Stephen ‘Demo’ DeMaria, a set builder for ‘SNL’ for 50 years, is hanging up his hammer
The "Saturday Night Live" stage.
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — Stephen “Demo” DeMaria has been at “Saturday Night Live” from before the late-night show even premiered.
The now 87-year-old Brooklyn native helped build the audience seats for the show’s Oct. 11, 1975 premiere, according to The Gothamist.
He talked to the publication about his plan to retire on Saturday after “SNL’s” 50th season wrap party.
“I gotta shake Lorne Michael’s hand,” DeMaria said of the show’s creator and producer. “He gave me a future for 50 years.”
DeMaria rose from building seats to foreman, earning the nickname of “The Boss of The Carpenters.”
“The first 12 years was the best shows for ‘SNL,’” DeMaria said.
“My favorite sets were the ones with John Belushi, with the restaurant, and Eddie Murphy, with that little apartment he used to come down, open the door,” he continued, referencing the famous “Olympia Restaurant” and “Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood” sketches from the show.
Part of the reason he is leaving, he said, are the hours the job requires.
He receives the plans for the sketches around 2 a.m. on Thursdays and he and his crew then work to make sure everything is built and ready by Saturday night.
“ Now I don’t have to get up at 4:30, take a shower, this that, get to work and I can just take it easy,” he said. “Do what I gotta do.”
Nicole Stiegelbauer is his boss on the show and told the publication her grandfather initially hired DeMaria. She said she was surprised he continued to work after the 2022 death of his wife of 60 years, Patricia.
“He has come here rain, snow, sleet, sickness, health, whatever thing that’s ever happened, he has still managed to come and make sure the office runs the way it’s supposed to,” Stiegelbauer said. “I’ve known him quite literally my entire life. His loyalty to my dad, to the family, to the company, to the work is without doubt unparalleled. They don’t make them like him anymore.”
The-CNN-Wire
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