“Bill [Murray] got up in front of the audience of Gilda’s SNL peers [at her private memorial service] and said what we were all thinking but were too afraid to put into words. ‘Of course we all loved her,’ said Bill. ‘She was our Carol Burnett, our Lucille Ball. She was our own special genius. The more vulnerable she became, the more we adored her. And then one day - beyond the control of any of us - she met her Prince Charming. Suddenly she was out of our sphere. She was in Connecticut - with him.’ Here Bill paused for effect before uttering the words ‘Gene Wilder killed Gilda.’
What may now appear harsh in print was just the comic antidote we needed. It was the biggest laugh I’d ever heard. We laughed uproariously. We laughed until it hurt. We cried until it hurt. We’re still laughing. We’re still crying.”
- from Paul Shaffer’s memoir We’ll Be Here For the Rest of Our Lives
