Anna "Ann" Risley (b. September 30, 1949, Madison, Wisconsin) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member of the TV series Saturday Night Live for the 12 episodes of the 1980–1981 season. These 12 broadcasts were the first episodes after producer Lorne Michaels left the show. She is a member of SAG, AFTRA, Equity, and an independent actor's equity.Risley was cast by Jean Doumanian, who had previously been the show's guest-booker, then associate producer. After 12 episodes, Doumanian was let go, as was Gilbert Gottfried, Charles Rocket, and Risley. Season Six went on for only one more episode under a new producer, Dick Ebersol, due to a writer's strike. Ebersol fired Denny Dillon, Yvonne Hudson, Gail Matthius, who co-starred with Risley, after that episode as part of a multi-stage overhaul of the show's cast and crew. Joe Piscopo and Eddie Murphy were the only surviving cast members from that season. In a 1999 article in People, Risley was quoted as saying her SNL experience was "horrible".Prior to (and after) Saturday Night Live, Risley had roles in nine feature films, including Stardust Memories and Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. She appeared in starring roles in two television pilots (Off Campus and Night After Night), was a five-week guest star on the daytime soap The Doctors, and appeared in five made-for-TV movies, including The Young Riders and Telling Secrets. No longer a screen actor, Ann (who now goes by the name of Anna) continues to run her own acting/improv studio in Tucson, Arizona.
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