Born in 1940, in Sauquoit, NY; died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage, November 8, 1994, in New York, NY. Screenwriter and actor. Michael O'Donoghue was one of the original writers on the debut episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975. He began his career as a journalist on Evergreen magazine in the 1960s. In1969 he helped found the satiric magazine National Lampoon. In 1973 he beganworking as a writer of "black comedy" sketches for the National Lampoon RadioHour, where he first worked with fellow Saturday Night Live alums Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and Chevy Chase. O'Donoghue also appeared in Saturday NightLive sketches, including the famous premiere "wolverine" sketch, and in "Mr.Mike's Least Loved Bedtime Stories." He left the program in 1980, shortly after his television special "Mr. Mike's Mondo Video" was pulled by NBC censors. O'Donoghue also wrote the gold record "Single Bars and Single Women" for Dolly Parton, co-wrote the movie Scrooged, and authored several books. He returned to Saturday Night Live briefly in 1985, but soon quit to work on screenplays and on a regular column for Spin magazine.
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