#Anne Beatts, comic and original ‘SNL’ writer, dead at 74

Anne Beatts, an original writer for “Saturday Night Live” and creator of the sitcom “Square Pegs,” has died at age 74.

Beatts died at her West Hollywood home on Wednesday, longtime friend Rona Edwards confirmed to Variety.

The comic was one of the first — and few — female writers on staff as “SNL” launched in 1975. Beatts was behind many classic sketches like “Todd and Lisa Loopner” and “Male Prostitute.” She was also the first female contributing editor for the National Lampoon magazine.

“I remember once at ‘Saturday Night Live’ having spent the night in my office. There was a heavy snowfall overnight, and I looked out the window onto Fifth Avenue and I saw that the entire street was covered with pristine fresh snow,” Beatts told the Television Academy in 2009. “I just felt very joyful and I thought the 8-year-old me always wanted to stay in the city — when you would be going to FAO Schwarz and the Museum of Natural History — and I was always like, ‘Someday I’m not going to leave.’ I thought if someone had said to that 8-year-old, ‘Well, yes you will do this, you will have this moment,’ I would have been just thrilled.”

In 1976, Beatts and “SNL” took home an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series.

Beatts broke off from the sketch show in 1982 to launch her own sitcom, “Square Pegs,” based on her own adolescent experience. Though it only ran for one season, it served as the launchpad for Sarah Jessica Parker’s career, who was only 17 years old when she helmed the show. At Beatt’s choosing, according to Vulture, the show’s writing staff was comprised of five women and only one man — a gender balance that’s still considered a rarity in the industry.

In 1995, Beatts became the showrunner for “The Stephanie Miller Show.”

Later in life, Beatts worked at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts as an instructor.

“Our Anne- an OG SNL writer passed away yesterday,” Laraine Newman, an original “SNL” cast member, tweeted.

“So much love & respect for the great #AnneBeatts. Was an honor to play you & know you,” posted comic Natasha Lyonne, who played the writer in “A Futile and Stupid Gesture,” a 2018 flick about the National Lampoon.