‘Saturday Night Live’ tributes Tony Rosato, former cast member, after recent death

Tonight, “Saturday Night Live” brought you a show with some humor from start to finish, but also one that paid tribute to a couple of late performers. The opening monologue was in many ways a subtle tribute to Carrie Fisher, given how similar it was to the monologue she did back when she hosted in 1978.

Meanwhile, at the end of the show we saw a short tribute via title card to late cast member and “SCTV” alum Tony Rosato, who passed away earlier this week. He was not someone prominent in the television community in recent years, but he had an important role in the show’s earlier years and also was one of just a few people to appear both on “SNL” and the aforementioned Canadian sketch show (Robin Duke and Martin Short are the other two), which continues to have a cult following to this day.

Rosato was only on “SNL” for one year during the 1981-82 season, a time when there was a good bit of flux within the program and Lorne Michaels was not steering the ship. One other interesting fact about him was that the was the first cast member to be born outside of America.

In a statement via Facebook, the Toronto chapter of Second City, where he was well-known, had the following to say:

“We were deeply saddened to learn today of the passing of Tony Rosato, beloved friend and colleague. Tony was a warm, wonderful and extremely funny man. He graced both the Second City stages and the SCTV screen, creating memorable characters and developing friendships which have lasted a lifetime. In the last few years, Tony returned to Second City as a student and performer, sharing his wealth of experience, humour and charm with our students. He was truly loved by the students and faculty with whom he shared a stage. Our condolences go out to his family, peers and so many friends.”

This was a classy move by “SNL” to pay tribute to the people who loved Tony’s work, especially during a time when we’ve lost so many entertainers. At times, it can be difficult to remember everyone.

Our thoughts go out to Rosato’s family and all who knew him during what has to be a very difficult time.