Catherine O'Hara's Second City Origins
Catherine O'Hara joined the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto in the early 1970s, a period when the venue served as a training ground for sketch performers who later shaped American television and film. Second City, founded in 1959, has produced alumni including Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, and Harold Ramis, many of whom became core writers and cast members for Saturday Night Live. O'Hara's work in the Second City revue stage helped define the improvisational and character-driven style that the company is known for, according to the official Second City website.
The Second City Toronto branch, where O'Hara trained, operates as a separate entity from the Chicago-based company but shares the same improv and sketch curriculum. Second City Toronto has produced multiple Canadian comedy exports, and its alumni network is often cited in industry profiles as a pipeline for writers, performers, and producers working in streaming and broadcast comedy today.
Transition from Second City to Screen and Voice Work
After leaving Second City, O'Hara built a screen career that includes roles in Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and Schitt's Creek. She has won multiple Emmy Awards and a Genie Award, and she is recognized for voicing characters in animated projects including Over the Hedge and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Her ability to shift between live-action comedy, dramatic roles, and voice acting is often traced back to the improvisational discipline she developed at Second City. Industry sources note that Second City training emphasizes quick character creation, ensemble listening, and scripted rewrite skills, all of which appear in her film and television performances.
Second City's Ongoing Influence and O'Hara's Legacy
Second City continues to operate training centers and theaters in Chicago, Toronto, and Los Angeles, and it remains a key incubator for comedy talent across stage, television, and digital platforms. The company's alumni network includes performers and writers who have gone on to create and star in series for major streaming services and broadcast networks.
O'Hara is frequently cited in retrospectives as an example of a Second City performer whose career extended well beyond sketch comedy into award-winning film and television work. Her influence is visible in the continued presence of Second City-trained performers in mainstream comedy, and in the way studios and streaming platforms recruit from the Second City ecosystem for both acting and writing roles.