Catherine Anne O'Hara, OC (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian–American actress and screenwriter. She is known for her comedy work on Second City Television (1976–84) and in films such as After Hours (1985), Beetlejuice (1988), Home Alone (1990), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), and The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Her other film appearances include the mockumentary films written and directed by Christopher Guest; Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006).
O'Hara won the 1982 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for SCTV Network, the Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1999 film The Life Before This, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for the 2010 television film Temple Grandin. Since 2015, she has starred as Moira Rose on the CBC sitcom Schitt's Creek, for which she won the 2016 Canadian Screen Award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
Early life[]
O'Hara was born in 1954 and grew up in Toronto, Ontario, the sixth of seven children. She is of Irish descent, and was raised Catholic.
Career[]
O'Hara started her comedy career in 1974 as a cast member of The Second City in her hometown, Toronto. She was an understudy for Gilda Radner until Radner left for Saturday Night Live. Two years later, this theatre troupe created the sketch comedy show SCTV, for which O'Hara became a regular performer.
In the late 1970s, she provided voice-overs for a number of cartoons, work which would continue throughout her career. During a short time in the early 1980s when SCTV was in between network deals, she was hired to replace Ann Risley when Saturday Night Live was being retooled in 1981. However, she quit the show without ever appearing on air, choosing to go back to SCTV when the show signed on with NBC.
O'Hara began her career on television, apart from SCTV, in the mid-1970s. She first appeared on television in a small sketch role as a maid in a 1975 Wayne and Shuster special on CBC. Later, she appeared in the 1976 television film The Rimshots, the children's television series Coming Up Rosie for a season (1976–77), and television specials, such as Witch's Night Out and Intergalactic Thanksgiving. But it was her performances on SCTV, which began airing locally in Southern Ontario in the fall of 1976, that earned her fame in Canada. The show gradually built up a national and then international following in syndication. O'Hara left SCTV for a time, missing the 1980-81 season, but returned to the show in time for its pickup by the NBC television network in the US, when it became known as SCTV Network 90. O'Hara's work as a writer on the show earned her an Emmy Award for outstanding writing and two Emmy Award nominations. She left SCTV again prior to its fifth season in 1982, but did return for occasional guest appearances though the show's end in 1984.
O'Hara has appeared in a number of television series and television films and continues to work in television. During the 1990s, she made guest appearances on Tales from the Crypt, Oh Baby, Morton & Hayes and The Larry Sanders Show. She served as actress and director on Dream On and The Outer Limits, the revival of the '60s series of the same name. O'Hara has guest-starred on top-rated television series including Six Feet Under and Curb Your Enthusiasm. In May 2008, it was announced that she had signed on to star in the upcoming ABC dramedy Good Behavior. Her role in the 2010 television film Temple Grandin earned her three award nominations: a Primetime Emmy Award, a Satellite Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
O'Hara has also had a successful career in film. She made her feature debut in the 1980 film Double Negative, which also starred her SCTV co-stars John Candy, Eugene Levy, and Joe Flaherty. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, O'Hara appeared in many supporting roles, including Martin Scorsese's After Hours (1985) and Heartburn (1986), with Meryl Streep. She appeared in movies like Beetlejuice (1988) and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), as well as the blockbuster Home Alone (1990) and its sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). Also in 1992, O'Hara worked alongside Jeff Daniels in the comedy There Goes the Neighborhood.
Filmography[]
Animation Dubbing[]
Animated Films[]
- A Monster in Paris (2011) - Madame Carlotta
Anime Dubbing[]
Anime Films[]
- When Marnie Was There (2015) - Marnie (Old)
External Links[]
- Catherine O'Hara at the Internet Movie Database
- Catherine O'Hara at Anime News Network's encyclopedia