Joe Flaherty performed at Second City theaters in Chicago and Toronto as well as on the company’s TV series “SCTV.”
NBC
Comic actor Joe Flaherty, who rose from the ranks of Chicago’s Second City to acclaimed roles on television’s “SCTV” and “Freaks & Geeks,” has died at age 82.
His daughter Gudrun told the Canadian Press that he died Monday following a brief illness.
The Pittsburgh native was a fixture of “SCTV,” the Canadian-based sketch series that depicted the backstage doings of a hapless TV network as well as its bizarre programming. Staying with the show throughout its erratic 1976-84 run, he worked with such future stars as John Candy, Martin Short, Rick Moranis and Catherine O’Hara.
Like the rest of the cast, Flaherty played countless roles on the show but was most often seen ruthless station owner Guy Caballero and as Count Floyd, the howling monster movie host who also anchored the news as Floyd Robertson.
Earlier Flaherty had written and performed in several Chicago revues at Second City, where he and castmates including Harold Ramis and Brian Doyle-Murray were labeled “the Next Generation” for the youthful sensibilities they brought to the theater in the early 1970s.
Another of his Second City colleagues, John Belushi, told the Chicago Daily News in 1972 that Flaherty “showed me the difference between shtick and entertainment. … Flaherty taught me subtlety.”
In 1973 Flahery moved to Toronto to help establish a Second City theater, from which most of the “SCTV” cast was drawn. He won Emmys in 1982 and 1983 for his writing on the show.
He was introduced to later generations through memorable turns as a jeering heckler in the 1996 film “Happy Gilmore” and as an old-fashioned dad in the NBC comedy “Freaks and Geeks,” which ran from 1999 to 2000.
“Dad was an extraordinary man, known for his boundless heart and an unwavering passion for movies from the ’40s and ’50s,” his daughter wrote in Tuesday’s statement. “Cinema wasn’t merely a hobby for him; it profoundly influenced his career, particularly his unforgettable time with ‘SCTV.’ He cherished every moment spent on the show, so proud of its success and so proud to be part of an amazing cast.”
Contributing: AP