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Former Saturday Night Live cast member commits suicide Via AP:
Actor Charles Rocket committed suicide Oct. 7 in Connecticut. He was 56.
Rocket was the Weekend Update anchor on "Saturday Night Live" in 1980 and 1981, and was fired from the show after saying "fuck" on the air. He went on to make numerous appearances on TV shows and in features. Born Charles Claverie in Bangor, Maine, he attended the Rhode Island School of Design. He was active in the burgeoning RISD arts scene, where he formed the band the Fabulous Motels and then became a newscaster under the name Charles Kennedy. He worked on newscasts in Colorado Springs and Nashville before landing much more irreverent SNL gig, where he also performed his own "Rocket Reports" skits. Rocket appeared in feature films including "Earth Girls are Easy," "Dances with Wolves," "It's Pat" and "Dumb and Dumber." His last film role was in the 2003 Sylvester StalloneSylvester Stallone film "Shade." On TV, he appeared on shows including "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Cybill," "Touched by an Angel" and "thirtysomething." Rocket played accordion in many bands, performing (with Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie) on a tribute album to Fellini composer Nino Rota. He is survived by his wife, Beth and a son. | |
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comedians are the saddest people you'll ever know.
 for his family. | |
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omg, he was the cat who slipped the f-bomb when prince was on there as a musical guest...sux that he had to take his own life, tho'.  | |
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Handclapsfingasnapz said: omg, he was the cat who slipped the f-bomb when prince was on there as a musical guest...sux that he had to take his own life, tho'.
what did he do? Fuck the funk - it's time to ditch the worn-out Vegas horns fills, pick up the geee-tar and finally ROCK THE MUTHA-FUCKER!! He hinted at this on Chaos, now it's time to step up and fully DELIVER!!
KrystleEyes 22/03/05 | |
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JasmineFire said: comedians are the saddest people you'll ever know.
for his family.I heard that was true. . [Edited 10/16/05 8:08am] | |
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People have to be in tremendous pain to take their own life. R.I.P., Charlie. | |
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muirdo said: Handclapsfingasnapz said: omg, he was the cat who slipped the f-bomb when prince was on there as a musical guest...sux that he had to take his own life, tho'.
what did he do? okay: prince did "partyup" on that particular episode of snl...of course, there's an f-bomb in there in which p self-censored with "freakin" instead of "fuckin". well, after the performance was over the show was done...i dunno if you've seen snl but at the end of each episode the entire cast gets together and says goodbye. i have this appearance on tape...johnny rocket was talking to one of the female cast members, but i can't quite make out what they were saying because the copy of the appearance i've got is like a billionth-generation copy. anyways, the lady said something like "how do you feel after being shot?" or something like that (i suppose it had to do with a sketch that was on earlier in the show)...johnny said something back...with the f-bomb. everybody standing around was like "whoa!"  supposedly he thought prince said it (which he didn't) so he figured he could say it too. welp, that wasn't the case because nbc sacked his ass. | |
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That's sad. He was cool. Boy,it's something about SNL. | |
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Handclapsfingasnapz said: muirdo said: what did he do? okay: prince did "partyup" on that particular episode of snl...of course, there's an f-bomb in there in which p self-censored with "freakin" instead of "fuckin". well, after the performance was over the show was done...i dunno if you've seen snl but at the end of each episode the entire cast gets together and says goodbye. i have this appearance on tape...johnny rocket was talking to one of the female cast members, but i can't quite make out what they were saying because the copy of the appearance i've got is like a billionth-generation copy. anyways, the lady said something like "how do you feel after being shot?" or something like that (i suppose it had to do with a sketch that was on earlier in the show)...johnny said something back...with the f-bomb. everybody standing around was like "whoa!" supposedly he thought prince said it (which he didn't) so he figured he could say it too. welp, that wasn't the case because nbc sacked his ass.Thanks for the reply. Ive seen that SNL clip and i always thought P said the F word. Its sad that things get that bad that people can take their own lives. I couldnt,no matter how despearate things got. Fuck the funk - it's time to ditch the worn-out Vegas horns fills, pick up the geee-tar and finally ROCK THE MUTHA-FUCKER!! He hinted at this on Chaos, now it's time to step up and fully DELIVER!!
KrystleEyes 22/03/05 | |
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Selfish, my heart goes out to his family and especially his child. 
Stupid, stupid, stupid.  Socks still got butt like a leather seat... | |
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That's so sad 
Ohh purple joy oh purple bliss oh purple rapture! REAL MUSIC by REAL MUSICIANS - Prince "I kind of wish there was a reason for Prince to make the site crash more" ~~ Ben |
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that's before my access to cable tv... but i wanted to find a picture of him
this is what google came up with... 
doing the rocket report interesting the purple connection there. one of those moments that change your life [Edited 10/16/05 11:59am]  She couldn't stop crying 'cause she knew he was gone to stay | |
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Very sad. He was on the bad years of SNL (just after the orignial cast left) with Denny Dillon, Tim Kazarinski and others, but my favorite Rocket roll was in DUMB AND DUMBER, which is a brilliant movie.
Sorry to hear about this and yes, comedians are a strange bunch. For a bunch of people that make you laugh, so many of them are very dark. The expanded version of my book PRINCE and The Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions 1983-1984 was released in November 2018. (www.amazon.com/gp/product/1538114623/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0) or www.facebook.com/groups/1...104195943/ | |
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DAMN I don't remember this dude from SNL but I think I do from Dumb & Dumber - he was the guy in cahoots w/ Lauren Holly, right?  I never met you, but I LOVE you & I will forever!! Thank you for being YOU - my little Princey, the best to EVER do it | |
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So sorry to hear about this. I remember him from Dumb and Dumber and It's Pat. | |
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Sadly for Rocket he won't be remembered like other SNL cast members because he was in that terrible season 1980/81. That was the season after the original cast left and the season before Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo started turning the show around. It was a forgotten season because it was so bad. I have seen repeats of it and it had no redeeming qualities. And he was only on the show for that one season. So most people will say ...Who? when he is mentioned. | |
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Spats said: So most people will say ...Who? when he is mentioned.
 i didyou look better on your facebook page than you do in person  | |
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Handclapsfingasnapz said: i have this appearance on tape...johnny rocket was talking to one of the female cast members, but i can't quite make out what they were saying because the copy of the appearance i've got is like a billionth-generation copy. anyways, the lady said something like "how do you feel after being shot?" or something like that (i suppose it had to do with a sketch that was on earlier in the show)...johnny said something back...with the f-bomb. everybody standing around was like "whoa!"
supposedly he thought prince said it (which he didn't) so he figured he could say it too. welp, that wasn't the case because nbc sacked his ass.According to the book Live from New York (a juicy read, incidentally), Charles detonated the F-bomb in a sketch towards the end of the show. The book says they were doing a show-long parody of the "Who shot J.R.?" thing and he said, "I wanna know who the fuck did it!". [Edited 10/19/05 9:43am] | |
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JasmineFire said: comedians are the saddest people you'll ever know.
for his family.Sadly enough that's true. Like the fact that very loud people are often the most timid when it comes down to it. Makes me think of this 'Don't worry be happy' guy. What was his name again? I was told he committed suicide. | |
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MarieLouise said: JasmineFire said: comedians are the saddest people you'll ever know.
for his family.Sadly enough that's true. Like the fact that very loud people are often the most timid when it comes down to it. Makes me think of this 'Don't worry be happy' guy. What was his name again? I was told he committed suicide. Bobby McFarren didn't commit suicide, he's still alive. Just another one of those internet rumours. Now Mickey eating poprocks and exploding in Vietnam, that is true. I heard it from a friend of a friend who knew some guy who served with his brother in Vietnam so that has to be true. The expanded version of my book PRINCE and The Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions 1983-1984 was released in November 2018. (www.amazon.com/gp/product/1538114623/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0) or www.facebook.com/groups/1...104195943/ | |
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madhouseman said: MarieLouise said: Sadly enough that's true. Like the fact that very loud people are often the most timid when it comes down to it. Makes me think of this 'Don't worry be happy' guy. What was his name again? I was told he committed suicide. Bobby McFarren didn't commit suicide, he's still alive. Just another one of those internet rumours. Now Mickey eating poprocks and exploding in Vietnam, that is true. I heard it from a friend of a friend who knew some guy who served with his brother in Vietnam so that has to be true. not true! i read an interview with mikey in the mid '90s and he has no idea where the rumor started! bobby mcferrin is alive and mikey is not a pop rocks casualty! | |
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Anxiety said: madhouseman said: Bobby McFarren didn't commit suicide, he's still alive. Just another one of those internet rumours. Now Mickey eating poprocks and exploding in Vietnam, that is true. I heard it from a friend of a friend who knew some guy who served with his brother in Vietnam so that has to be true. not true! i read an interview with mikey in the mid '90s and he has no idea where the rumor started! bobby mcferrin is alive and mikey is not a pop rocks casualty! Ok, that's good news.
Must be people's sarcasm. I'm happy I said 'I have been told' in the original post. I've already learned to be careful with these kind of rumours. | |
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Anxiety said: madhouseman said: Bobby McFarren didn't commit suicide, he's still alive. Just another one of those internet rumours. Now Mickey eating poprocks and exploding in Vietnam, that is true. I heard it from a friend of a friend who knew some guy who served with his brother in Vietnam so that has to be true. not true! i read an interview with mikey in the mid '90s and he has no idea where the rumor started! bobby mcferrin is alive and mikey is not a pop rocks casualty! I was hoping that you would have picked up on the subtle sarcasm I had in the source I mentioned. I guess I need to be a little more obvious. lol The expanded version of my book PRINCE and The Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions 1983-1984 was released in November 2018. (www.amazon.com/gp/product/1538114623/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0) or www.facebook.com/groups/1...104195943/ | |
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madhouseman said: Anxiety said: not true! i read an interview with mikey in the mid '90s and he has no idea where the rumor started! bobby mcferrin is alive and mikey is not a pop rocks casualty! I was hoping that you would have picked up on the subtle sarcasm I had in the source I mentioned. I guess I need to be a little more obvious. lol oops, sorry. after locking my 14th hip replacement thread over in the prince: music and more forum, my brain tends to get a little thick.  | |
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Aw man, this blows. He was a funny guy. I always watch Dumb and Dumber on rainy weekends! | |
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