Dana Carvey gave praise to John McLaughlin, the “McLaughlin Group” host who died Tuesday at age 89, calling him “an American original.”
The “Saturday Night Live” alum, who counted McLaughlin among his impersonations on the late-night sketch show, also hailed McLaughlin as “quick witted and funny.”
“He was an American original. Quick witted and funny. I loved impersonating him on ‘SNL,’” Carvey told TheWrap in a statement Wednesday.
The comedian added that McLaughlin’s unique speech patterns made it easy to impersonate him.
“His speaking rhythms were so quirky and musical that my impression didn’t have to be exaggerated much to get big laughs,” Carvey said.
McLaughlin, who hosted the political panel show for 34 years, died after a battle with prostate cancer on Tuesday morning, just days after missing his first show since the program’s debut.
The conservative commentator was as famous for his fast-paced moderation of the weekly roundtable debate program that included pundits like Clift, Pat Buchanan, Clarence Page, Mort Zuckerman and the late Jack Germond as he was for his bombastic exclamations such as his signature sign-off, “Bye-BYE!”
Carvey impersonated McLaughlin a number of times during his “SNL” tenure, lampooning McLaughlin’s boisterous style by incessantly interrupting his guest panelists.
Watch Carvey channel McLaughlin in the video below.