Garrett Morris Graduated from Dillard University Before Becoming the First Black Cast Member of Saturday Night Live

Did you know that one of the original cast members of Saturday Night Live got his start singing in the concert choir of a historically Black university in New Orleans? His name is Garrett Morris, and his journey to television history began at Dillard University.

Garrett Morris was born on February 1, 1937, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated from Dillard University, the historically Black university in his hometown, in 1958. It was in the halls of Dillard and among the voices of the Dillard University Concert Choir that Morris first developed the gifts that would carry him to the national stage. He went on to pursue further musical training at the Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music, and he spent roughly a decade as a soloist with the Harry Belafonte Singers.

In 1975, Morris joined the original cast of Saturday Night Live as one of the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players,” becoming the first Black cast member in the show’s history. According to Encyclopedia.com, he remained with the show for five seasons, from 1975 to 1980, helping shape a program that would become an American institution.

His career has reached far beyond Studio 8H. Morris has appeared in classic films including Cooley High in 1975 and Car Wash in 1976, and he became a familiar face on television through roles on The Jeffersons, Martin, The Jamie Foxx Show, and 2 Broke Girls.

Dillard University has never stopped claiming its own. In 2016, the university awarded Morris an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. As Dillard University celebrated, on February 1, 2024, his 87th birthday, Morris received the 2,771st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

From the Dillard University Concert Choir to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Garrett Morris has turned the foundation his HBCU gave him into a career that helped open the doors of American comedy for generations who followed.