Saturday Night Live took a moment during this weekend’s Alexander Skarsgård-hosted episode to pay tribute to a comedy great who twice hosted the show — and nearly became an SNL cast member herself.
An in-memoriam bumper for Catherine O’Hara, who died on Friday at the age of 71, aired just ahead of Goodnights on Saturday’s SNL.
A Toronto native, O’Hara got her start in the Canadian sketch comedy series SCTV, which at one point joined NBC’s late-night comedy block in the United States. In fact, it was that pickup by NBC that changed history for SNL and O’Hara.
In 1981, O’Hara’s SCTV work caught the eye of producer Dick Ebersol, who had just taken the reins of SNL. Ebersol recruited O’Hara to join the show late in Season 6, and she agreed—only to quit SNL in her first week, before ever appearing on-screen.
It was long rumored that O’Hara’s departure stemmed from an encounter with Michael O’Donoghue, who had been brought back by Dick Ebersol to serve as head writer. But O’Hara disputed that account in an interview with People last year, explaining that she left after learning that SCTV was going back into production. “Basically I said, ‘Oh, sorry, I gotta go be with my [comedy] family,’” she recalled.
Though O’Hara never appeared on SNL as an official cast member, she did make a cameo in October 1988, co-starring with Laurie Metcalf in the short film “Laurie Has a Story.”
O’Hara went on to host the show on two occasions. Her first came in April of 1991, just months after Home Alone was released. She returned a year-and-a-half later in October 1992, just ahead of the release of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
O’Hara also guest-starred on several episodes of Lorne Michaels’ short-lived sketch show The New Show in 1984, including its series premiere.
Last year, O’Hara attended both of SNL’s 50th anniversary events, SNL50: The Homecoming Concert and SNL50: The Anniversary Special. Just weeks ago, O’Hara’s Home Alone character was impersonated by Ashley Padilla in a gory parody of the Christmas classic.
“I just love Catherine O’Hara so much,” Padilla reflected in a behind-the-scenes video during the shoot. “She plays it so earnestly.”
It has become a somber tradition for SNL to air memorial title cards during the show following the death of a former host, musical guest, cast member, or crew member. This season, the show has aired bumpers for Diane Keaton, Rob Reiner, Bob Weir, and founding SNL producer Craig Kellem.
they never did a bumper for host George Foreman