Catherine O鈥橦ara had quite the memorable March.
She was front row at the Loewe fall/winter show at Paris Fashion Week 鈥 鈥渢he first time I鈥檇 ever been invited to go to Paris鈥 鈥 joined a speakers鈥 list that included feminist icons such as Gloria Steinem, Billie Jean King and Hillary Clinton at the Forbes 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi; and got a shout-out from President Joe Biden while attending a gala dinner for the U.S. head of state hosted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa.
The Canadian actor and comedian sounded exhilarated by it all during a phone call last week from her home in Los Angeles: it was a thrill to meet Clinton, she said, who 鈥渨as just laughing and smiling and lovely and friendly. Billie Jean King is just the greatest, most fun character and an inspiring woman. And Gloria Steinem I just love, love love. She鈥檚 still so very cool.鈥
So yes, O鈥橦ara was a little star-struck, which might seem odd considering that, thanks to 鈥淪chitt鈥檚 Creek,鈥 she herself has become a big star, more famous than she already was after a career of some 50 years. But if there鈥檚 one thing that came through clearly during a half-hour conversation, it鈥檚 that O鈥橦ara hasn鈥檛 let success go to her head.
Long before Moira Rose of “Schitt’s Creek” joined the pantheon of great comedic female characters, above, Catherine O’Hara made her mark in numerous TV shows and movies, the kinds of properties that live on in pop culture and individual imaginations.
POP TV VIA APShe laughed very loudly when I asked her if she felt like an icon and practically shouted, 鈥淣o!鈥 鈥 even though she was about to return to her hometown of 海角社区官网to receive the Academy Icon Award at the Canadian Screen Awards.
鈥You know, I鈥檓 not gonna try to justify it,鈥 O鈥橦ara said of the award. 鈥淚 just think it鈥檚 a lovely gift. Very kind strangers, for some reason, decided to give it to me. So thank you.鈥
If you鈥檙e a fan of O鈥橦ara鈥檚, that reason will seem self-evident.
Long before Moira Rose of 鈥淪chitt鈥檚 Creek鈥 joined the pantheon of great comedic female characters, O鈥橦ara made her mark in numerous TV shows and movies, the kinds of properties that live on in pop culture and individual imaginations.
Think 鈥淪CTV,鈥 the 1970s sketch comedy series that also kick-started the careers of Eugene Levy, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Joe Flaherty, Martin Short and Andrea Martin.
Or the film 鈥淏eetlejuice,鈥 in which O鈥橦ara played haunted-house matriarch Delia. Or 鈥淗ome Alone鈥 and 鈥淗ome Alone 2,鈥 in which she was Kate, the mother who accidentally leaves Macaulay Culkin鈥檚 Kevin behind. Or her indelible characters in the Christopher Guest movie mockumentaries 鈥淲aiting for Guffman,鈥 鈥淏est in Show,鈥 鈥淎 Mighty Wind鈥 and 鈥淔or Your Consideration.鈥 And that鈥檚 just a fraction of her credits.
From left, Christopher Moynihan, Harry Shearer, Catherine O’Hara and Parker Posey in Christopher Guest’s “For Your Consideration.”
SHANGRI-LA ENTERTAINMENTIt鈥檚 a career, according to O鈥橦ara, that has been put together scene by scene and character by character rather than through any kind of planning.
鈥淚鈥檝e never had this kind of foresight or ambition. I鈥檝e lived in the moment,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ut, you know, it makes me realize how lucky I am, and very grateful to still be working and still be working with someone like Eugene (Levy), who I met on my very first job.鈥
That first job wasn鈥檛 in showbiz as much as 鈥渟howbiz-adjacent鈥 when O鈥橦ara waitressed at the Second City in Toronto, where Levy was part of the cast.
鈥淚 watched Gilda onstage,鈥 she said 鈥 meaning revered American comedian Gilda Radner 鈥 鈥渁nd I thought, 鈥極h, what I would give to be able to do that.鈥 I imitated her for a while until I could come up with my own character. But yeah, it was a day-to-day thing: I want to come up with a good scene, I鈥檓 gonna come up with a new character. I didn鈥檛 have any long-term plan.鈥
The roots of that unplanned career go back even further to growing up in a large, funny household in the west end of Toronto.
鈥淢y parents had just the beautiful gift of always finding the humour in everything,鈥 said O鈥橦ara, 69, who was one of seven children.
鈥淓verybody in my family鈥檚 funny and I think you鈥檙e really fortunate if that鈥檚 encouraged from childhood, because it鈥檚 such a great way to survive in this world ... to find a way to laugh: laugh at yourself and others, of course.鈥
Catherine O’Hara followed Gilda Radner, third from right, to Toronto’s Second City and understudied Radner and Rosemary Radcliffe, second from right, seen in 1976 with fellow cast members Eugene Levy, Dan Aykroyd and John Candy.
Second City / CP FILE PHOTOBut a young Catherine might never have considered comedy a way to make a living if not for a particular guest at some of the family dinners: Radner, who began dating O鈥橦ara鈥檚 older brother Marcus after they met at a downtown theatre where they both worked.
鈥淚 never would have seen being silly, funny, playing characters, doing impersonations, which I did with my friends and family, as maybe a possible job, let alone a career, without Gilda,鈥 O鈥橦ara said.
Radner got a teenage O鈥橦ara and her friend Robin Duke, now another well known comic actor, tickets to the 1972 production of 鈥淕odspell,鈥 in which Radner co-starred with such luminaries as Levy, Short, Martin, Victor Garber and Jayne Eastwood.
And then O鈥橦ara followed Radner to Second City, eventually understudying her and Rosemary Radcliffe before replacing Radner in the company when the latter left for New York, where she would become one of the founding cast members of 鈥淪aturday Night Live.鈥 (Radner died of ovarian cancer in 1989.)
Second City became O鈥橦ara鈥檚 鈥渦niversity of comedy.鈥
鈥淭he people that I got to work with? I learned on the job with those people: John Candy, God bless him, and Eugene and Dan Aykroyd, and Gilda and Rosemary Radcliffe, then Marty and Andrea, and Dave Thomas and Joe Flaherty 鈥 I like to think I made the most of it and I worked hard, but that鈥檚 quite the opportunity.
鈥淚鈥檓 still trying to practise everything I learned there. Everything. All the basics of anything I do came from there, from those people.鈥
Second City cast members, from left, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Dave Thomas, Andrea Martin and John Candy in 1978.
TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTOOf course, it鈥檚 impossible to put O鈥橦ara and Levy in the same paragraph without thinking of 鈥淪chitt鈥檚 Creek,鈥 the wildly successful Canadian sitcom in which they starred as the matriarch and patriarch of a family of one-per-centers who lose everything and have to start over in a small town.
The CBC series won nine Emmy Awards, including acting trophies for O鈥橦ara, Levy, his co-creator son, Daniel Levy, and Annie Murphy, who played their children. It also netted O鈥橦ara individually a Critics鈥 Choice Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, six Canadian Screen Awards and a Golden Globe.
But for O鈥橦ara it was very much a team effort.
She came up with the idea for Moira Rose鈥檚 unusual way of speaking, her multiple wigs; her high-fashion, black-and-white wardrobe (inspired by brewery family heiress Daphne Guinness), but 鈥渨hen do you ever get to work with people that say yes to all these ideas that haven鈥檛 been quite worked out? And then they made them work,鈥 she said, referring to Eugene and Daniel.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing for me to say, 鈥楬ey, what if I dress like (Guinness)?鈥 It鈥檚 another for them, especially Daniel and (costume designer) Debra Hanson, to come up with that wardrobe, or Ana Sorys to come up with those wigs and the writers to show up with great dialogue,鈥 O鈥橦ara said.
And it鈥檚 true, as O鈥橦ara told me once before, that she was initially reluctant to sign up for potential multiple seasons of 鈥淪chitt鈥檚 Creek鈥 鈥 it eventually lasted six 鈥 rather than move from job to job, as she had been used to doing.
鈥淚 never said I was a genius, OK? So I did take a moment to consider it first. I鈥檓 so glad Eugene tricked me into it.鈥
It鈥檚 a decision that is still paying dividends, she figures.
鈥淓very job I鈥檓 offered now, I think, that鈥檚 because of 鈥楽chitt鈥檚 Creek,鈥 or every opportunity I have, to go to the fashion show, or to meet Prime Minister Trudeau and President Biden, or Hillary Clinton or Billie Jean King, I think, it鈥檚 all 鈥楽chitt鈥檚 Creek,鈥欌 she said.
Catherine O鈥橦ara is to receive the Academy Icon Award during presentation of the Comedic and Dramatic Arts Awards on Friday. An interview with O鈥橦ara will be part of the one-hour special 鈥淭he Canadian Screen Awards With Samantha Bee,鈥 airing Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBC and CBC Gem.
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