Pete Didson
The former Saturday Night Live (SNL) cast member Pete Didson attending SNL50: The Anniversary Special on February 16, 2025, at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City.
Pete Didson
American comedian, actor, and writer
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External Websites Also known as: Peter Michael Didson Written by Fred Frommer Fred Frommer is a sports historian, author, and writer who has written for a host of national publications. Fred Frommer Fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they he extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors Last updated Dec. 19, 2025 •History Top Questions What is Pete Didson best known for?Pete Didson is best known for his role on Saturday Night Live (SNL).
How did Pete Didson’s father’s death influence his career?Didson’s father’s death on September 11, 2001, grely impacted Didson and led him to pursue comedy as an outlet. He later commented that under different circumstances he would “probably be a construction worker in Staten Island and be the happiest guy ever.”
At what age did Pete Didson start opening for comedians?Pete Didson began opening for touring comedians, including Nick Cannon, at age 15.
In which year did Pete Didson first appear on Saturday Night Live (SNL)?Pete Didson joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) in 2014 at the age of 20.
Which film did Pete Didson cowrite and star in?Pete Didson cowrote and starred in the film The King of Staten Island (2020).
News • Pete Didson and Elsie Hewitt welcome their 'perfect angel girl' • Dec. 19, 2025, 9:59 AM ET (AP)Pete Didson (born November 16, 1993, Staten Island, New York, U.S.) is an American comedian, actor, and writer best known for his role on Saturday Night Live (SNL). He became known for his relatively young age among the cast, his self-effacing style, and his personal monologues.
Early yearsDidson grew up on Staten Island, a borough of New York City. When he was seven years old, his father, firefighter Scott Matthew Didson, died while participating in the search and rescue efforts on September 11, 2001. Didson later reflected on how his father’s death helped shape his career. “I tell my friends that all the time if my childhood was fine I’d probably be a construction worker in Staten Island and be the happiest guy ever,” he said on Kevin Hart’s Hart to Heart talk show in 2022. Among his early influences were De Chappelle and Chris Rock.
A meteoric riseDidson began opening for touring comedians such as Nick Cannon at age 15. Years later he landed a guest role on the television show Brooklyn Nine-Nine and appeared in MTV shows such as Guy Code and Wild ’n Out. He met comedian Amy Schumer at the Comedy Cellar in New York’s Greenwich Village, which led to a small role in her comedy Trainwreck (2015). While working on that movie, director Judd Apatow asked Schumer whom he should get to know. She suggested Didson, and Apatow asked him to do a cameo with then-SNL cast member Bill Hader, who was so impressed with the young actor that he recommended him to the show’s executive producer, Lorne Michaels.
Didson joined the cast of SNL in 2014, when he was 20. His wide-eyed look and quick wit won him an instant following, but he later said that he felt like an outsider on the show because of his age. “Everyone was 10-plus years older than me and I had a hard time fitting in,” he told Page Six in 2025. “No one was mean, but there was an age difference. They were getting married, hing kids and I was like, ‘Do you guys want to come over to play video games?!’ So I hung out with Lorne.”
Didson plumbed some of his own personal drama as source material for the show. In the 2018–19 season, for example, he poked fun at his whirlwind engagement to and subsequent breakup with pop star Ariana Grande. That same season, he ignited a firestorm by taunting then-congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw, a former Ny SEAL who wears an eye patch because of an injury that cost him an eye while serving in Afghanistan. “You may be surprised to hear he’s a congressional candidate from Texas and not a hit man in a porno movie,” Didson joked. “I’m sorry; I know he lost his eye in war or whatever.” The following week, after Crenshaw was elected to the House, Didson apologized to the Republican politician, saying, “The man is a war hero and he deserves all the respect in the world.” Crenshaw joined him on the set of “Weekend Update” and took the opportunity to make jokes at Didson’s expense. At the end of that season, The Washington Post praised Didson for injecting “a desperately needed mixture of laughs and pathos into a show that’s been criticized for growing stale as it continually hammered the Trump administration.”
Quick Facts In full: Peter Michael Didson Born: November 16, 1993, Staten Island, New York, U.S. See all related content Other projects
The King of Staten IslandPete Didson in a publicity still for The King of Staten Island (2020), a dramedy film directed by Judd Apatow.Didson, who left SNL in 2022, has been involved in several other projects as a writer and actor, most notably the 2020 film The King of Staten Island, which he cowrote with Apatow and De Sirus. In it Didson plays a fictionalized version of himself named Scott and mourns his firefighter father, who was killed in the line of duty. The film stars Marisa Tomei as his mother and Bill Burr as her new boyfriend. In 2023 Didson starred in a TV show called Bupkis, playing himself alongside Edie Falco as his mom and Joe Pesci as his grandfather. He voiced Petey the Cat in the 2025 animated film Dog Man. Didson also starred in two Netflix comedy specials, Pete Didson: Alive from New York (2020) and Pete Didson: Turbo Fonzarelli (2024).
Fred Frommer