Catherine O'Hara

Infobox actor
name = Catherine O'Hara


imagesize = 189px
caption = O'Hara photographed by Jerry Avenaim, 2006
birthname = Catherine Anne O'Hara
birthdate = birth date and age|1954|3|4
birthplace= Toronto, Ontario, Canada
yearsactive = 1974 - present
spouse = Bo Welch (1992-)
emmyawards = Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program
1982, 1983 "SCTV Network"
geminiawards = Earle Grey Award
1995
awards = Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress
1999 "The Life Before This"
Canadian Comedy Award for Funny Female Performance
2000 "Best in Show"
American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actress
2000 "Best in Show"
NBR Award for Best Supporting Actress
2006 "For Your Consideration"

Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian-American Emmy and Gemini Award-winning actress and comedienne. She is well known for her comedy work on "SCTV" and for her film roles as Delia Deetz in "Beetlejuice", Kate McCallister in "Home Alone", Sally in "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and the series of mockumentary films written and directed by Christopher Guest.

Biography

O'Hara was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario to a large Irish Catholic family. [ [http://www.cbc.ca/arts/walkoffame/ohara.html CBC.ca - Arts - Alternative Canadian Walk of Fame - Inductee: Mary Margaret O’Hara ] ] She started her acting career in 1974 as a cast member of The Second City in Toronto [ [http://www.secondcity.com/?id=history/alumni/toronto Second City Toronto Alumni ] ] . She was an understudy for Gilda Radner until she left for "Saturday Night Live". Two years later, this theatre troupe created the television series "SCTV", on which she became a regular performer. Memorable O'Hara characterizations on the show included Las Vegas scorcher (I wanna bear your children!) Lola Heatherton, buzzer-happy game show contestant Margaret Meehan, raunchy nightclub comedian Dusty Towne, soap opera seductress Sue Ellen and stage actress Sue Bopper Simpson.

In the late 1970s, she did various voice-overs for a number of cartoons, which would continue throughout her career. During a short time in the early 80's 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 having made an appearance on it, choosing to go back to "SCTV" when the show signed on with NBC and was back on the air. [http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=2037 Catherine O'Hara on CBC's 'The Hour'] [http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/220072 Catherine The Great] [http://rickmoranisfanpage.com/Articles/secondcityshoots.html SCTV Shoots For First] Her "SNL" position was then given to fellow Canadian Robin Duke, who had also replaced O'Hara for a season on "SCTV".

She had roles in many films over the years, including Martin Scorsese's "After Hours" in 1985, as well as parts in two Tim Burton films, "Beetlejuice" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas". She played Kate McCallister in the first two "Home Alone" films. In 1999 she did a voice over for Ludmilla, the main antagonist in "Bartok the Magnificent". In 2006, she starred in her fourth Christopher Guest film, "For Your Consideration" (following "Waiting for Guffman", "Best in Show", and "A Mighty Wind").

On June 9, 2007, she was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. In May 2008, it was announced that she has signed on to star in the upcoming ABC dramedy "Good Behavior". [http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/05/02/oh-good-catherine-ohara-to-star-in-abc-pilot/ Catherine O'Hara to star in ABC pilot]

Personal life

A naturalized U.S. citizen, [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/75/Catherine-O-Hara.html Catherine O'Hara Biography (1954-) ] ] , she married production designer/director Bo Welch in 1992 and has two sons, Matthew (b.1994) and Luke (b.1997). She is the sister of critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter Mary Margaret O'Hara, though she is a singer-songwriter in her own right, having written and performed songs in the 2003 film "A Mighty Wind". She has a condition known as Dextrocardia with situs inversus. [http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=2048 The Hour - 2 Minutes: Catherine O'Hara]

Filmography

Celebrities impersonated by O'Hara on "SCTV"

*Liv Ullmann
*Katharine Hepburn
*Diane Keaton
*Joey Heatherton
*Lola Falana
*Elizabeth Taylor
*Brooke Shields
*Morgan Fairchild
*Barbara Billingsley
*Phyllis George
*Charlotte Rampling
*Monica Vitti
*Jane Pauley
*Rona Barrett
*Tammy Faye Bakker
*Angie Dickinson
*Dorothy Kilgallen
*Jessica Savitch
*Linda Blair
*Judith Crist
*Rusty Warren
*Gilda Radner
*Joan Sutherland,
*Jane Fonda
*Joan Embry
*Candice Bergen
*Meryl Streep
*Karen Black
*Lucille Ball

Films

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0001573|name=Catherine O'Hara
*voice actor|id=3626|name=Catherine O'Hara