Joe Flaherty, comedian known for work on SCTV and Freaks and Geeks, dead at 82

Joe Flaherty, the comedian and writer known for his roles on shows like Freaks and Geeks and SCTV, has died. He was 82.

"After a brief illness, he left us yesterday, and since then, I've been struggling to come to terms with this im‐ mense loss," his daughter Gudrun Flaherty told CBC News on Tuesday, via SCTV producer and close family friend Andrew Alexander.

"I take solace in the mem‐ ories we shared and the in‐ credible impact he had on those around him. His spirit, humour and love will be a part of me forever."

An improvisation expert with an iconic voice and gift for the guest spot, Flaherty's credits run the gamut from movie blockbusters such as Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy to TV staples such as Frasier, Freaks and Geeks and Family Guy.

But he was perhaps best known for a small role as a heckler in the Adam Sandler film Happy Gilmore, and as a writer and performer in the Canadian comedy series SC‐ TV.

WATCH | Martin Short calls Joe Flaherty 'the an‐ chor' of SCTV:

One of the show's original members, Flaherty stayed on for the show's entire six-sea‐ son as he worked alongside comic legends such as John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, Eu‐ gene Levy and Martin Short. And at least in Short's opin‐ ion, his presence shepherded SCTV to the iconic status it eventually enjoyed.

"When I was on SCTV, we used to call him the anchor," Short said in an interview with CBC News. "In other words, he was the one who anchored the whole show."

The two worked together both before and after the se‐ ries ended. But it was on SC‐ TV, Short said, where Flaherty most directly acted as the glue behind the scenes.

"I relied on him desper‐ ately," Short said. "I would be in the edit room editing a piece - I didn't know what I was doing. And I'd say 'Joe, get in here. Help me!'"

Though he never attained quite the same blockbuster heights of some of his cast‐ mates (or made the move over to U.S. competitor Sat‐ urday Night Live as did some of them), Flaherty's was a fa‐ miliar name both in front of and behind the camera - es‐ pecially to fellow comedians.

"Joe was always there in the background, pulling the strings, initiating things, mak‐ ing things happen. And I got the benefit of it," said Dave Thomas, well-known as one half of SCTV's Bob and Doug McKenzie duo.

"He was a pioneer and created a kind of comedy that a lot of comedians after us - like Judd Apatow and Adam Sandler and Conan O'Brien - credit him for being a kind of an innovator."

Larger than life

Thomas cited Flaherty's use of dark comedy "before it was hip to be dark," and his writing: a larger-than-life tal‐ ent that earned him two Em‐ mys and brought him into the orbit of countless other comedians.

Alongside writing, direct‐ ing and starring in the Levycreated

Maniac Mansion from 1990 to 1993, Flaherty pulled the same multi-hy‐ phenate duty on his comedyanthology series Really Weird Tales alongside O'Hara, Can‐ dy and Short.

With all that shared his‐ tory, Thomas said hearing about Flaherty's death through a short text almost didn't seem real.

"You're never really pre‐ pared when you get 'Joe passed today.' Three words," he said. "And it's almost like, not, that's not fair - that all the experiences, all the laughs, all the performances, all the jokes, all the shows can be condensed like that into three words. It's sad."

WATCH | Flaherty on creating Really Weird Tales:

Flaherty looked on his successes with humility. Ac‐ cording to The New York Times, he joked to a huge crowd at SCTV's 2018 reunion that it was surprising anyone remembered them at all and that, before the event, he "just didn't know if anybody would show up."

But the group continued collaborating on and off, Fla‐ herty said, because of what they could do together.

"I'd say the SCTV people bring to Hollywood a certain I would say it's an ability to get the most out of a script ... as well or better than any‐ body else in the biz." Flaherty told CBC News in 1986.

"It's simply a matter of knowing how... your part fits in with the rest of the charac‐ ters, and then how to get the most out of it. That's the bot‐ tom line, is to just milk it for everything it's worth."

After the show ended in 1984, Flaherty went on to star in a host of other come‐ dies, but established himself as a consummate performer with another iconic role: Harold Weir in the comedydrama Freaks and Geeks in 1999.

Though that series ran for just one season, like SCTV it went on to gain cult status and launch the careers of a generation of other comedi‐ ans.

'So cool we thought he was Canadian'

Fans and former co-stars shared their condolences on X, soon after news of his death broke.

"Worshipped Joe growing up. Always had me and my brother laughing," wrote San‐

dler. "The nicest guy you could know. Genius of a co‐ median. And a true sweet‐ heart. Perfect combo."

"I was so thrilled to be able to work with him," said actor Jennifer Tilly, who played Flaherty's daughter in 1997's The Wrong Guy. "His performance was pitch per‐ fect. A great comedian. Gone too soon."

"Joe Flaherty, an American so cool we thought he was Canadian. Thanks, Floyd Robertson," wrote Ontario comedian Stewart Reynolds referencing the iconic news reporter character Flaherty played on SCTV.

Pittsburgh to Toronto

Flaherty earned his honorary Canadian status from a longrunning association with the country and some of its most successful series.

Born in Pittsburgh in 1941, Flaherty served with the U.S. air force for four years before joining Chicago improv group The Second City in 1969 - where his time would overlap with future Saturday Night Live star John

Belushi and Ghostbusters tor and Groundhog Day rector Harold Ramis.

He eventually moved to Toronto, where he would help establish the Canadian arm of the troupe, paving the way for a career that would be perpetually affiliated with Canada and Canadians. He would play Kirk Dirkwood on CTV's David Steinberg Show, Mayor Andrews in the Cana‐ dian sitcom Call Me Fitz, and held a recurring role in the Vancouver-shot Robson Ar‐ ms. He also made a guest ap‐ pearance on Royal Canadian Air Farce. ac‐ di‐

He later became a faculty member at Toronto's Hum‐ ber College, serving as an ar‐ tist-in-residence and partici‐ pating in the college's first comedy workshop in 1997. That workshop, said author and fellow instructor Andrew Clark, would later evolve into Humber's current comedy program.

"Joe was a very important part of that, because he brought other comedians of his level, you know, in to meet with students," Clark said, while reminiscing on how compassionate and committed Flaherty was with those students, despite his legendary status.

"I knew he was terrifically talented. But that's when I re‐ alized that he had this whole other realm to him, which was as a kind of mentor and an instructor," he said. "And then when it was over, I im‐ mediately went to a pay phone and called my parents and said, 'Guess who I was just in a room with?'"

Flaherty was married to Judith Dagley for 22 years un‐ til the two divorced in 1996. The couple had two children, Gudrun and Gabriel Flaherty.