Gilda is from the Old Germanic *gold* ("golden") — popularized as a feminine name in Italy through Verdi's *Rigoletto* (1851). **A top-500 US baby name from 1907 to 1948**. **Gilda Radner (1946-1989)** — **American comedian; original cast member of NBC's *Saturday Night Live* (1975-1980); first cast member ever hired for the show by Lorne Michaels; created iconic characters Roseanne Roseannadanna, Emily Litella, Lisa Loopner, and Baba Wawa; Emmy Award (1978)**. **Married Gene Wilder (1984-1989); died of ovarian cancer at age 42; her memoir *It's Always Something* (1989) was a *New York Times* bestseller; founded *Gilda's Club*, a free cancer-support network — now part of the Cancer Support Community — with chapters in 50+ US cities**. ***Gilda* (1946)** — Columbia Pictures film noir starring Rita Hayworth as Gilda Mundson Farrell — featuring the famous "Put the Blame on Mame" striptease scene; the film made Hayworth one of the most-photographed women of the 1940s, with her image appearing on the test atomic bomb dropped on Bikini Atoll (1946). ***Rigoletto* (1851)** — Verdi opera with Gilda the daughter of the court jester; the role is among the most-recorded soprano leads in opera. **Gilda Lewis** — American documentary filmmaker.
Featured throughout 20th-century American comedy and Italian opera.
Gilda reduces to nine — the number of SNL original cast.