Which original SNL cast member was known for playing a samurai character?

John Belushi was the original SNL cast member known for playing a samurai character.

Belushi’s Samurai Futaba was a recurring early Saturday Night Live character who spoke in mock Japanese, wielded a katana and treated ordinary jobs with exaggerated samurai honor. The sketches placed him in settings such as a hotel, delicatessen, tailor shop, doctor’s office and television repair business.

The character first appeared in “Samurai Hotel” on December 13, 1975. Host Buck Henry strongly encouraged a second samurai sketch when he hosted on January 17, 1976, helping turn the bit into a recurring feature. Henry often played Mr. Dantley, the baffled customer or employer opposite Belushi.

The character is sometimes confused with other SNL performers because host Richard Pryor also played a samurai in the first sketch, and Dan Aykroyd appeared in a later “Samurai Hit Man.” However, Belushi was the cast member who originated and repeatedly performed Samurai Futaba. The role drew on the image of the disciplined Japanese warrior and was modeled in part on Toshiro Mifune’s performance in Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo.