You probably call up that Betty White became the oldest soul to hostSaturday Night Livewhen she host in May 2010 at the age of 88 . Shesurpassedthe previous sucker set back in 1977 by another white - hairy octogenarian : Miskel Spillman .
If that name does n’t ring a doorbell it ’s because Spillman was n’t a famous histrion , musician , jock or politician like your typicalSNLhost . In fact , she was n’t famous at all . Rather , she was a grinning grandmother from New Orleans who made her way into the venerable hosting spot by deliver the goods the first ( and at last only)SNLAnyone Can Host contest .
The competition formula were simple : subject a single post card hold 25 news or less on why you should be choose . Spillman ’s entryread , in part : “ I need one more cheap thrill since my doctor say me I only have another 25 years left . ” ( She latertolda newspaper that the idea for the postcard get along about because “ I ’m always saying I ’m going to live to be 105 . ” )
Spillman beat out more than 150,000 other entrants and won the right to fall in four other finalists ( a group that included then – South Dakota Governor Richard Kneip ) on the November 19 broadcast to plead her case . After the first four introduced themselves to the take in hearing with simple , unfunny greetings ( “ I ’m Dave , the unemployed guy cable from Oregon . ” “ I ’m Deb Blair , female parent of three from Peoria ” ) , Spillman won the hearts of the audience by exclaiming : “ I ’m Miskel Spillman . I ’m previous . ”
After being crowned the achiever , Spillman returned on December 17 to fulfill her hosting duties . Elvis Costellowas the melodious guest .
One of the most memorable bits come mighty away , with the show ’s opening night sketch revolving around the Book of Revelation that John Belushi had paid a pre - show sojourn to Spillman ’s binding room to volunteer a certain herbal easiness aid to the nervous star - to - be . FromSpillman ’s monologue :
“ Wow ! This is really eldritch ! There ’s so much happening . But it almost seems like everything ’s in slow gesture . I mean , am I spend a penny sense ? Or am I bollocks up it ? I do n’t lie with , I ca n’t evidence . The producer , a nice immature man , told me to just flow with it and have a upright time . But I did n’t really know what he meant until Belushi visited me in my dressing room . And the colors . Wow ! ”
later on , Spillman wouldsaythat she entered the contest because “ I love everyone in the mold … I determine it every Saturday night , and I thought , as I am 80 twelvemonth old , I require a spate of old former people all over the Earth to watch it and get the shudder that I have every Saturday nighttime watching it . ” She bump the whole affair thrilling : “ It was n’t just the idea of being on TV in front of the whole land . It was the way that the mould treat me . They could n’t have been nice . ” Spillmandiedin 1992 at the years of 94 . She ’s still the only non - celebrity to have hostedSNL .
Discover More Stories AboutSaturday Night Live :
A version of this story go in 2011 ; it has been update for 2025 .
