AWARD-WINNING COSTUME designer Franne Lee, who lived her final years in Lake Worth Beach, is being honored during the 50th-anniversary season celebrations for the comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live.
As first reported by Latenighter.com, SNL’s current costume designer, Tom Broecker, designed a recreation of a long-sleeve shirt, originally made by Lee, that SNL brass gifted to the show's staff in 1976.
Lee, who died in 2023, was SNL’s original costume designer from 1975 to 1980. In a 2021 interview at her Lake Worth Beach home, she modeled the shirt, with the show’s original title “Saturday Night” stitched across the back and the word “Designer” behind the shoulder. Other shirts she made were personalized with “writer” or “cast” or whatever the staff member’s role.
Broecker, who joined SNL’s costume department in 1986 and has served as its costume designer since 1994, based his vision for the 50th anniversary shirt on photos of Lee’s 1976 design, Latenighter.com reported.
“This unique iteration of the logo was hand-drawn by the show’s then-costume designer and isn’t found in any official SNL branding,” the clothing company Tombolo, which collaborated with Broecker, says on its website.
For now, the new throwback shirts are only available to the select few who make up Saturday Night Live’s cast and crew. But the company may offer them for sale to the general public at some point. To stay informed, sign up for an email alert on the shirt’s product page.
Lee created some of the show’s most iconic characters, including The Coneheads, The Killer Bees and The Blues Brothers. She won three Tony Awards for her work on Broadway.
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About the author
Joe Capozzi is an award-winning reporter based in Lake Worth Beach. He spent more than 30 years writing for newspapers, mostly at The Palm Beach Post, where he wrote about the opioid scourge, invasive pythons, the birth of the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and Palm Beach County government. For 15 years, he covered the Miami Marlins baseball team. Joe left The Post in December 2020. View all posts by Joe Capozzi.