Like other stars including Eddie Murphy, Chevy Chase, Adam Sandler, and Bill Murray, actor Catherine O’Hara first left her mark as a comedian. Unlike those other big names, she did it without the help of Saturday Night Live—though she had a golden opportunity with the TV sketch staple.
O’Hara—starred in memorable films such as Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and The Nightmare Before Christmas prior to her Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning role as Moira Rose on Schitt’s Creek—died Friday at age 71 following a brief illness. Several collaborators and friends have already offered tributes to the versatile actor, including The Last of Us co-star Pedro Pascal.
“Oh, genius to be near you. Eternally grateful,” Pascal wrote on Instagram. “There is less light in my world, this lucky world that had you, will keep you, always.”
While O’Hara branched into more dramatic genres, including horror and sci-fi, she is primarily known for her comedic skills. Early in her career, she was offered the chance to join the cast of SNL—but her time on the program was incredibly short-lived.
O’Hara first gained fame on the Canadian sketch show SCTV
Born March 4, 1954, and raised in Toronto, O’Hara caught her big break at age 20 with the city’s famed Second City comedy troupe. According to The Hollywood Reporter, O’Hara served as an understudy to Gilda Radner and took her spot in the main cast when Radner left to join the inaugural ensemble of SNL.
In 1976, Second City went to air with SCTV, a sketch show similar to its American counterpart at Studio H8 in New York. The group’s early cast was filled with comedy greats including Eugene Levy, John Candy, Andrea Martin, and Harold Ramis. NBC even picked up the show to run in the U.S.
While the program allowed O’Hara to hone her humorous style, its status was regularly tenuous. “Our producer would get a deal with a network, and we’d have a show for a season or two, and then that deal would go away. There’d be a break, then we’d do the show again,” O'Hara explained to People in January 2024.
In the meantime, her performances afforded her a chance to follow in Radner’s footsteps and make the move to SNL.
O’Hara was added to the SNL cast, but quit after only one week
O’Hara previously revealed that during one of SCTV's hiatuses in the early 1980s, she was offered a part on the SNL cast for the sixth season and accepted it. “And of course I said yes. Who doesn’t want to do that?” she told People.
But if you’re struggling to recall O’Hara on the still-running comedy staple, that’s because she never appeared in an episode as a featured player. Immediately after she took the job, SCTV was picked up for another run, and O’Hara made the decision to return to her usual troupe instead.
While the move ultimately didn’t affect O’Hara’s career, she did express regret for her quick decision to switch shows instead of waiting for SCTV to return. “Yeah, not cool to take a job and leave it. You know what I mean?” she said.
O’Hara’s best friend Robin Duke took her spot at SNL
While we never got to see O’Hara appear on the “Weekend Update” desk or any other notable SNL locales, there was a happy ending to the story. Robin Duke, her friend from high school in Toronto and fellow SCTV cast member, was hired by the show as her replacement in 1981. Duke had multiple recurring characters on the show, including Paulette Clooney and Wendy Whiner.
O’Hara returned to SCTV, which ran through 1984. “It all worked out the way it was supposed to,” she said. The pair would reunite on Schitt’s Creek, with Duke appearing as Wendy Kurtz in the show’s second season.
O’Hara hosted SNL twice later in her career
After O’Hara’s career reached new heights with films such as Heartburn (1986), Beetlejuice, and Home Alone, she had the opportunity to return to Rockefeller Plaza and host SNL twice. Her episodes aired on April 13, 1991, and Halloween night in 1992.
O’Hara remained a staple on television over the next three decades, ultimately earning 10 Emmy nominations and winning two—in 1982 for her work on SCTV and 2020 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Schitt’s Creek.
More recently, she appeared in the second season of The Last of Us in 2025 and as a supporting actor in The Studio, the Emmy-winning Hollywood satire starring Seth Rogen.
Still, it’s hard not to imagine the legacy O’Hara might have left with SNL had she stuck around as the show really found its footing over the first decade on air.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
