Garrett Morris has described cocaine use as one factor that made it harder for him to connect with his fellow Saturday Night Live cast members. He also survived a 1994 attempted robbery in Los Angeles in which a bullet passed through his arm and abdomen and lodged near his spine. The details come from different points in time: Morris’s later interviews recount his experience, while a contemporaneous Los Angeles Times report documented his early recovery.
What Garrett Morris said about cocaine and SNL
Morris joined Saturday Night Live in 1975 and remained for five years, through 1980, becoming known for characters including Chico Escuela. In a later interview with CBS News, he described himself as seriously introverted during that period and said cocaine use compounded the difficulty he felt connecting with the group.
“I had a cocaine problem, too, which was adding to it,” Morris told CBS. He said much of what he did was “counterproductive” to connecting with his colleagues. His account links the drug problem to his own experience of isolation; it does not establish how other cast members viewed him.
How long did Morris say he used cocaine?
In the CBS interview, Morris said it took him 30 years to quit the habit and that he had been drug-free for 10 years at the time of that interview. Those are dated, self-reported figures—not a current update on his health or substance use.
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A People interview published through Yahoo in February 2024 was summarized as describing a “40-year” cocaine addiction and Morris’s hope to tell his full story in an autobiography. That description is not a medical finding, and the Yahoo page was not directly accessible for verification. The CBS interview provides a separate retrospective account; the figures should be understood in the context of when and how Morris described them, not treated as a single verified clinical timeline. People interview via Yahoo
What happened in the 1994 shooting?
On February 24, 1994, Morris was shot during an attempted robbery in Los Angeles. In its report published April 2, 1994, the Los Angeles Times reported that the bullet passed through his left forearm and abdomen, injuring his intestines, before lodging near his spine. The newspaper’s account captured his condition during early recuperation, rather than a later, complete medical history.
“If I’m alive, I’m way ahead of the game,” Morris said in that report, laughing, “considering what might have been.” The remark reflected the seriousness of the injury and his perspective during recovery.
How did the wound affect his recovery and work?
In the later CBS interview, Morris recalled being hospitalized “for, like, two years” and using a wheelchair for about a year. These durations are his recollection, not a medical record. CBS also reports that he recovered enough to return to work. The early 1994 newspaper coverage and Morris’s later account describe different stages of the story, so the later recollection should not be mistaken for a contemporaneous hospital timeline.
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A 2012 Television Academy oral-history interview, conducted on April 13, covers both Morris’s SNL work and the shooting, and includes selected video clips. The Academy page offers an institutional account of his career interview; it does not replace the dated newspaper report for what was recorded during his initial recovery.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Further interview context
In a July 21, 2009 interview description, WCBE said Morris discussed drug use and the long, difficult recovery after the 1994 shooting. That summary supports the broad topics he addressed, but not additional details beyond that description. WCBE interview listing
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