‘Extraordinary talent’: Toronto comedy community pays tribute to Catherine O’Hara

Inside The Second City in downtown Toronto, pictures of Canadian icon Catherine O’Hara are being put up following her death on Friday.

O’Hara was 71.

The Toronto-born actress known for her roles in “Home Alone” and “Schitt’s Creek” is being remembered as a “hugely foundational part” of The Second City and an “inspiration” to Toronto’s comedy community.

She began her career as a waitress in The Second City theatre before joining the comedy troupe in 1974.

“A lot of the photos that we have up here are from the early days in her career and just seeing that group of people starting … and really seeing you put your mind in a place of them sort of discovering a voice in comedy and the way that she discovered that for herself and then continued to build on it and expand it and grow it over the course of the career,” Etan Muskat, the artistic director of The Second City Training Centre in Toronto, said.

On the Second City Television (SCTV) comedy show, along with her impressions of Meryl Streep, Brooke Shields and Lucille Ball, O’Hara also played iconic characters such as Lola Heatherton and Dusty Towne. She won an Emmy for outstanding writing for a variety series.

In 2020, O’Hara won her second Emmy, Outstanding Lead Actress for a Comedy Series, for her role as Moira Rose on Schitt’s Creek.

O’Hara was part of The Second City’s advisory board announced and created in 2022 to foster the next generation of comedians and performers.

“I know it meant a lot to her to stay connected to the Second City through the advisory board and continuing to foster new talents and new voices in comedy,” Muskat said.

“I think this place meant a lot to her, and I think being from here meant a lot to her and getting to come back here and work here on a show like ‘Schitt’s Creek’ recently was meaningful to her, and she was meaningful to us as well.”

He said The Second City plans to pay tribute to O’Hara in the coming days.

“I know there’s a lot of people who will want an opportunity to express how much she meant to them,” Muskat added.

Second City alumni Mary Gross, who appeared with O’Hara in the film “A Mighty Wind,” said in a phone interview with CTV News that her death has not sunk in yet.

“This is a terrible loss for friends and family as well as a terrible loss for the Second City and comedy community,“ Gross said.

”Given the circumstances we’re living in, comedy is more important than ever in bringing people together. Catherine helped us see that light during dark times.”

Toronto comedian Mike Myers called O’Hara “one of the greatest comedy artists in history, an inspiration for millions and above all a very elegant lady.

“It is a very sad day for Comedy and for Canada,” a representative for Myers said in a statement to CTV News.

• Catherine O’Hara’s co-stars, friends pay tribute to her on social media

Andrew Clark, the co-ordinator of the comedy writing and performance program at Humber Polytechnic, remembered O’Hara as someone “who really understood how to be funny.”

“One of the things about Catherine O’Hara is you’d watch a movie in which she wasn’t the star, and then when you walked out of the movie theatre, all you could remember was her performance,” Clark said.

“She was an extraordinary talent and I think a real inspiration to an incredible number of aspiring comedians.”

A few lucky Humber students were able to witness the genius of O’Hara when she attended a class. Clark said the Canadian actress was invited by her SCTV colleague Robin Duke, who teaches at Humber.

“It was a really phenomenal experience because it’s one thing for professors to talk about certain aspects of comedy, but when you hear from Catherine O’Hara, for some reason, it just seems to land a little better,” he said.

“She was terrific. She was informative. She was very modest, very, very modest.”

Clark said O’Hara’s appearance left many students energized for weeks.

“All of the students were absolutely blown away,” he said.

Last year, the Toronto International Film Festival presented O’Hara with the TIFF Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award, which recognizes “Canadians in the film industry who have made a global impact with their careers.”

In a statement, TIFF described O’Hara as a longtime friend of the festival “whose brilliance, generosity, and humour enriched not only Canadian entertainment but the lives of all who knew her.”

“Catherine was an international screen legend and one of the brightest lights to come out of Toronto’s comedy community at SCTV. As her career progressed, Catherine never stopped embodying the spirit of fearless creativity that we have come to recognize as uniquely Canadian,” TIFF said.

“Catherine, as always, was joyful and inspiring, reminding us of the power of laughter, storytelling, and shared experience. To her family, her many collaborators, and her devoted fans, we extend our deepest condolences.”

On its Instagram, TIFF posted photos of the actress with the caption, “Remembering Catherine O’Hara ❤️.”

Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish shared that O’Hara was her student at Burnhamthorpe Collegiate in Etobicoke. She remembered the actress as “brilliant, funny, popular, caring.”