Saturday Night Live pays tribute to Hal Willner

Tom Hanks hosts from home

by Anne-Katrin Titze

Saturday Night Live, hosted by Tom Hanks, paid tribute to Hal Willner
Saturday Night Live, hosted by Tom Hanks, paid tribute to Hal Willner Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Saturday Night Live, hosted by a recovered Tom Hanks from his home, paid tribute to the show’s longtime music coordinator Hal Willner, who died in New York on Tuesday, April 7, at the age of 64, from symptoms consistent with the coronavirus. Former cast members Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Molly Shannon, Ana Gasteyer, and Paula Pell sang Lou Reed’s Perfect Day in honour of their colleague and friend. Hal Willner started with the program back in 1981 and did sketch music adaptations for Daniel Craig and The Weekend, John Mulaney and David Byrne, RuPaul and Justin Bieber, Adam Driver and Halsey in 2020.

Adam Sandler, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and John Mulaney shared their memories of working with Hal Willner as the broadcast of the show came to an end in the early morning hour of April 12.

Share this with others on...
News

The star from the streets Adam J Graves on Salaam Balaak, Sajda Pathan and making Anuja

A little lightness Colman Mac Cionnaith and Michael Whelan on Room Taken

A hair's breadth from happiness Nicolas Keppens on low budget, high quality animation and Beautiful Men

Golden boy Krit Komkrichwarakool, Matt Dejanovic and Kenny Brain on Auganic

A collection of moments Mickey Keating on the metaphor and technique behind Invader

Alliance of Women Film Journalists announces EDA Awards The Brutalist named best film

Wicked leads the way in SAG nominations Stars sing their way to success

More news and features

We're currently bringing you reviews from Palm Springs.



Towards the end of 2024, we covered DOC NYC, the French Film Festival UK, Tallinn Black Nights, the Leeds International Film Festival, Abertoir, the London Korean Film Festival, the Belfast Film Festival and Halloween Frightfest.



Read our full for more.


Visit our festivals section.

Interact

More competitions coming soon.