The Second City comedy troupe. From left: Joe Flaherty, Martin Short. Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Dave Thomas and Eugene Levy.
Credit: Gail Harvey/Toronto Star via Getty
I honestly don't know if anyone has had a bigger impact on my life through the screen than Catherine O'Hara has.
From the moment I first saw The Day-O Banana Boat scene in Beetlejuice I fell madly in love with her and have never looked back. I don't even know how old I was 5,6,7 maybe? But that moment shaped me into the person I am today.
I grew up watching and loving Catherine so dearly. From Beetlejuice to Best In Show, SCTV to Schitt's Creek, and so on. Every single thing has had a profound impact on me.
When Schitt's Creek (truly) first came out, I was the ONLY person I knew who watched it because it was nearly impossible to find in the States during the early days, but I refused to wait, so I trudged through the dark web for episodes because I had to watch it as it came out, because I loved her so much.
My sense of humor has been curated from studying her so carefully in the Christopher Guest world, in which her characters were always my favorite and, to this day, are the ones I always quote most. Cookie, Micky, Shelia, Marilyn my dear and beloved funny Gals.
Delia Deetz is to this day one of my all-time favorite characters. Again, we come back to one of my most quoted characters because Catherine lives inside my soul. I will love her until my last breath. & let's not forget sweet Sally in The Nightmare Before Christmas, so rooted in my life that I cannot imagine who I would have become without her.
I sought after hard-to-find DVDs of SCTV for every scrap I could get my hands on because I adored her so much. Every time she would pop up in something I didn't expect to see her in, I was struck with immense joy and glee. From teeny tiny camoes like Kenneth's mother in 30 rock & sleeping with Jeff on Curb, I would eat it all up because she produced such full and satisfying characters.
I owe Catherine almost every corner of who I am today, and I am eternally grateful to her. The very top of my top-tier comedy heroes. I will miss her more than you could ever possibly understand, and I am thankful for every second she shared with us.
This is gonna be a hard one to get past, so no I'm not okay. But thanks for asking. 💔
