17 Facts About Michael O'Donoghue

Michael O'Donoghue was an American writer and performer.

Michael O'Donoghue was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, and was a major contributor to National Lampoon magazine.

Michael O'Donoghue was the first head writer of Saturday Night Live and the first performer to deliver a line on the series.

In 1968, Michael O'Donoghue worked with illustrator and fellow Evergreen Review veteran Phil Wende to create the illustrated book The Incredible, Thrilling Adventures of the Rock.

Michael O'Donoghue was, along with Henry Beard and Doug Kenney, a founding writer and later an editor for the satiric National Lampoon magazine.

Michael O'Donoghue was the editor and main contributor to the Lampoon's Encyclopedia of Humor.

Michael O'Donoghue co-wrote the album Radio Dinner with Tony Hendra, and because of the album's success, he was assigned to direct and act on The National Lampoon Radio Hour.

Michael O'Donoghue was released from the show after writing the never-aired sketch "The Last Days in Silverman's Bunker", which compared NBC network president Fred Silverman's problems at the network to Adolf Hitler's final days.

Michael O'Donoghue's captors are quickly persuaded that the unheard excuse was, in fact, an acceptable reason for the crimes of the Third Reich.

On October 26,1986, Michael O'Donoghue was further connected to SNL by virtue of his marriage to the show's musical director, Cheryl Hardwick, in the late 1980s.

Michael O'Donoghue's intention was to write and direct short films for the show; however, none were completed and he wrote little else, apart from a monologue seemingly designed to humiliate Chevy Chase when he hosted the second show of the season.

Michael O'Donoghue acted in a supporting role in the 1985 comedy Head Office.

Michael O'Donoghue had small parts in the 1979 movie Manhattan, the 1987 movie Wall Street, and the 1988 movie he co-wrote, Scrooged.

Michael O'Donoghue said he loathed the theatrical release of Scrooged, insisting until his death that he and co-writer and best friend Mitch Glazer had written a much better film.

Michael O'Donoghue found some success as a country music songwriter, his most notable credit being Dolly Parton's "Single Women".

In 1992, Michael O'Donoghue created a sketch show pilot called TV for the Fox network.

O'Donoghue's biography, Mr Mike: The Life and Work of Michael O'Donoghue, was published in 1998 by Avon Books.