Film about Detroit-born comedy great Gilda Radner gets hometown premiere

It's been almost 30 years since Gilda Radner's death, but to her brother, Michael, it feels as if he just saw his little sister yesterday.

"When she was about 14 or so and she was getting out in the world, I made her a promise that she could call me from anywhere at anytime and I would come and bring her home," remembers Michael, now 76 and living in Southfield. 

The eternally funny, deeply moving legacy of Detroit native Gilda Radner is coming back to her hometown with Sunday's local premiere of "Love, Gilda" at the Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

It's a highlight of the final day of Cinetopia, the annual film festival held in Ann Arbor, Detroit and Dearborn. Coming off a strong reception in April at the Tribeca Film Festival, "Love, Gilda" is poised to become a critical favorite when it opens in theaters sometime later this year.

Told through Gilda's own words from recordings and journals and interviews with friends and family, "Love, Gilda" covers her triumphs, insecurities and the essential kindness that made her beloved by fans and friends.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with director Lisa D'Apolito, producer Meryl Goldsmith and Michael Radner, who will attend the local premiere along with assorted cousins, relatives and old friends.

Also present will be a dozen or more more staffers and members of Gilda's Club Metro Detroit, the Royal Oak chapter of the extraordinary organization that provides support and education to cancer patients and their families. The first Gilda's Club opened in New York City in 1995 in tribute to Gilda Radner, who wrote a book, "It's Always Something," about her lengthy battle with ovarian cancer.

As an original member of the "Saturday Night Live" cast, Radner became an icon for female comedians with the vividness emotional truth of her characters. From Roseanne Roseannadanna to Baba Wawa, Radner created a long list of unforgettable women as funny today as they were in the mid-1970s.

One of her best-known characters, confused "Weekend Update" commentator Emily Litella – who'd address topics like violins on television (instead of violence) – was inspired by Gilda's childhood nanny, Elizabeth Gillies. 

"We had a housekeeper whom she called Dibby, we all called Dibby, she was (the inspiration for) Emily Litella, the little lady who would say 'Never mind!' when she got things wrong," recalls Michael Radner. "She was family. Gilda and I considered her our second mother."

Gilda Radner's Detroit childhood had a big impact on her career. She got much of her early interest in show business from her father, Herman Radner, a real-estate investor whose Seville Hotel was a favorite spot for actors and entertainers traveling to the Motor City. He died when she was 14 of a brain tumor.

In a 1989 People magazine tribute, Radner's late mother, Henrietta, told People magazine that she was born to perform: “She was always a little actress. Even on the phone she expressed herself with emotions.”

In a 1978 interview with the University of Michigan student newspaper, the Michigan Daily, she described her childhood's influence on her comic style. "It's like the stuff you did in your bedroom with your girlfriends during a slumber party," said Radner, whose immortal "SNL" personas included adorably gawky girl Lisa Lubner and bouncing-off-the-walls energetic Judy Miller, star of the imaginary "Judy Miller Show."

Growing up in Detroit's University District, Radner attended Hampton Elementary and, later, University Liggett before the private school moved out of the city to Grosse Pointe Woods. She spent six years studying drama at the University of Michigan, appearing in plays ranging from musicals like "Camelot" to the Greek comedy "Lysistrata." While in Ann Arbor, she lived for a while in the Alice Lloyd dormitory and worked at the campus student station WCBN-FM.

Radner left college without finishing enough credits to graduate and moved to Toronto, where she was part of a "Godspell" cast that included several future stars, including Martin Short, Andrea Martin and Paul Shaffer. The rest, as they say, was comedy history.

"Saturday Night Live" debuted in 1975, with Radner emerging as an early viewer favorite. Ironically, the show wasn't carried by Detroit's NBC station, Channel 4, for its first two seasons. Back then, it was still enough of an unknown factor that Channel 4 let WKBD-TV (Channel 50), then a UHF station with a less clear signal, run it instead.

As Michael Radner anticipates Sunday's screening, he is happy that "Love, Gilda" is bringing back such Michigan memories and, most importantly, introducing his sister to new generations.

"As Gilda's brother and someone who thinks her legacy is important, I think Lisa (D'Apolito) does a wonderful job. ... It's awakening many young people to how wonderful she was," he says.

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds: 313-222-6427 or jhinds@freepress.com.

'Love, Gilda'

2 p.m. Sun.

Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts

$15 general admission, also available at the Cinetopia website.

Cinetopia Film Festival

Continues through Sunday

Venues in Ann Arbor, Detroit and Dearborn

For complete schedule and ticket info, go to the Cinetopia website