Gilda Radner’s Cancer Center To Earn Money From Ron James Performance

Gilda Radner’s Cancer Center To Earn Money From Ron James Performance, Bill Murray has a touching story about the last night he spent with Gilda Radner. But now, Gilda Radner's cancer center will get money from comdedian Ron James in a benefit fundraiser. The funds will provide support to cancer patients the way Murray and other friends supported Radner in life.

Gilda Radner's cancer center will get an influx of cash thanks to comedian Ron James. James is a comedy legend-and now, he's helping Gilda's Club, a Toronto cancer center created in memory of Gilda Radner.

Radner made everybody laugh on Saturday Night Live with characters such as Bawa Wawa and Rosanne Rosanadanna. And now, in her memory, others will laugh as well.

Ron James will host It's Always Something, a comedy event presented by The Keg Steakhouse & Bar.  All proceeds will benefit Gilda's Club. James has also supported Gilda Radner's cancer center in the past.

The show will take place at Toronto's Sony Centre for The Performing Arts on Saturday, November 16th.

"We're thrilled to land Ron as our host. His performance was one of the highlights of last year's show and as host, he'll get an even bigger role," producers Fred Levy and Rick Muller said.

Tickets for the event can be found by going to www.itsalwayssomething.com. To learn more about Gilda's Club, visit Gildasclubtoronto.org.

Other entertainers are expected to be named as performers for It's Always Something. Ron James is in the 5th season of "The Ron James Show".

Gilda Radner died of ovarian cancer in 1989 at 42. She married Gene Wilder in 1984. Bill Murray said of the star,

"Gilda got married and went away. None of us saw her anymore. There was one good thing: Laraine had a party one night, a great party at her house. And I ended up being the disk jockey. She just had forty-fives, and not that many, so you really had to work the music end of it. There was a collection of like the funniest people in the world at this party. Somehow Sam Kinison sticks in my brain.

The whole Monty Python group was there, most of us from the show, a lot of other funny people, and Gilda. Gilda showed up and she'd already had cancer and gone into remission and then had it again, I guess. Anyway she was slim. We hadn't seen her in a long time. And she started doing, "I've got to go," and she was just going to leave, and I was like, "Going to leave?" It felt like she was going to really leave forever.

So we started carrying her around, in a way that we could only do with her. We carried her up and down the stairs, around the house, repeatedly, for a long time, until I was exhausted. Then Danny did it for a while. Then I did it again. We just kept carrying her; we did it in teams. We kept carrying her around, but like upside down, every which way-over your shoulder and under your arm, carrying her like luggage.

And that went on for more than an hour-maybe an hour and a half-just carrying her around and saying, "She's leaving! This could be it! Now come on, this could be the last time we see her. Gilda's leaving, and remember that she was very sick-hello?"

We worked all aspects of it, but it started with just, "She's leaving, I don't know if you've said good-bye to her." And we said good-bye to the same people ten, twenty times, you know.

And because these people were really funny, every person we'd drag her up to would just do like five minutes on her, with Gilda upside down in this sort of tortured position, which she absolutely loved. She was laughing so hard we could have lost her right then and there.

It was just one of the best parties I've ever been to in my life. I'll always remember it. It was the last time I saw her."