R.I.P. Joe Flaherty, SCTV and Freaks And Geeks star

Joe Flaherty, known as a member of the cast of SCTV and the cult classic Freaks And Geeks, has died. His daughter Gudrun confirmed the news through the Comedic Artists Alliance, saying that Flaherty had succumbed to “a brief illness” on Monday. He was 82 years old.

In a statement to Variety, Gudrun said:

“After a brief illness, he left us yesterday, and since then, I’ve been struggling to come to terms with this immense loss. Dad was an extraordinary man, known for his boundless heart and an unwavering passion for movies from the ’40s and ’50s. His insights into the golden age of cinema didn’t just shape his professional life; they were also a source of endless fascination for me. In these last few months, as he faced his health challenges, we had the precious opportunity to watch many of those classic movies together — moments I will forever hold dear.”

“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. Recently, the SCTV cast reminisced, saying, ‘All of us SCTV castmates owe him a huge debt of gratitude; he was the creative anchor that kept us honest and inspired.’ It’s a testament to his indelible mark on everyone he worked with.

Above all, he was a loving father. No matter the occasion, he was always there to offer a laugh or wisdom when I needed it most. His absence has left a void in my life that feels insurmountable at the moment. As I try to navigate through this grieving process, I take solace in the memories we shared and the incredible impact he had on those around him. His spirit, humor and love will be a part of me forever. My dad was a kind, sweet soul who blessed all who knew him and those who loved his work. Thank you to everyone who cared for him; he loved that he was able to make people laugh. He will be so deeply missed, but we are eternally grateful to God for him being in our lives.”

Born in Pennsylvania, Flaherty began his career at Second City in Chicago, working alongside comedy legends like John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Harold Ramis. In the 1970s he moved to Canada to help establish Second City Toronto. “Andrew Alexander, the producer, and I think Harold Ramis and Joe Flaherty were all part of the initial pitch” for the SCTV show, Andrea Martin told The A.V. Club in 2014. “And then we were all brought in—Catherine [O’Hara] and Eugene and myself and John Candy—to formulate the idea of what it was going to be. And then later Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas joined up, and then still later Marty joined up, but that was the core group. So that’s how it began, at the CBC in Canada.”

SCTV, or Second City TV, ran between 1976 and 1984, a lesser-known but much-beloved competitor to Saturday Night Live. Flaherty became known on the series for his impressions of figures like Richard Nixon, Art Garfunkel, and Gregory Peck, as well as original characters like SCTV president Guy Caballero and Big Jim McBob. “This group of people that would form SCTV all met in 1972-ish, all became friends, some dated,” remembered Martin Short in an A.V. Club interview in 2005. Though he came onto the show late, he “was a familiar person in their world”: “Joe [Flaherty] had been my first director on stage four years before that.” Speaking with Variety in the wake of Flaherty’s death, Short said, “In over 50 years of our friendship, there were very few people as wise or hilarious when it came to comedy, teaching improvisation and the art of character work as Joe. In SCTV we called him the anchor. In life, he was simply the funniest man in the room. I just adored him.”

After SCTV, Flaherty continued to work steadily in film and television with his Second City co-stars and beyond. He had roles in Back To The Future II, Happy Gilmore, Married… With Children, Even Stevens, That ’70s Show, Clone High, Family Guy, and more. Perhaps most notably, he played patriarch Harold Weir on the one-season cult classic coming-of-age comedy Freaks And Geeks. “Joe Flaherty made me crack up so hard it ruined takes,” John Francis Daley, who played the comedian’s son Sam Weir, posted on Twitter/X. “My favorite days on set were the ones where we had scenes together. What a lovely guy.”

“So sad to hear about dear Joe. He was my TV dad and a true comedy hero,” Freaks And Geeks creator Paul Feig wrote in his own tribute on Twitter/X. “Always happy to tell any story about your favorite SCTV sketch, he was just the greatest guy. I will truly miss him and always be grateful to have known him. Rest in comedy, Joe.”

Feig, who described himself as “an enormous SCTV fan,” included a crossover in the series by having the actor dress up as one of his characters from the sketch show, Count Floyd. “I remember going, ‘Oh, will he do it? I bet he’s going to be really mad, he’s not going to do it.’ But he’s such a great guy. He loved it,” Feig recalled in an interview with The A.V. Club in 2012. “You know, he’s one of my favorite types of guys. He’s not like some people you work with, where you go, ‘I loved that character, could you do that voice?’ and they go, ‘No, no no.’ But if you bring up a character, he’ll just go right into it and start doing it. He was a sweetheart. He embraced it. And then he turned it on its ear a little.”