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William G. Clotworthy, 'Saturday Night Live' Censor, Dies at 95
Not the obituary I wanted to read today.
Link to tweet
William G. Clotworthy, ‘Saturday Night Live’ Censor, Dies at 95
A self-described “professional square,” he fell in love with the show, and worked with its writers to tweak questionable material. Cast members called him “Dr. No.”
William G. Clotworthy shortly before his retirement in 1991 from NBC, where his responsibilities included serving as the in-house censor for “Saturday Night Live.”Credit...via Clotworthy Family
By Clay Risen
Published Aug. 27, 2021
Updated Aug. 31, 2021
William G. Clotworthy, who as the in-house censor for “Saturday Night Live” from 1979 to 1991 decided whether Eddie Murphy could say “bastard,” whether Joe Piscopo could make fart jokes and whether inebriated Romans could vomit on network television, died on Aug. 19 in Salt Lake City. He was 95. ... His son Robert confirmed his death, at a hospice facility.
Mr. Clotworthy, who described himself as “a professional square,” had never seen an episode of “Saturday Night Live” when he arrived in 1979, coming off a career of nearly 30 years in advertising and looking for a midlife career change.
His predecessors had struggled with the late-night sketch show’s limits-pushing humor and had often rejected entire skits. Mr. Clotworthy was different. A trained actor, he fell in love with the show and its brand of satire, and he worked with its writers to tweak questionable material.
“A writer once asked me what was the first thing I did when I read a script, and I said, ‘I laugh,’” he wrote in his memoir, “Saturday Night Live: Equal Opportunity Offender” (2001). “After I laugh, then I go to work with the scissors and blue pencil, screaming or begging.”
{snip}
A self-described “professional square,” he fell in love with the show, and worked with its writers to tweak questionable material. Cast members called him “Dr. No.”
William G. Clotworthy shortly before his retirement in 1991 from NBC, where his responsibilities included serving as the in-house censor for “Saturday Night Live.”Credit...via Clotworthy Family
By Clay Risen
Published Aug. 27, 2021
Updated Aug. 31, 2021
William G. Clotworthy, who as the in-house censor for “Saturday Night Live” from 1979 to 1991 decided whether Eddie Murphy could say “bastard,” whether Joe Piscopo could make fart jokes and whether inebriated Romans could vomit on network television, died on Aug. 19 in Salt Lake City. He was 95. ... His son Robert confirmed his death, at a hospice facility.
Mr. Clotworthy, who described himself as “a professional square,” had never seen an episode of “Saturday Night Live” when he arrived in 1979, coming off a career of nearly 30 years in advertising and looking for a midlife career change.
His predecessors had struggled with the late-night sketch show’s limits-pushing humor and had often rejected entire skits. Mr. Clotworthy was different. A trained actor, he fell in love with the show and its brand of satire, and he worked with its writers to tweak questionable material.
“A writer once asked me what was the first thing I did when I read a script, and I said, ‘I laugh,’” he wrote in his memoir, “Saturday Night Live: Equal Opportunity Offender” (2001). “After I laugh, then I go to work with the scissors and blue pencil, screaming or begging.”
{snip}
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