Newsline
Rocket hosting Saturday Night Newsline
Charles Adams Claverie (born August 24, 1949-October 7, 2005), better known by his stage name Charles Rocket, was a cast member of SNL in the 1980-1981 season, and was the Weekend Update/Saturday Night NewsLine anchor.
Charles was touted by then-Executive Producer Jean Doumanian as "a kind of cross between Chevy Chase and Bill Murray". He was known for a segment, The Rocket Report, in which he went out into New York City with a camera crew. He, Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo were the stars of the season.
He became infamous for an incident in the February 21, 1981 episode. A recurring set of sketches throughout the episode included a parody of the Dallas episode "Who Shot JR", titled "Who Shot C.R.?". At the end of the episode, when asked by Charlene Tilton how he felt after being shot, he responded by saying "Oh, man, this is the first time I've ever been shot... I'd like to know who the fuck did it." When Jean Doumanian was fired after the next episode, Rocket was also let go (along with most of the rest of the cast, save Murphy, Piscopo, Denny Dillon, and Gail Matthius, though the later two only remained for one additional episode).
After SNL, Charlie did some work in independant films and other projects, such as Hocus Pocus, Tom and Huck, Dumb and Dumber and the SNL movie It's Pat!. He later played a Reverend in the independant film Bleach and was in the 2003 movie Shade.
On October 7, 2005, Charlie unexpectedly took his own life for reasons unknown. Initially, there was debate over whether this was true (due to lack of media coverage after the story broke), but former cast mate Denny Dillon confirmed the news. Rocket's body was found in his Canterbury, Connecticut home; his throat was cut. The Connecticut medical examiner ruled it a suicide.
Impressions/Characters[]
Impressions[]
- David Rockefeller
- Marlin Perkins
- Prince Charles
- Ronald Reagan
Characters[]
- C.R.
- Phil Lively
SNL Career[]
- 1980-1981: Repertory Player
External Links[]
| Preceded by: Jane Curtin and Bill Murray |
Weekend Update Anchor (November 15, 1980— December 20, 1980) |
Followed by: Himself with Gail Matthius |
| Preceded by: Himself alone |
Weekend Update Anchor with Gail Matthius (January 10, 1981— February 21, 1981) |
Followed by: Saturday Night Newsline Anchor With Mark King and Bill Murray |
| Preceded by: Himself with Gail Matthius |
Saturday Night Newsline Anchor With Mark King and Bill Murray (March 7, 1981— March 7, 1981) |
Followed by: Chevy Chase |