Saturday Night Live and the Oscars. Alumni who have been nominated.

Having just watched SNL alum Will Forte's great performance in Nebraska and wondering why he wasn't nominated for a Supporting Actor Oscar, lead me to think about other SNL alumni who have actually had dates with Oscar. And that answer is: only 7. Some might say 9; but 2: George Coe and Randy Quaid, received their nominations before being a cast member on SNL. That technically makes them the only Oscar alums to become cast members on SNL. Not the other way around. But if you are wondering, George Coe received an Oscar nomination in 1969 for a live action short called De Duva. The Dove, a short film that poked fun at the directorial style of Ingmar Bergman. Coe became a cast member on SNL in 1975, six years after his nomination. Randy Quaid (I forgot he was an Oscar nominee and I forgot he was on SNL) was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 1973 for the Navy drama The Last Detail opposite Jack Nicholson. Quaid lost to John Houseman in The Paper Chase and joined SNL for their 1985-1986 season, twelve years after his nomination.

Now let's move on to, technically, the only 7 SNL alumni to receive Oscar nominations...

And the nominees were...

Joan Cusack - SNL Cast Member 1985 - 1986.  Since leaving Saturday Night Live, Cusack was nominated for an Academy Award twice in the Best Supporting Actress category. Her first nomination was in 1988 for the comedy classic Working Girl. Fellow co-star Sigourney Weaver was also nominated but they both lost the award to Geena Davis in The Accidental Tourist. Her second nomination came in 1997 for the comedy In & Out starring Kevin Kline. She lost that year to Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential.

Dan Aykroyd - SNL Cast Member 1975-1979. Aykroyd was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1989 for the film Driving Miss Daisy. He lost the award to Denzel Washington in Glory. However, Miss Daisy went on to win Best Picture of the year.

Robert Downey Jr. - SNL Cast Member 1985-1986. RDJ has been nominated for two Academy Awards since leaving Saturday Night Live. His first nomination came in 1992 for Leading Actor for playing non-other than Charlie Chaplin in the film Chaplin. He lost the award to Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman. His second nomination, and a surprising one at that, came in the Supporting Actor category for the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder. He lost that award to Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.

Bill Murray - SNL Cast Member 1977 - 1980. Murray was nominated for Leading Actor in 2003 for the film Lost in Translation, directed by Sophia Coppola. He lost the award to Sean Penn in Mystic River.

Michael McKean - SNL Cast Member 1994-1995. McKean was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Original Song category for "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" from the 2003 film A Mighty Wind. He lost the award to Annie Lennox, Fran Walsh and Howard Shore for the song "Into the West" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Eddie Murphy - SNL Cast Member 1980-1984. Eddie Murphy was nominated for Supporting Actor in the 2006 musical Dreamgirls. Murphy was considered by many to be the frontrunner for the award but previews for his next film, Norbit, where he spends half the movie in a black lady fat suit, gave voters pause. He lost the award to Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine.

Kristen Wiig - SNL Cast Member 2005-2012. Wiig received a nomination in 2011 in the Best Original Screenplay category for Bridesmaids, shared with Annie Mumolo. They lost the award to Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris.


To date, no SNL alum has ever won an Academy Award.