Ann Risley
| Ann Risley | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 30, 1949 Madison, Wisconsin |
| Residence | Tucson, Arizona |
| Occupation | Actor Acting Coach |
| Known for |
Saturday Night Live, 1980-81 Acting Coach, 1984-present |
Anna "Ann" Risley (born September 30, 1949) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member of the TV series Saturday Night Live for the 12 episodes of the 1980–1981 season. These 12 broadcasts were the first episodes after producer Lorne Michaels left the show. She is a member of SAG, AFTRA, Equity, and an independent actor's equity.
Risley was born in Madison, Wisconsin. Woody Allen spotted her in a theatre production of his material and encouraged her to pursue an acting career in New York. Risley was cast in small parts in Allen's films Annie Hall, Manhattan and Stardust Memories. Before joining the cast of Saturday Night Live, she had a cameo on the show in 1976 as a psychiatrist's patient.
She was cast for Saturday Night Live by Jean Doumanian, who had previously been the show's guest-booker, then associate producer. After 12 episodes, Doumanian was let go and replaced by Dick Ebersol, who fired Gilbert Gottfried, Charles Rocket, and Risley from the cast before his first episode. In a 1999 article in People, Risley was quoted as saying her SNL experience was "horrible".
Prior to (and after) Saturday Night Live, Risley had roles in nine feature films, including Honky Tonk Freeway and Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. She appeared in starring roles in two television pilots (Off Campus and Night After Night), was a five-week guest star on the daytime soap The Doctors, and appeared in five made-for-TV movies, including The Young Riders and Telling Secrets. No longer a screen actor, Ann (who now goes by the name of Anna) continues to run her own acting/improv studio in Tucson, Arizona.
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