Best Saturday Night Live Cast Members Ever

Eddie Murphy

A 19-year-old kid saved a dying show, turning Buckwheat, Gumby, and Mr. Robinson into cultural phenomena while SNL teetered on cancellation post-Belushi era. He didn't just launch a career, he single-handedly kept the franchise alive, then walked into movie stardom so fast NBC barely had time to say thank you. No one on this list has a stronger 'without him there is no show' argument.'

Years on Cast: 1980–1984Seasons: 4Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 0Legend Status: 9.8/10

added by IJRin 2 rankings

Will Ferrell

George W. Bush, Alex Trebek, and more cowbell—Ferrell built an entire comedic language of committed absurdity that still gets quoted at parties two decades later. He was the utility infielder who could anchor Weekend Update parodies and go full-throttle unhinged in the same episode, bridging the Sandler era into the 2000s prestige-comedy boom. His post-SNL run of Anchorman, Elf, and Talladega Nights proved the show's stardom pipeline still worked.

Years on Cast: 1995–2002Seasons: 7Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 0Legend Status: 9.5/10

added by IJR

Tina Fey

Fey didn't need to be a featured performer to reshape the show—she rebuilt Weekend Update into a must-watch, sharp, feminist-inflected desk, then returned in 2008 to deliver the single most consequential political impression in TV history with her Sarah Palin. As the first female head writer, she quietly changed who got to write jokes at 30 Rock before it was even called that, paving the way for a new generation of women behind and in front of the camera.

Years on Cast: 1997–2006Seasons: 9Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 9Legend Status: 9.3/10

added by IJR

Bill Murray

Murray arrived as the guy replacing Chevy Chase and left as the show's coolest, most unbothered weirdo, turning lounge singer Nick the Lounge Singer and deadpan Update commentary into a masterclass in not caring. His loose, almost improvisational energy set the template for the ironic detachment that generations of comedians would chase, and his post-SNL film career made him the rare cast member whose fame eclipsed the show itself.

Years on Cast: 1977–1980Seasons: 3Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 1Legend Status: 9.2/10

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Chevy Chase

As the show's first breakout star, Chase's pratfalls as fake-Gerald-Ford and his 'Weekend Update' anchor smirk invented the idea that SNL could make overnight celebrities. He left after one season for movies, setting the blueprint (and the ego) that every subsequent star-turned-film-actor would follow, for better or worse. His fall from grace as a difficult return host only cements how mythic his original run actually was.

Years on Cast: 1975–1976Seasons: 1Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 3Legend Status: 9/10

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John Belushi

Belushi was chaos incarnate—Samurai Futaba, the Bees, his frenzied Joe Cocker impression—bringing a feral, dangerous energy that made the original cast feel like an actual comedy revolution rather than a sketch show. He was the first true breakout star to prove SNL alumni could conquer film with Animal House, and his tragic early death only deepened his legend as the show's original wild-eyed genius. Nobody before or since has embodied pure comedic anarchy quite like him.

Years on Cast: 1975–1979Seasons: 4Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 0Legend Status: 9/10

added by IJRJohn Belushi

Phil Hartman

Called 'The Glue' for a reason, Hartman was the ultimate character actor's character actor—his Bill Clinton, his unhinged Anal Retentive Chef, his smarmy Frank Sinatra were technically flawless and endlessly rewatchable. He never needed to be the flashiest performer because he made everyone else's sketches work, and his versatility set the standard for what a true utility player on this show should look like. His sudden death in 1998 robbed comedy of its most reliable professional.

Years on Cast: 1986–1994Seasons: 8Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 0Legend Status: 8.9/10

added by IJRPhil Hartman

Dan Aykroyd

Aykroyd's manic precision—Julia Child's bleeding hand, the Coneheads, Two Wild and Crazy Guys with Steve Martin—paired perfectly with Belushi's chaos to form the show's first great comic duo. He proved that technical sketch-writing genius could be just as valuable as star charisma, and his Blues Brothers partnership with Belushi became one of the most successful spinoffs the franchise ever produced. A true architect of the show's original DNA.

Years on Cast: 1975–1979Seasons: 4Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 0Legend Status: 8.7/10

added by IJRDan Aykroyd

Amy Poehler

Poehler brought fearless physical comedy and rapid-fire Update zingers alongside Fey, proving a woman could be the loudest, weirdest person in the room and the smartest one too. Her Hillary Clinton impression and endless parade of oddball characters (Kaitlin, anyone?) showed a range that made her a template for the modern hyphenate—performer, writer, producer, mogul. She helped normalize women driving sketches instead of just supporting them.

Years on Cast: 2001–2008Seasons: 7Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 0Legend Status: 8.6/10

added by IJRAmy Poehler

Kristen Wiig

Wiig's gallery of gloriously uncomfortable characters—Target Lady, Gilly, the Lawrence Welk dancer who can't stop flailing—turned cringe comedy into an art form and made her the most purely inventive performer of her era. She carried entire episodes on sheer commitment to bizarre physicality, then took that same anarchic energy to co-write and star in Bridesmaids, proving SNL women could open blockbusters too. Few cast members have created so many instantly iconic characters from scratch.

Years on Cast: 2005–2012Seasons: 7Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 0Legend Status: 8.5/10

added by IJR

Kate McKinnon

McKinnon's shapeshifting brilliance—her unhinged Hillary Clinton, her alien conspiracy theorist, her fearless Justin Bieber—made her the defining performer of the show's 2010s political-comedy renaissance. She won multiple Emmys because she could go from broad camp to genuine pathos within a single sketch, redefining what versatility looked like for a new streaming-era audience. Simply the most technically gifted impressionist-slash-weirdo the show has produced in a generation.

Years on Cast: 2012–2022Seasons: 10Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 2Legend Status: 8.5/10

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Gilda Radner

As the first female star the show truly built around, Radner's Roseanne Roseannadanna and Emily Litella proved women could be just as anarchic and beloved as their male castmates, opening doors that had been welded shut. She had a warmth and vulnerability beneath the absurdity that made her characters feel human, not just funny, and her early death from cancer turned her into something like the show's patron saint. Without her, there's no Tina Fey, no Wiig, no Poehler.

Years on Cast: 1975–1980Seasons: 5Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 1Legend Status: 8.7/10

added by IJRGilda Radner

Adam Sandler

Sandler's Opera Man, Cajun Man, and unhinged Weekend Update songs were dismissed by critics as juvenile even as college kids memorized every word, making him the most purely populist star the show ever produced. He got fired in 1995 for being 'too weird,' then built a billion-dollar movie empire on the exact voice-y, man-child comedy NBC undervalued—the ultimate 'who's laughing now' redemption arc. His influence on 2000s comedy is inescapable, whether critics like it or not.

Years on Cast: 1990–1995Seasons: 5Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 0Legend Status: 8/10

added by IJRAdam Sandler

Chris Farley

Farley threw his entire body into every sketch—the Chippendales audition, Matt Foley living in a van down by the river—with a physical commitment that made his comedy feel dangerously, thrillingly alive. He was Belushi's spiritual successor in both talent and tragedy, dying at 33 with a legend still cementing itself, leaving behind a filmography (Tommy Boy, Black Sheep) that fans still quote religiously. Few performers have ever made audiences laugh and wince with such raw vulnerability simultaneously.

Years on Cast: 1990–1995Seasons: 5Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 0Legend Status: 8.8/10

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Mike Myers

Myers' Wayne's World turned a five-minute sketch into a cultural catchphrase factory ('Party on!', 'Excellent!') and a movie franchise, proving SNL could still mint blockbuster properties in the early '90s. His Linda Richman and Dieter added texture beyond Wayne, showing off a genuine gift for specific, weird voices, and Austin Powers later became one of the biggest comedy franchises of its decade. He's proof that a single character can outlive an entire cast era.

Years on Cast: 1989–1995Seasons: 6Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 0Legend Status: 8.3/10

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Molly Shannon

Shannon's Mary Katherine Gallagher—armpit-sniffing, chair-flipping, achingly desperate for approval—was one of the boldest, most physically fearless characters the show ever aired, turning teenage humiliation into gut-busting art. She brought a manic, specific vulnerability to the late-'90s cast that stood out even next to Farley and Sandler, carving her own lane as the show's queen of glorious, cringing chaos. Superstar's box office success only confirmed the character's staying power.

Years on Cast: 1995–2001Seasons: 6Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 0Legend Status: 8.1/10

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Bill Hader

Hader's Stefon became appointment television unto itself—a recurring character so absurdly specific ('this club has everything') that his corpsing on-air turned into part of the joke's charm. Beyond Stefon, his eerily precise impressions (Vincent Price, Alan Alda, Al Pacino) showed technical range that few in the 2000s cast could match, and his post-SNL pivot to Barry proved there was serious dramatic weight underneath the wig work. A writer's-room favorite who became a fan favorite too.

Years on Cast: 2005–2013Seasons: 8Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 1Legend Status: 8.2/10

added by IJR

Maya Rudolph

Rudolph's Beyoncé-level confidence powered wild, specific characters—Donatella Versace, a never-shy Whitney Houston, and eventually a Emmy-winning Kamala Harris—that showcased both comic precision and total commitment. Her seven seasons made her one of the most reliable, chameleon-like performers of the 2000s, equally at home in music parody or dead-on impression work. She proved a performer could be beloved without needing one signature character to hang a career on.

Years on Cast: 2000–2007Seasons: 7Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 1Legend Status: 8/10

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Jimmy Fallon

Fallon's Weekend Update charm and his and Rachel Dratch's giggly, corpsing chemistry made him the show's most purely likable star of the early 2000s, even as critics dinged him for breaking constantly. His impressions (Adam Sandler played by Fallon playing Sandler) and boy-band parodies leaned into pure, sunny fanboy energy rather than satire, which made him a natural fit to eventually inherit The Tonight Show. He proved charisma alone could be its own comedic engine.

Years on Cast: 1998–2004Seasons: 6Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 0Legend Status: 7.5/10

added by IJRin 2 rankings

Tracy Morgan

Morgan's unfiltered, stream-of-consciousness energy—Brian Fellow, his bizarre non-sequitur Update bits—brought a genuinely unpredictable wildcard quality to the late-'90s and 2000s cast that no writer could fully script. He was funniest when he seemed like he might go completely off the rails at any second, a live-wire quality that made him a cult favorite before 30 Rock's Tracy Jordan let the rest of the world catch up. His realness and chaos are inseparable from his comedy.

Years on Cast: 1996–2003Seasons: 7Emmy Wins (career, approx.): 0Legend Status: 7.6/10

added by IJRTracy Morgan