Second City remembers Pittsburgh comedy legend Joe Flaherty
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - On April 1, the world of comedy lost a great, Joe Flaherty. The legendary character actor from movies and TV, passed away after a brief illness at the age of 82.
Flaherty was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., and grew up in the city's Homewood neighborhood. He attended Pittsburgh Central Catholic, as well as Westinghouse Academy, before studying theatre at the Pittsburgh Playhouse and at Point Park University.
From there, his path led him to the Second City Theatre in both Chicago and Toronto. It was in Canada that he became one of the original cast members and writers of SCTV.
Kelly Leonard, the vice president of creative strategy at Second City, spoke exclusively with CBS News Pittsburgh about this one-of-a-kind performer.
"Joe Flaherty is one of those cherished alumni. I mean, if you were making a Mount Rushmore of the most beloved Second City alumni, Joe's picture would be on there," Leonard said.
"John Belushi was quoted as saying, 'Joe Flaherty showed me the difference between shtick and entertainment. Flaherty taught me subtlety.' And you think about Belushi, who was of course this electric performer but also could get a laugh just by raising an eyebrow… that's Joe Flaherty. Joe Flaherty taught him to sort of be still on stage when he wanted to be anything but that."
Flaherty would go on to have a big career in Hollywood, with appearances in films like Stripes, Back to the Future Part II, Detroit Rock City and Happy Gilmore.
SCTV, Flaherty's breakout show that aired between 1976 and 1984, was nominated for nine Primetime Emmy Awards during its run. Flaherty, along with the other cast members and writers, won two.
Aside from his incredible work on SCTV, Flaherty appeared in shows like That 70's Show, The King of Queens and one of his most underrated performances may have been playing Harold Weir on the cult classic sitcom, Freaks and Geeks.
"Look, for me, his work on Freaks and Geeks, which was the Judd Apatow series that only lasted a year, [was] seminal. If you have not watched this, go do yourself a favor. Everyone's great in it. You are going to see all these people that go on to be stars and Joe's the dad," Leonard added.
When it comes to Flaherty's legacy, Leonard uses two words to describe him.
"Hilarity and kindness. I think that, especially in the world that we are in, where we have to do a lot of forgiving, for people and their behavior, and we forgive them because they are wealthy or because they are super talented, or whatever. This is a guy, you never had to forgive anything because he was just a good human being, and he also had the benefit of being really hilarious. I think those two things are needed in the world and while the world became less funny with Joe's passing, heaven became a lot funnier."