Actor and Comedian Joe Flaherty, Known for SCTV and Freaks and Geeks, Dies at 82

Published: 02 April 2024 at 17:19

Entertainment

Joe Flaherty, the actor, writer, and comedian, known for his roles on Second City Television (SCTV) and Freaks and Geeks, has passed away at the age of 82. His daughter confirmed the news, highlighting his love for movies from the 40s and 50s and his contributions to SCTV. Flaherty was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and started his career at The Second City in Chicago.

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Joe Flaherty (Wikipedia)

Joseph Flaherty (June 21, 1941 – April 1, 2024) was an American actor, writer, and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy SCTV from 1976 to 1984 (on which he also served as a writer), and as Harold Weir on Freaks and Geeks, and for his role as Donald the heckler in Happy Gilmore (1996).

Lanny Flaherty (Wikipedia)

Lanny Flaherty (July 27, 1942 – February 18, 2024) was an American actor.

Freaks and Geeks (Wikipedia)

Freaks and Geeks is an American teen comedy-drama television series created by Paul Feig and executive-produced by Judd Apatow that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 television season. The show is set in a suburban high school near Detroit during 1980–81. The theme of Freaks and Geeks reflects "the sad, hilarious unfairness of teen life". With little success when it first aired, due to an erratic episode schedule and conflicts between the creators and NBC, the series was canceled after airing 12 out of the 18 episodes. The series became a cult classic, and Apatow continued the show's legacy by incorporating the actors in future productions.The series has appeared in numerous lists of the greatest television shows of all time, including lists by Time, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide and Rolling Stone. It launched most of its young actors' careers, such as James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Busy Philipps, John Francis Daley, Martin Starr, Samm Levine and Linda Cardellini.

Rick Moranis (Wikipedia)

Frederick Allan Moranis (; born April 18, 1953) is a Canadian actor, comedian, musician, songwriter, writer, and producer. Moranis appeared in the sketch comedy series Second City Television (SCTV) in the 1980s and several Hollywood films, including Strange Brew (1983), Streets of Fire (1984), Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Spaceballs (1987), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989, and its 1992 and 1997 sequels), Parenthood (1989), My Blue Heaven (1990), and The Flintstones (1994).In 1997, Moranis began a long break from acting to dedicate his time to his two children as a widower. He has not appeared in a live-action film for over 25 years, although he provided voice-over work for a few animated films, including Disney's Brother Bear (2003). He also released comedy albums and made appearances at fan conventions.In 2020, after a hiatus of nearly 23 years from live-action films, Moranis signed to appear in a new sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, called Shrunk. However, as of 2024, the project has yet to proceed to the filming stage.

Joe Flaherty (politician) (Wikipedia)

Joe Flaherty (born 1969) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Longford–Westmeath constituency since the 2020 general election. Flaherty was the only Longford-based TD to be returned at that election.Flaherty was co-opted onto Longford County Council in 2018, and was re-elected in 2019.In 2020, Flaherty was criticised for writing a letter to court on behalf of three men convicted of assault, with former justice minister Charles Flanagan stating it was "dangerous" for TDs to try to "influence judicial decisions". Flaherty said he regretted writing the letter.Flaherty is the managing director of a newspaper company. He is married and has three children.

Freaks (2018 film) (Wikipedia)

Freaks is a 2018 science fiction thriller film written and directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein. Starring Emile Hirsch, Bruce Dern, Grace Park, Amanda Crew, and Lexy Kolker, the film follows a seven-year-old girl (Kolker) who leaves her home for the first time after being kept inside by her father (Hirsch).The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2018, and was released commercially in North America on September 13, 2019, by Well Go USA Entertainment. It received positive reviews, with praise for Kolker's performance.