breckman wrote for "late night with david letterman" from 1982 to 1984, and contributed sketches to "saturday night live" from 1983 to 1996. one of his most well-known vignettes was a "saturday night live" sketch called "white like me" (which he also directed), in which eddie murphy disguises himself as a caucasian for a day. in 2003 he served as a jokewriter for comedian steve martin's stint as host of the academy awards.