The death of social activist and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson this week adds to the sad list of former Saturday Night Live hosts we’ve lost in the last few months.
Jackson hosted SNL on October 20, 1984 in Season 10. That episode was one of the highlights of Season 10, with musical guests Andrae Crouch and Wintley Phipps joining Jackson.
Perhaps the most memorable moments of the Jackson episode were his monologue and an appearance at the Weekend Update desk. In that segment, Jackson read from Dr. Suess’s Green Eggs and Ham.
Here’s a clip of Jackson’s SNL monologue from YouTube:
This episode of SNL was shown roughly two weeks before the 1984 U.S. Presidential election. Jackson had ran for and lost the nomination of the Democratic party. But he was still a very popular figure in the country at the time. His appearance helped bring forward the issues he was interested in, namely charity, social causes, help for the poor and sick, and peace around the globe. He even mentioned his recent visit with Fidel Castro in Cuba.
In recent months, Ron Reiner, Catherine O’Hara, and James Vander Beek have died. That marks three former SNL hosts that have left us. With Jackson’s death, another piece of SNL history has gone. But with clips like the one above, they will never truly be gone.
