A Few Words for Catherine O'Hara

While I was at lunch this afternoon, I learned of Catherine O'Hara's sudden passing at the age of 71.

Her passing is one of those gut punches. O'Hara was an exquisitely funny woman with enormous and endearing charm. For many people, she is best remembered for her flamboyant portrayal of Moira Rose alongside her longtime friend Eugene Levy in Schitt's Creek. She had just completed a season of the Apple TV sitcom The Studio co-starring with Seth Rogen. O'Hara had remarkable success after the age of 60, an age when most actresses are cast aside. That success is a tribute to her talent and personability. 

While O'Hara will be remembered for her more recent successes along with roles in Home Alone and Beetlejuice films, I remember her first and foremost from her days in SCTV. When she was accepted into Second City, she had the unenviable task of replacing Gilda Radner who had become a Not Ready for Primetime Player on Saturday Night Live. 

Yet alongside John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Harold Ramis, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Martin Short and, of course, Eugene Levy, this ensemble produced some of the greatest comedy TV has ever known and this is saying a great deal.

O'Hara's characters were often the aristocratic, straight woman who was about to come apart at any moment. Her chemistry with Levy was undeniable. After SCTV and before Schitt's Creek, the pair co-starred in a series of mockumentary films directed by Christopher Guest (Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration). Of these films, A Mighty Wind was my favorite for spoofing the 1960s folk music movement. O'Hara and Levy play an estranged husband and wife folk duo, Mitch and Mickey. Not only are they hilarious but have the musical chops to convince you that Mitch and Mickey were a seminal part of American folk music. O'Hara possessed a beautiful singing voice. It is entirely under a different set of circumstances that O'Hara could have enjoyed a career as a singer. 

In the circumstances under which she lived, Catherine O'Hara was one of the funniest people the world has saw and heard and the world laughed with her. R.I.P.