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Gail Matthius
Gail Matthius
Born	Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Alma mater	Gustavus Adolphus College
Occupations	Actress; comedian;
Years active	1980–2001; 2017–present

Gail Matthius is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member of NBC's Saturday Night Live during its critical and ratings low point at the time (the 1980–1981 season, produced by Jean Doumanian), and co-anchored the Weekend Update segment with Charles Rocket in 1981.

Early life and career

A native of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College,^[1] Matthius had performed at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles prior to successfully auditioning for Doumanian's cast.^[2]^[3] Matthius's time on the show occurred only a year after her move to Los Angeles, a move that was funded by performing jingles and visiting farms on behalf of Allis-Chalmers tractors across the Great Plains.^[4]

Saturday Night Live

In 2015, the magazine Rolling Stone ranked Matthius at, out of 141 cast members, the 74th best of Saturday Night Live, calling her, "A flicker of hope in the Saturday Night Live 1980 debacle, with a sharp valley girl mall-chick character named Vickie. Matthius and Vickie both deserved better."^[5] During her audition, she performed opposite Joe Piscopo as well as Paul Reubens.^[4]

Recurring characters

Vickie, a valley girl who, along with her friend, Debbie (played by Denny Dillon), annoy people with their persistent questions and shallow statements.
Roweena, a Midwestern-accented hairdresser who often has a neurotic, middle-aged woman named Nadine (played by Denny Dillon) as a frequent customer.
Frances Lively, wife to Charles Rocket's Phil Lively, a fellow game show host who lives life at home as if it were just another game show.

Celebrity impersonations

Brooke Shields, in a parody of the racy Calvin Klein TV advertisements that featured her.
Irene Cara
Nancy Reagan
Mary Cunningham

Post-SNL

Following her stint on SNL, Matthius appeared in the short-lived British/American sketch show Assaulted Nuts and the syndicated sketch comedy series Laugh Trax (where she revived her valley girl Vicki character from SNL). She auditioned for the Kathleen Turner role in Body Heat.^[4]

She had some voice acting work for animated shows from the late 1980s into the 1990s, including Bobby's World (with Laugh Trax co-star Howie Mandel), Tiny Toon Adventures, Snorks, Animaniacs, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Bump in the Night and The Tick, often using the voice of her valley girl and Roweena characters from Saturday Night Live (in characters such as Martha, who sounds like Roweena, and Shirley the Loon from Tiny Toon Adventures).

Matthius is a member of the Spolin Players Improv comedy troupe and works as a drama coach for various acting studios, including Theatre Palisades in Pacific Palisades, California. In 2016, Matthius appeared in the play For Piano and Harpo by Dan Castellaneta. Today, she performs in a rock band, The Shambles (LA).^[4]

References

^ Winegar, Karin (August 21, 1981). "Live from Minneapolis ... it's our own Gail Matthius". The Minneapolis Star. p. 28. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
^ Clifford Terry (February 22, 1981). "'The struggle to keep Saturday Night Live'". Chicago Tribune. p. 30. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
^ Gus Wezerek (December 14, 2019). "The 'S.N.L.' Stars Who Lasted, and the Ones Who Flamed Out". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019. Some of the names here will be familiar only to die-hard fans; others, like Murphy, defined what was funny for generations of viewers.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Hoglund, Andy (June 6, 2024). "Gail Matthius's Short Time on the SNL 'Playground'". Vulture. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
^ "'Saturday Night Live': All 141 Cast Members Ranked". Rolling Stone. February 11, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2015.