Original SCTV cast member Catherine O'Hara has been having a career renaissance over the last decade, starting with Schitt's Creek and her character Moira over six seasons and 80 episodes.
These days you can catch her in The Studio (Apple TV+) as former Hollywood exec Patty and The Last of Us (HBO Max) as pothead shrink Gail.
It's a been a long, winding career for the 71-year-old comic actress from Toronto. From 1976-1984 on the Canadian sketch comedy series SCTV, she played Lola Heatherton, a lounge singer with a wicked laugh and a taste for booze, and also did impressions of Lucille Ball, Meryl Streep, Brooke Shields and others.
About her Heatherton character, O'Hara commented in 2020:
"My cheesy Atlantic City performer character, Lola Heatherton, was very loosely based on two sexy singers I had seen on talk shows, Lola Falana and Joey Heatherton (I worked really hard on coming up with a name, didn’t I?). I stole my look from JH and my quivering lip from LF. My trademark line – “I want to bear your children!” – I stole from my brother, Marcus. He used it (successfully) to pick up women! Otherwise, I just imagined these women lived lonely lives in a tough casino world. When appearing with the guys on Joe Flaherty’s Sammy Maudlin Show, I just wanted to laugh louder than anyone to prove Lola was happy."
Other SCTV cast members included John Candy, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas and Joe Flaherty.
O'Hara and Levy went on to appear in several of Christoper Guest's mockumentaries: Waiting for Guffman (1996), A Mighty Wind (2003) and For Your Consideration (2006). In 2015, they reunited for Shitt's Creek, a Canadian comedy created by Levy and his son Dan. O'Hara and the elder Levy play husband and wife, who live in a motel with their two kids.
Schitt's Creek won nine Emmys and was nominated 19 times. O'Hara earned the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series award in 2019 and 2020. She also won a Golden Globe in 2021.
On the heels of that success, O'Hara scored roles in two of the hottest 2025 series. In The Studio, Patty offers advice to her successor Matt (Seth Rogen). Their egos clash, resulting in some hilarious scenes.
O'Hara has a lesser role in The Last of Us as a therapist for the damaged. In Ep. 1 of Season 2, Joel (Pedro Pascal) pays for a session with a bag of scraggly buds.
"Shakes and stems," Gail gripes. "What am I, in high school?"
"It's winter, Gail," Joel replies.
She reluctantly takes the Baggie: "Payment accepted."
In Ep. 3, Joel's brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) asks Gail how she copes in the apocalyptic landscape:
"Well, I'm an alcoholic and I smoke as much weed as I can."
About Rogen, who's a cannabis advocate and entrepreneur, O'Hara recently noted:
"People ask me, ‘Is he stoned? Is he smoking all day?’ If he is, I would never know it."
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