Ex-'SNL' Comedian's Death Ruled a Suicide

Charles Rocket's Death Ruled a Suicide; Comedian Appeared on 'SNL' and 'Moonlighting'

FARMINGTON, Conn. Oct 17, 2005 — Actor and comedian Charles Rocket, who had roles in a variety of movies and TV series and briefly gained notoriety for uttering an obscenity on "Saturday Night Live," committed suicide, the state medical examiner ruled.

Rocket, 56, whose real name was Charles Claverie, was found dead in a field near his home in Canterbury on Oct 7. His throat had been cut, the medical examiner said.

"An investigation determined there was no criminal aspect to this case," State Police Sgt. J. Paul Vance said Monday.

Rocket was a cast member on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" during the 1980-81 season. The profanity incident happened during a spoof of the "Who Shot J.R.?" plot line on "Dallas," which created a nationwide sensation at the time.

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He was fired for that profanity incident.

He did Reagan as I recall. I was so young.

I think they came on the next year, along with Brad Hall, Tim Kazurinsky, Julia-Louis Dreyfuss, Mary Gross, Gary Kroeger, etc. Actually, that was a very good SNL group, even if underrated compared to some of the other casts.

Rocket was in the doomed 80-81 Jean Doumanian cast (the first cast to succeed the legendary 75-80 cast).

I also just learned Denny Dillon made it into the 81-82 cast as well.

Murphy was not a full 'not ready for prime time' cast member, but was indeed part of the ensemble, and by the time Rocket said 'fuck' on the air, Murphy was a de facto full cast member.

Other doomed cast members from 80-81:
Gilbert Gottfried
Gail Matthius
Ann Risley

That smells funny.

NGU.

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.

Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

when your half way down.

He musta have wanted to die indeed badly, to cut his own throat.

method of suicide. Unless it was a jugular cut.

He missed his jugular and lived. He was embroiled in a drug scandal and tried to kill himself by cutting his own throat.

Crazy, but true.

If the guy was involved with drug dealers, he probably knew someone who wanted to slit his throat.

I was watching the night of his "incident". He played J.R. in a parody of "Dallas" and screamed out "Who the F--- shot me?!!" He was fired forthwith.

But he had appeared in several shows since then, including "Parker Lewis Can't Lose". I was happy to see that he hadn't been completely blackballed due to the profanity incident.

The only thing is: Who in the hell commits suicide by slicing his/her own throat?

Funny, I don't remember the f-word slip on SNL but I remember him in Max Headroom...

Except for Enraged_Ape, that is. The funny thing is, the Who Shot JR thing was supposed to draw viewers. It did for Dallas, it didn't for SNL. In fact, according to Bob Woodward, the episode with a new cast had been such a nightmare of missed cues, forgotten lines and stepped on scenes, that the cast was just trying to get through the last few minutes so they could go hide under a rock. This guy's utterance was just the sad icing on the cake. After five years of nervously watching Richard Prior and the likes on LIVE television, constantly worried one of them might hit America with the F-bomb, and have it happen in a stupid throwaway line for ongoing sketch that hadn't been working all night long just seconds before the cameras went dark, was just the kind of unfunny irony that haunts that show to this day. (Think of the cast nervously asking Giuliani if they could be funny again after 9/11.)

I think they just fired this guy since they knew not a single thing about the new cast or first show was going to make headlines. (It was Gilbert Godfried's first appearance on national television, though. At least I think it was. And Eddy Murphy's.)

Supposedly because of the quality (post-classic cast/pre-Eddie Murphy), which sucks because I've been trying to find Miles Davis' performance from '81 on the show.

The thing I remember Charles Rocket most for was a bit he did on SNL shortly before the murder of John Lennon, wherein he stood in front of the Dakota, shouting up to try to get a response from Lennon. Yes, it was as funny as it sounds. I've always wondered if Chapman learned of Lennon's residency from this. Perhaps Rocket was haunted by it as well.

Since the tapes of these shows seem unavailable, I've been unable to confirm my memory of this.

And one of the first thoughts that crossed my mind when I heard John had been killed was whether Chapman used the information from SNL to locate his residence.

Back then, everyone in NY knew where Lennon lived. Lennon loved NY because he could walk around and few people would bother him.

offered $300 to have the Beatles for a reunion on SNL. A couple of months later George Harrison shows up to collect the $300 and Lorne informs him that the money was for all four to show up and the $300 split four ways.

...was the season after Lorne Micheals had the falling out with NBC and they had Jean Doumanian as producer. She then hired horribly unfunny writers, basically dooming the new cast before they could even get going. They dumped her and convinced Dick Ebersol to take over until Lorne came back in 1985 and it really hit the new 'golden years'.

RIP Charles.

They had a different producer then...

was back on the show lecturing the cast not to say naughty things (Rocket was gone by then) but of course the cast was doomed anyway by then. All I remember about that show. Fridays and Second City picked up the slack.

I'm watching season one of Max Headroom right now. Awesome show - way ahead of its time. I bet it would do well in our George (Bush) Orwell world we are living in today though. Corporations controlling not only our tv programs, but our thoughts, attitudes, buying patterns, etc. Who'da thunk it? Zik/Zak baby! :P

... he had recently been on a series of TV ads here in New Zealand (advertising ice cream). RIP Charlie.

He played the scummy boyfriend to Mary Swanson.

http://imdb.com/name/nm0734236/

I thought he was good in that role.

Edit: Wait, I remember now. He played the head bad guy, right?

They refer to it as "the SNL curse." SNL sure had a huge number of untimely deaths among its alumni:

- John Belushi: Member of the original "Saturday Night Live" cast, 1975-79; Died at age 33 on March 5, 1982 of a cocaine and heroin overdose.

- Andy Kaufman: Although not an constant SNL cast member, he came to prominence on the show, making several memorable guest spots and appearing as a special guest (mouthing the Mighty Mouse theme) on the very first show. Died at age 35 on May 16, 1984 of cancer.

- Gilda Radner: Member of the original "SNL" cast, 1975-80. Died at age 42 on May 20, 1989 of ovarian cancer.

- Michael O'Donoghue: Wrote for the show from 1975-78, and again in the early 1980s. Died at age 54 on November 8, 1994 of a brain hemorrhage.

- Chris Farley: "SNL" cast member from 1990-95. Died of a drug overdose, like Belushi, at age 33 on December 18, 1997.

- Phil Hartman: A member of the cast from 1986-94. Died at age 49 on May 28, 1998, shot to death by his wife.

- Danitra Vance: A member of the cast during the 1985-86 season. Died on August 21, 1994 of cancer; she was 35.

- Charles Rocket: A member of the cast during the 1980-81 season - Died on October 7, 2005, suicide, at age 56.

RIP Charles.

:(

Although I don't believe in such things as "curses," it's a bit unusual that a single TV had so many untimely deaths.

For more info, check:

http://www.who2.com/satnightlivecurse.html

http://www.saturday-night-live.com/snl/miscellaneousstuff/documents/thesnlcurse.html

...considering that SNL has been on for thirty years with a pretty large overall cast. Eight deaths in that amount of time is not all that out-of-the-ordinary.

I agree with you that in a big show like SNL, with a large cast and 30 years on the air, the incidence of mortality would be obviously common.
What's unusual about SNL is the fact that all these deaths are both untimely and/or tragic, which creates this mystique some call a "curse." Most of these cast members died fairly young and in very unusual circumstances.

Just how the Curse of Tut's Tomb from the 20s-it's amazing, how everyone present when Tut's tomb was opened are ALL DEAD NOW!!1! Now percentage-wise, membership in the Beatles is much more of a curse.