Curtin toting electric guitars, the "Video Vixens" strutted through the SNL audience as Don Pardo announced the show's opening, turning around to deliver a glam rock song about life as a live TV comedian.
"They call us joke junkies, and punch line punks! And when we hear them talkin’, we get in coast-to-coast funks," the foursome sang. "But they can just say what they want, ‘cause we remember — sticks ‘n’ stones can’t break the bones of a Video Vixen!"
Watch Duvall and the first women of SNL sing "Video Vixen" above, and stream all 49 seasons of Saturday Night Live on Peacock anytime.
