As family, friends and fans mourn the loss of Catherine O’Hara, who passed away at the age of 71 on Friday, January 30, some celebrities have taken to social media to share heartfelt messages about the beloved star. That includes Brooke Shields, who had a special connection to O’Hara: the comedic actress used to do a quirky impression of the younger performer.
Taking to Instagram, Shields shared a video that included clips of O’Hara performing skits on “SCTV” back in the ’80s. In each snippet, O’Hara does a silly impression of Shields.
“What an honor it was to be spoofed by Catherine O’Hara,” Shields wrote in the caption of her post. “What an unfathomable loss. We love you, Catherine. Comedy won’t be the same without her. Sending love to Catherine’s family, friends, castmates, and fans today. Truly beloved.”
Catherine Talked About Impersonating Brooke
GettyIn March 2019, Vulture asked O’Hara, “How did you go about doing impressions of celebrities like Brooke Shields on SCTV?”
She responded by saying, “Well, we all wrote for each other. Someone in that case would be writing ‘Farm Film Blow-Up’ and would go, ‘Know who would be fun to have on?’ — as if they were booking a guest — ‘Meryl Streep!’ ‘Hmm, okay, I’ll try it!’ ‘What about Brooke Shields?’ ‘Oh my God, I’m in my 30s! What?’ But we had amazing hair and makeup.”
“And there was no internet then so it was, ‘Can you get me any tape?’ My big fat VHS tape, I’d start recording things on TV, in the worst quality,” she continued. “But you’d record people on talk shows, and I’d seen Brooke Shields when she came out on Johnny Carson and did a tripping bit. Brooke Shields, God bless her, tried to do a bit. But because she’s a young, gorgeous girl who would stun men, nobody would give her the benefit of being funny. They all went, ‘Are you okay? Are you okay?’ ‘No, I was doing a bit!’ Nobody would believe her — except me! I believed her! No, seriously. I thought, Okay, they just won’t let a beautiful girl do that bit!“
Catherine Left ‘SNL’ to Return to ‘SCTV’
GettyFor those who are unfamiliar with O’Hara’s earlier work, USA Today explains that she “got her start on the Canadian sketch comedy, ‘SCTV’ (short for Second City Television), a critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning Canadian sketch comedy show that aired from 1976 to 1984.”
“O’Hara was a key cast member and writer for a significant portion of the show’s run, with a brief break in 1980 to join ‘Saturday Night Live,'” according to USA Today. “However, she left ‘SNL’ after just one week to return to ‘SCTV.'”
GettyBeyond that, “‘SCTV’ is where O’Hara met Eugene Levy, who would become a lifelong friend and collaborator.” Indeed, the two worked together on “Schitt’s Creek,” as well as “A Mighty Wind” (remember their performance at the Oscars?) and “Best in Show,” among others.
