‘SCTV’ star, comedian Joe Flaherty dies following illness, daughter says

By The Canadian Press on April 2, 2024.

Former cast members of SCTV are reunited at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival on Saturday, March 6, 1999 in Aspen, Colo. From left front row are: Dave Thomas; Catherine O'Hara; Andrea Martin; Eugene Levy; and Martin Short. In the back row are Joe Flaherty, left, and Harold Ramis. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/E Pablo Kosmicki

Comedian Joe Flaherty, a founding member of the Canadian sketch series “SCTV,” has died.

His daughter Gudrun says Flaherty died Monday following a brief illness.

Flaherty, who was born in Pittsburgh, spent seven years at The Second City in Chicago before moving north of the border to help establish the theatre’s Toronto outpost.

He went on to star alongside John Candy and Catherine O’Hara in “SCTV,” about a fictional TV station known as Second City Television that was stacked with buffoons in front of and behind the cameras.

Flaherty’s characters included network boss Guy Caballero and the vampiric TV host Count Floyd.

Flaherty maintained deep ties to Toronto, serving as an artist-in-residence at Humber College.