Showbiz Hobo Salutes: Catherine O’Hara (1954-2026)

I've been very privileged in my career to work with some outstanding people. Some of them are well known, and most are not so well known. One of the most talented is Catherine O'Hara....Michael Shannon might come close, but Catherine edges him out with her range.

My first brush with Catherine came in and around 2012/2013, when I was the Production Secretary for Undercover Boss Canada. If you recall, in that show, you would have your CEO dress up and go "undercover" in their own companies. Most of the time we would have the CEO's come to Toronto and spend an afternoon putting together a disguise. On one occasion, the CEO was tied up and couldn't make the trip, so they sent me to Judi Cooper-Sealy. Judi was an Emmy-winning hairstylist. On Judy's IMDb are movies like Chicago, Hairspray, 54 and Father of the Bride Pt II. Judi had made a name for herself building characters on SCTV. A lot of people would have thought that was a pain. For me, it was like "Hey Paul! Do you want to go play dress up with one of the greatest hair people that ever lived?"

"Well, HELL YA! I want to go!" Over the hours while I was made up and remade and poked and prodded, Judy told me story after story about her career. She also gave me a tour of her shop in the basement of her Summer Hill home. It was filled with artifacts from throughout her career. Hair and make-up people have to take a lot of pictures for continuity. Today, this is pretty easy with smartphones, but for most of Judy’s career, she used Polaroids. She had them arranged in collages all over her walls. She had pics with John Candy, Martin Short, Christopher Walken, John Travolta and scores of others, including Catherine O'Hara.

I started as an Assistant Director in a big way in the spring of 2014. I was able to catch on as the regular Set PA for Hannibal's 2nd Unit. I got to work with Laurence Fishburne, Mads Mikkelsen and Gillian Anderson. For a sci-fi fan like me, it was a tough crowd to beat. From Hannibal, I landed my first full-time gig as an AD on a little show about to shoot its first season, called Schitt's Creek.

Just a handful of characters Catherine played on SCTV. Old Firehall TV Productions Ltd. (1976-1984)

I discovered SCTV in the summer of 1993. At that time in history, CityTV had awesome old TV on back-to-back on weekday afternoons, 3 pm Twilight Zone, 330 SCTV, 4 pm Star Trek: The Next Generation. First time I saw the opener for SCTV, I thought OMG, everybody awesome in showbiz is on the same show! From that point on, I was glued to the TV whenever it was on. When I was on Hannibal, I met Frank Merino, who was a cameraman on SCTV. He said, they had a big problem on that show; the crew was laughing so hard the cameras would shake when they were shooting. When summer 2014 rolled around, and I landed a gig on Schitt's Creek, I was fuckin pumped.

The first season of any TV show (I should stress, roughly 8/10 shows on tv don't get a 2nd season) is usually kinda awkward, a lot of second-guessing, unsure of the format or what it's trying to be. Schitt's Creek was an exception. Season 1 of Creek was the most fun I've ever had on a show to that point, and since then, there have been only a few that have rivalled the experience. It was so great, I came back for two more seasons.

There are a ton of stories you will hear about the making of Schitt's Creek and working with Catherine from over the years. For me, there are a lot of little moments that stand out. Like telling Catherine when I met Judy Cooper-Sealy, watching her watch the water for her tea come to a boil every morning after the first blocking, helping her walk around in Moira Rose's ridiculous heels. The first time I ever called "Action" for a scene was with Catherine, Eugene, Dan and Annie. Her professionalism and her lightness will always stay with me.

Catherine O'Hara, Paul Dudar and Catherine's sister Mary-Margaret O'Hara, Personal photos, 2015

Comedy is hard....it's harder than drama, working it out is like a dance between the players. You would have a scene, let's say between Eugene and Catherine, they would do take 1. CUT! The director might come in with a note or two, and then you would try take 2. A lot of directors wouldn't give a note; they would just let Eugene and Catherine work. Between takes, Catherine and Eugene would fine-tune their timing together. You would hear Catherine say something like "I'll go bigger here."

Then Eugene would say, "OK, if you do that, I'm gonna start a little earlier and faster."

Then Catherine would reply, “Good! That will get me there.”

When you hear about actors doing improv on set, most of the time it isn't something so surprising or off the wall, it's these quick choices that they work out before the cameras roll. Remember, Catherine and Eugene came from an era when you had max 10-12 minutes in a reel of film, and film was expensive. It was beautiful to watch. I could only compare it to watching Yo-Yo Ma tuning his cello.

The hardest I remember laughing was when Catherine and Dan were folding the cheese. The camera rolled for 10 minutes, and every moment was hilarious. People were turning blue, holding their laughter in for so long.

Netflix, 2016

I'll be honest, some of the most memorable moments of Catherine were when the cameras weren't rolling. She had the quickest wit you've ever seen. One day, we were shooting at Pinewood, and her family came to visit. They had to leave while we were still shooting to catch a flight back to LA. Catherine said a teary goodbye to them in video village and watched as they walked off the stage. She turned around and saw all of us in the video village watching. Without missing a beat, she cackled, "I thought they would never leave, WHA-HA-HA-HA!"

She sent us into stitches.

Clockwise from top left, Annie Murphy, Catherine O'Hara, Lucky Bromhead, Personal Photos 2015

At the end of Blade Runner, Roy Batty recalls moments from his life and laments, "...all those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain."

Catherine O'Hara might have passed beyond this world, but the moments she shared with me and thousands of others personally, and the millions of others through her work, will NEVER be lost.

Showbiz Hobo Salutes

Screenwriter, comedienne and actress Catherine O'Hara (1954-2026)

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2021

Fair Use / Fair Dealing Notice:

Showbiz Hobo uses copyrighted material under Fair Dealing (Canada) and Fair Use (U.S.) for purposes such as criticism, commentary, education, and review. All rights remain with their respective owners. Content is used thoughtfully, with credit given where possible. Concerns? Contact showbizhobo@gmail.com.