Oddity of Altruism 02 - Catherine, Mother of Comedy
A Mother, A Fighter, A Friend
Introduction
Hello, my name is welcome to the Bear of Bad News, I’m your host LorBear, and this is the Bear of Bad News’ Oddity of Altruism. This is our monthly segment covering one person that has spent a large amount of time or energy trying to create a better world, and create good news. Our second feature is on the late Catherine O’Hara, with a combination of segments covering her roles as patron saint of fictional mothers, as well as, articles about her that cover her various life’s works.
The stories in this episode are sourced from various news outlets and publications. The Bear of Bad News does not conduct independent fact-checking or verification of these stories. Listeners are encouraged to review original sources for accuracy and complete context. We are not responsible for the accuracy or content of third-party reporting.
Forgetful, but Fierce
Born Catherine Anne O’Hara, she was a young orphan from a small village in Bolingbroke, Nova Scotia. Wait, I think I have the wrong Anne. Canadian-American Actress, Comedian, and Mother: Catherine Anne O’Hara was renown for her deft skill, charming vibrancy, and affable nature. Ah, looks like it’s this one. She was beloved by many as her characters reached across time, to bring her warmth and spirit to us all through out the year.
Born into a large Irish-Catholic family, Catherine O’Hara grew up in Toronto, and found her start when she landed the role of Gilda Radner’s understudy. This allowed her to break through with their show SCTV, a family she chose over the glitz and glam of New York’s Saturday Night Live.
Even though she worked extensively in the US film and television industry, Catherine retained her Canadian Citizenship through her life, and was awarded the Order of Canada in 2018. Her beginnings in Toronto and Canadian heritage were never more apparent than in her first few roles.
The Second City and SCTV’s success gave her chances to break into the Hollywood scene, and let directly to her picking up roles in Beetlejuice and Home Alone.
But even in a show about a dead guy invading the lives of some unsuspecting family, her enigmatic ways gave the uncaring step mother an unusually likeable quality. Something obviously seen by Gilda, when she encouraged her to audition for SCTV.
Articles
Catherine O’Hara
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/catherine-ohara [https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/catherine-ohara]August 19, 2010
We Can Thank Gilda Radner for Catherine O’Hara’s Amazing Comedy Career
https://www.kveller.com/catherine-oharas-amazing-comedy-career-started-thanks-to-gilda-radner/ [https://www.kveller.com/catherine-oharas-amazing-comedy-career-started-thanks-to-gilda-radner/]January 24, 2019
Home Alone, but Never Without a Family
Her success in Home Alone was not an accident like the inciting incident of Kevin being left behind. If any character was being played by Catherine, that character would be flawed, often forgetful, but fiercely loyal and full of agency.
I didn’t know women could be any other way really, growing up in the 90s watching television and movies with women like Meg Ryan, Catherine, and of course, Cher. We all needed to snap out of it in the 90s at some point, and that moment was when Catherine’s character realized one of her kids was left behind.
I don’t remember most of the siblings that well, or even want to remember the father. But there were two stars in Home Alone, and Catherine’s motherly portrayal of a woman who will not let her child be left behind made her a household figure and name.
She had suddenly set the standard for the base for what a mother is, which isn’t biological. It’s the way your react when you realize your child is in trouble. This was mimicked in real life when she suddenly quit SNL a week into filming.
SCTV hadn’t been picked up when she took the job, and when she found out that it had been renewed, she walked into Lorne’s office and said she had to quit. She had to go be with her comedy family, and they would have been lost without their mother.
Articles
Catherine O’Hara Recalls Quitting Saturday Night Live After 1 Week: ‘Not Cool to Take a Job, Then Leave It’ (Exclusive)
https://people.com/catherine-o-hara-recalls-quitting-snl-after-1-week-exclusive-8549201 [https://people.com/catherine-o-hara-recalls-quitting-snl-after-1-week-exclusive-8549201]January 27, 2024
The Only Boundary Left to Push Was Death
Catherine pushed boundaries in ways that are still being looked at today as revolutionary, and as standards to use for some of the best moments in acting history. Her relationship with Gilda Radner certainly helped, Gilda couldn’t help but push boundaries, and those that new her became boundary pushers because she made it so core to the ethos of comedy.
Catherine may have pushed them in the field of irreverent human observational comedy, but that didn’t make her less of a comedic genius. She would not have stood so tall, had people around her not both wanted to stand beside her, and weren’t afraid to stand in her shadow.
It was warm there, in the shadow of the colossus O’Hara, not dark but dimmed to let in a little of her brightness. Her shadow an ever present shield from the harsh realities of the world, a beacon of hope that if you stood in it long enough, everything would be OK.
She truly was one of the few people who could make people stand beside her with fierce loyalty with just her existance, because every thing she did was a testament to the journey that you took with her. That may have been her greatest strength, how easily you walked into the world she shared with you, and hard it was to walk out.
Once you became one of her children, you were never the same, you now had a new mother watching over you, and a constant reminder that you would be OK. She would make sure of it. She was the walking definition of iconic, and just humble enough for you to want everything for her.
Articles
Catherine O’Hara: From ‘SCTV’ to ‘The Studio’ and ‘The Last of Us’
https://www.celebstoner.com/news/celebstoner-news/2025/05/08/catherine-ohara-from-sctv-to-the-studio-last-of-us/ [https://www.celebstoner.com/news/celebstoner-news/2025/05/08/catherine-ohara-from-sctv-to-the-studio-last-of-us/]May 8, 2025
Seth Rogen accepts posthumous award for Catherine O’Hara: ‘She really showed that you can be a genius and be kind’
https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/catherine-o-hara-acting-award-win [https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/catherine-o-hara-acting-award-win]Mar 2, 2026
Hands-Off, Heart Open
She was the definition of unpretentious, and somehow so down to earth and confident at the same time; you couldn’t help but love her. She didn’t expect anything of you, but she always believed in you.
It’s hard to describe what Canadiana means outside Canada, but shows like Corner Gas, SCTV, Red Green, Orphan Black, Little Mosque, and the ever Iconic Schitt’s Creek make our ethos as a society so wholly, they are not just Canadian, they are Canada. I don’t know if the first name that would come to every Canadian for who you would want in an emergency would be Catherine O’Hara, but every Canadian would breathe a sigh of relief if you were stuck in the woods, and sh e was the one that was set out to save you.
Her fierce and wild energy never dimmed, but her heart was her centre, and you felt it’s touch deeply even if it just grazed you.
Catherine, Mother of Comedy, was not only one of the funniest women to ever grace a screen, silver or otherwise, but she was also immensely kind. She was the kind of person that always led with kindness, but also ended with it. Some of my fondest memories of my childhood came from her movies, and her comedy.
But the biggest compliment I can giver her, is that to this day, I still think about her like another mother. Who taught me things like no matter what you have to do, you fight to keep your family safe. That laughter really is the best medicine, and that although you can never be perfect, you can be pretty damn close with a large amount of kindness an pinch of humility.
Julia Child once said, “how lovely life can be if one takes time to be friendly.” Catherine O’Hara wasn’t just Canadian, she was the Mother of Comedy, and somewhat of Canada itself.
We hope you enjoyed learning about Catherine O’Hara, her life’s work, and her legacy. This has been Oddity of Altruism, until next time: I’m your host LorBear, and I hate to be the Bearer of Bad News, so I won’t!
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