Robin Duke

Lorne Michaels is Canadian, and Canadian comedians have not been rare on Saturday Night Live, but Duke was a 1981 hire by Ebersole when he was revamping the cast. Notably, Catherine O’Hara, another SCTV cast member, had been cast on Saturday Night Live, but decided to leave the show before ever appearing and officially becoming an SNL cast member. (There’s a story that O’Hara was freaked out by Michael O’Donaghue’s antics, but that seems increasingly apocryphal.) Thus, Duke was hired off of SCTV to replace O’Hara.

Duke was solid for four seasons on SNL, finding a few successful recurring characters. She’s not on the Mount Rushmore of SNL cast members by any means, but in the 1980s, lasting for more than one season and being able to create some memorable characters counted as a major success. You may recognize Duke from her recurring role as Wendy on Schitt’s Creek, where she was reunited with, yes, Catherine O’Hara.