Catherine O'Hara
1954-2026
The deaths of some celebrities make you feel sad for personal reasons that often times cannot be explained, and that was how I felt a few days ago when I heard the news that actress Catherine O'Hara died at the age of 71.
O'Hara first came to the attention of many of us when she was a part of the Canadian SCTV troup. This was a company that introduced us to other comic masters that included, among others, John Candy, Eugene Levy, and Martin Short. O'Hara then began making movies and guest appearances on TV shows, a lot of them. She has 340 acting credits in IMDB. Her notable featured roles came in films such as "Heartburn" (1986), "Beetlejuice" (1988), and "Home Alone" (1990). She also starred in four absolutely terrific movies that were made by Christopher Guest: "Waiting for Guffman", "Best in Show", "A Might Wind", and "For Your Consideration". Each of these four movies are comic gems, and O'Hara was a big part of all of them. In "Best In Show" she and Levy played a married couple traveling from Florida to Philadelphia to show their Norwich Terrier in a dog show. Throughout the trip they kept running into men who had been ex-lovers of hers. It may have been O'Hara and Levy at their best. I will also throw in a little known mockumentary called "The Last Polka" from 1985.
"Home Alone"
"Best in Show"
O'Hara went on to win an Emmy for her role in the award winning streaming series "Schitt's Creek", and I most recently saw her in the Emmy winning series "The Studio" where she played a deposed studio head who takes on a producer's position under the new studio head played by Seth Rogan. She was, as you would expect, wonderful in the role.
She will be missed.
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Bob Weir
1947-2026
Bob Weir passed away three weeks ago at the age of 78. In 1965, at the age of 17, Weir teamed up with San Francisco area musician Jerry Garcia to form a bad that eventually became the Grateful Dead. No, I am not a "Dead Head", and am not even all that familiar with the band's work, but when a founding member of a band that has had the profound cultural influence that the Grateful Dead has had for over sixty years passes away, it deserves to be noted.
I can remember once, somewhere in the 1990's when the Grateful Dead was playing a two or three day gig at Three Rivers Stadium. I was out and about on business one day and on my way back to the office, I took a detour around Three Rivers Stadium just to get a glimpse of the caravans of fans, Dead Heads, who had followed the Band and camped out in the stadium parking lots in order to follow the Band on their "long strange trip". It was an interesting experience. I also know a guy, about my age, who has seen the Dead perform well over 100 times.
Since Weir's death, I have sought out some of the music of the Grateful Dead, and have enjoyed listening to it. I probably should have started paying attention much sooner, like maybe fifty or sixty years ago.
A Heavenly Reunion
The long strange trip continues
RIP Catherine O'Hara and Bob Weir
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