'SNL' African American Cast Members: From Eddie Murphy & Chris Rock to Maya Rudolph & Sasheer Zamata [PHOTOS]
This week, comedian Sasheer Zamata became the 16th African American cast member of Saturday Night Live in the show's 39-season history.
Zamata joins the current SNL cast which includes two African-Americans: Kenan Thompson (who started in 2003) and Jay Pharoah (who started in 2010).
In the 2000s, the show featured two black cast members in addition to Thompson: Maya Rudolph and Finesse Mitchell.
Zamata is only the fifth female black cast member, after Yvonne Hudson, Ellen Cleghorne, Danitra Vance and Rudolph.
SNL has featured several black actors who have gone on to become movie stars, including Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock and, to a lesser extent, Tim Meadows.
Garrett Morris was the very first black performer to be cast on Saturday Night Live in 1975.
Other black comedians who have been cast for the show have included Jerry Minor, Dean Edwards and Damon Wayans, Sr.
Here is a slideshow of SNL's African American cast members through the years:
