Catherine O'Hara

Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian and American actress.

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.

In the late 1970s, she provided voice-overs for a number of cartoons, work which would continue throughout her career.

O'Hara began her career on television, apart from SCTV, in the mid-1970s.

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.

She first appeared on television in a small sketch role as a maid in a 1975 Wayne and Shuster special on CBC.

She is known for her comedy work on Second City Television (1976–1984) and Schitt's Creek (2015–2020) and in films such as After Hours (1985), Beetlejuice (1988), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), and the first two installments of the Home Alone franchise: Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).

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.

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 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 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.

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.

She left SCTV again prior to its fifth season in 1982, but did return for occasional guest appearances through 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.

She appeared in films 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).

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.

O'Hara continued to appear in many films during the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century.

Also in 1992, O'Hara worked alongside Jeff Daniels in the comedy There Goes the Neighborhood.

O'Hara has served as a voice artist in a number of animated films, including The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Bartok the Magnificent (1999), Chicken Little (2005), Over the Hedge (2006), Monster House (2006), Brother Bear 2 (2006), Frankenweenie (2012), The Addams Family (2019), Extinct (2021), Elemental (2023), and the upcoming The Wild Robot (2024).

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).

She received roles in four of Christopher Guest's mockumentary films, three of which earned her awards and nominations: Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006).

Her role in 1999's The Life Before This won her a Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role.

She also appeared in the tenth series of the UK version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? In 2006, she starred with Christina Ricci in the fantasy film Penelope.

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.

From 2015 to 2020, she starred as Moira Rose on the CBC sitcom Schitt's Creek, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, TCA Award, and six consecutive Canadian Screen Awards.

From 2015 to 2020, O'Hara co-starred as Moira Rose in the CBC sitcom Schitt's Creek, alongside Eugene Levy, with whom she had worked on TV, in films, and as a Second City cast member on stage as far back as 1974.

Her performance in Schitt's Creek earned her six Canadian Screen Awards for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

She swept the five major TV awards for the 6th and final season, winning a TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy, a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy, a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series.