Quick Facts
Biography
Gail Matthius (born December 14, 1953) is an American actress, voice actress and comedian. She was a cast member of NBC's Saturday Night Live during its critical and ratings low point at the time (the 1980–1981 season headed by Jean Doumanian), and co-anchored the Weekend Update segment with Charles Rocket in 1981.
Saturday Night Live
Matthius had worked as a comedian in Los Angeles appearing at The Comedy Store before successfully auditioning for Doumanian's cast.
In 2015, the magazine Rolling Stone ranked Gail Matthius at, out of 141 cast members, the 74th best of Saturday Night Live, calling her, "A flicker of hope in the Saturday Night Live '80 debacle, with a sharp Valley Girl mall-chick character named Vickie. Matthius and Vickie both deserved better."
Recurring characters
- Vicki, a Valley girl who, along with her friend, Debbie (played by Denny Dillon) annoyed people with their persistent questions and shallow statements.
- Roweena, a Midwestern-accented hairdresser who often has a neurotic, middle-aged woman named Nadine (played by Denny Dillon) as a frequent customer.
- Francis Lively, wife to Charles Rocket's Phil Lively, a fellow game show host who lives life at home as if it were just another game show.
Celebrity impersonations
- Brooke Shields, in a parody of the racy Calvin Klein TV ads that featured her.
- Irene Cara
- Nancy Reagan
- Mary Cunningham
- Clifford Terry (February 22, 1981). "'The struggle to keep Saturday Night Live'". Chicago Tribune. p. 30. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
- "'Saturday Night Live': All 141 Cast Members Ranked". Rolling Stone. February 11, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
Post-SNL
Following her stint on SNL, Matthius appeared in the short-lived British/American sketch show Assaulted Nuts and the syndicated sketch comedy series Laugh Trax (where she revived her Valley Girl Vicki character from SNL).
She did a good deal of voice acting for animated shows from the late 1980s into the 1990s, including Bobby's World (with Laugh Trax co-star Howie Mandel), Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Bump in the Night and The Tick, often using the voice of her Valley Girl and Roweena characters from Saturday Night Live (in characters such as Martha, who sounds like Roweena, and Shirley the Loon from Tiny Toon Adventures).
She also is a member of the Spolin Players Improv comedy troupe and acts as a drama and theater coach and teacher in Pacific Palisades, CA for various acting studios including Theatre Palisades. She continues to perform as an improv and drama theater actress to this day.