Catherine O’Hara’s Late-Career Renaissance on ‘Schitt’s Creek’ and Beyond Showed the Beloved Comedian’s Enduring Range

Key Highlights

• To legions of comedy lovers, her collaborations with Christopher Guest were a gateway drug to a wry, understated form of mockumentary satire, paving the way for spiritual successors like “The Office” down the line.
• Related Stories 'Daredevil: Born Again' Season 2 Trailer: Jessica Jones Is Back to Take Down Kingpin; March Release Date Revealed Yet O’Hara didn’t just influence the modern cultural landscape.
• She continued to play a vital part in it, a prominence facilitated by the breakout success of the sitcom “Schitt’s Creek” as well as the modern vogue for revisiting earlier classics like “Beetlejuice.” O’Hara then seized on the ensuing opportunities, becoming a dual Emmy nominee just last year for her roles in “The Studio” and “The Last of Us.” The two radically different series — one a free-wheeling Hollywood spoof, the other a harrowing post-apocalypse drama — produced a pair of performances that showcased O’Hara’s range and now add an extra bitterness to her loss.
• If O’Hara was still showing new sides of herself into her 70s, how much more did she have left to give?
• Popular on Variety On “Schitt’s Creek,” O’Hara reunited with her longtime collaborator and fellow countryman Eugene Levy to play Moira Rose, an instant calling card.