We’ve lost an immense performer in Catherine O’Hara, who passed away on Friday at the age of 71.
Whether she was playing outlandish, fantastical characters or subtle, grounded ones, O’Hara always brought us onto her level. The best actors are performers who can bring themselves to the role, who can imbue even the most drastic transformations with an undeniable sense of self. This was consistently true of O’Hara, who combined her comedic and improv training with the conviction and gravity of dramatic storytelling. In her best comedic performances, she was unpredictable; in her best dramatic, she was a tour de force.
Starting with her improv-heavy TV origins on the Canadian Second City spinoff SCTV, O’Hara was happy to dive into the comedic deep end and began winning over audiences in her native country and the US. As her status grew from appearances in After Hours, Beetlejuice, and Home Alone, she established herself as a reliably funny and authentic actress with undeniable dynamism.
O’Hara worked consistently with great filmmakers, but it was her turns in Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries that perhaps best captured her spirit. O’Hara was zany, eclectic, and hilarious in Guest’s Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration, becoming synonymous with Guest’s actor-forward philosophy and stretching her own dramatic and comedic limits. Her career blossomed once again in the mid 2010s with her work in Schitt’s Creek, which stands as one of O’Hara’s most iconic roles, and her acclaimed recent work in The Studio.
She also was a major figure in animated TV and films, lending her voice to The Nightmare Before Christmas, Where the Wild Things Are, and Frankenweenie, as well as the shows Committed, The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley, Glenn Martin DDS, and many more over four decades.
Whether hand drawn or live action, dramatic or comedic, improv or sketch, TV or film, Catherine O’Hara was a beacon of talent. These 10 roles may be her most celebrated, but they still only scratch the surface of a storied career in entertainment.
Read on for Catherine O’Hara’s 10 best roles, presented in chronological order.
— Paolo Ragusa
Live Music Editor
