May 20th marked the twenty-seventh anniversary of the death of comedic icon Gilda Radner. She had fought long and valiantly against ovarian cancer, but she became hysterical upon admittance to the hospital to undergo a CT scan. She claimed to know she would never come out of the hospital. Radner was so frenzied, she was given a sedative. She passed into a coma and never woke up.

But instead of dwelling on her death, I think it’s time to give credit where credit is due and talk about the indelible impact Gilda made on comedy and popular culture as a whole.

Gilda was born June 28, 1946 in Detroit, Michigan. As a child, she was extremely close with her father who would often take her to plays and night club performances. It was her father who first exposed young Gilda to the arts. In college, Gilda was the radio weather girl for her campus, but she knew her calling laid outside the world of collegiate education. In her senior year, she dropped out to follow her current boyfriend to Toronto. There, she made her acting debut in a production of "Godspell" alongside such future stars as Victor Garber, Martin Short, Eugene Levy and Paul Shaffer. Shortly thereafter, Gilda joined The Second City and "The National Lampoon Radio Hour."

It was there that Gilda made lifelong friends with John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Brian Doyle-Murray. She was noted for her infectious, lively demeanor. She once speculated that the boys liked having her around because if she found something extremely funny, she would laugh so hard she’d pee her pants. That became the gauge for how truly funny their material was. Everyone loved Gilda, and Gilda loved everyone. She was joyous and dynamic, positively bursting with life and comedic potential.

It was that very energy that inspired young upstart Lorne Michaels to cast Gilda as the original Not Ready for Primetime Player. She spent five seasons on "Saturday Night Live," popularizing many characters such as Emily Litella, Lisa Loopner, Judy Miller, Roseanne Roseannadanna, Candy Slice and Baba Wawa.

Radner’s strength was her ability to create characters that felt lived-in, organic and real. She could make anyone sympathetic or likable. There was a profundity and poignancy to her absurdity. Whether she was an excitable little girl dancing and screaming around her bedroom or a hilariously misinformed elderly newscaster, Radner’s performance always felt genuine. She threw herself at doors with such ferocity, endured noogies with such poise, omitted her R’s with such commitment and sang about saccharine with such conviction, you could not help but laugh.

The world of comedy owes an awful lot to Gilda Radner. It is only because of her fearless pursuit of the laugh that current comediennes have the platform from which they can do the same. Amy Poehler’s Kaitlin was inspired by Radner’s Judy Miller. The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation with at a Party is every bit as misinformed but self-assured as Miss Litella, and her perfectly crafted non sequiturs undoubtedly descend from Radner’s own in some capacity.

After departing from "Saturday Night Live," Radner starred opposite Gene Wilder in three films. They fell in love and were married. They were a match made in comedy heaven. Radner experienced fatigue and sharp pain in 1985, but was continuously misdiagnosed for over a year. In 1986, she was told she had ovarian cancer. Not much was known about the nature of Radner’s illness or how to treat it, so Gilda bravely used her fame and position to create a dialogue about cancer and its treatment. Radner was told she was in remission and resumed her career. She attended the thirty-fifth birthday party of Laraine Newman, and was carried around the party by Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. Murray would later admit to sensing this would be the last time they would all see Radner.

Following her death, Wilder established the Gilda Radner Hereditary Cancer Program and later Gilda’s Club. The GRHCP specializes in early detection and eradication of cancer cells. Wilder holds that if doctors had inquired about Radner’s family more, they would have more quickly arrived at the correct diagnosis as her grandmother and other maternal relatives died from ovarian cancer.

Death was not the end for Gilda Radner’s comedic glory. Though she may have never reached the level of renown as many of her fellow Not Ready for Primetime Players did during her life, she left a lofty and lasting legacy that continues to inspire comedians everywhere. Tina Fey once remarked, “Everyone wants to be a Gilda.” Nearly all SNL ladies count Gilda as a huge influence on their careers.

But Gilda didn’t just inspire people to be funny. She inspired them to live, to find excitement in everything, to be courageous and brave, to be fearless, to be bold, to dress based on what does not itch, to be comfortable in who they are, to be real and genuine and to be happy. She taught everyone to appreciate the delicious ambiguity that is life.

“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.”