A groundbreaking cast member, Danitra Vance was the first Black woman to be hired as a repertory player on SNL, joining the cast in 1985. She was an Obie Award-winning stage actress known for her powerful one-woman shows. On SNL, she created two memorable recurring characters: the teenage mother Cabrini-Green Harlem Watts Jackson, and ‘That Black Girl,’ a parody of the classic sitcom. Vance felt that she was often typecast in stereotypical roles and left after one season. Tragically, her promising career was cut short when she passed away from cancer in 1994. She remains a pioneering, if often overlooked, figure in the show’s history.