
Initially, let’s delve into some historical beard lore from Saturday Night Live (SNL): Despite Michaels being clean-shaven when he joined SNL in 1975, many cast members from the initial group sported facial hair throughout their tenure on the show. This was following Nixon’s resignation and America’s withdrawal from Vietnam, yet it was common for men to preserve some beard symbol, a reminder of their past counter-cultural beliefs. Notably, John Belushi often appeared with a thick stubble. The head writer, Michael O’Donoghue, who shared the screen with Belushi in SNL’s first cold open, sported a full beard. In the second season, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Garrett Morris all had mustaches, with Morris eventually growing a full beard. Aykroyd shaved his mustache by the third season, but one of the most enduring images of SNL’s early years is Aykroyd portraying mustache-less President Jimmy Carter, showcasing his own light-brown mustache prominently. Before leaving SNL in 1980, another bearded cast member was added: Don Novello, forever associated with the dark-black caterpillar gracing the faces of him and Father Guido Sarducci. Following Michaels’ departure, Eddie Murphy regularly donned a mustache, even when impersonating celebrities who didn’t have them, such as Desmond Tutu (in “White Like Me,” he affixed a whiter mustache over his own).