Joe Flaherty Comedy king on SCTV and Freaks and Geeks Died at 82. “We’ve lost another person I admire,” wrote actor Joel Murray on Twitter last night. He was talking about Joe Flaherty, who passed away at the age of 83.
Recently, people from Second City had been collecting money to help take care of Flaherty, who had been very sick. Martin Short had asked for donations in February, saying Flaherty wanted to spend his remaining time at home.
After Flaherty’s death, more comedians shared their memories of him. Christopher McDonald, who acted with Flaherty in Happy Gilmore, said no one could have played their role better. Flaherty’s acting made the movie a classic.
Flaherty was a big part of Second City in Chicago in the early 1970s. He then went to New York to be on The National Lampoon Radio Hour with Bill Murray and John Belushi. Later, he went to Toronto to help start Second City’s first Canadian group.
Flaherty volunteered for the Toronto job with Brian Doyle-Murray. This turned out to be a great move for Flaherty’s career. He found talents like Eugene Levy, John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, and Gilda Radner to work with. Flaherty became a key part of SCTV, where he created famous characters like Guy Caballero and Count Floyd.
Colin Mochrie, who was also part of Second City in Toronto, said he was lucky to work with Flaherty. He described Flaherty as a nice person who made a lot of people laugh. He sent his condolences to Flaherty’s family and friends.
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