Charles Rocket, 1949-2005

Former SNL cast member Charles Rocket committed suicide on October 7th. Though I don’t really have much awareness of his work, I feel sorry if only because I was one of many people who made fun of his bad SNL experience (albeit in a silly headline on a semi-obscure blog). I doubt his time at SNL contributed to his decision to take his own life… he had years to get over not being the next Chevy (as he and SNL Producer-at-the-time Jean Doumanian fully expected to). But it had to suck that no matter what you did, obituaries everywhere would lead with you being the guy who got fired for saying the word “fuck” on live TV. A far more generous and deserving obituary appeared in the Providence Phoenix. (As an aside, death by cutting your own throat is horrific enough that I shiver just thinking of it.)

Of course for the curious, here’s video of Rocket saying the word “fuck” on air (Windows Media), ultimately leading to the demise of the Jean Doumanian era of SNL.