Comedy is one of the genres best valued by the public in the world of audiovisual entertainment. Many consider that creating a tense and gloomy atmosphere can be a simpler task than making people laugh, which is why humor of different kinds continues to be a highly valued element. North America has produced many exponents of this aspect for decades, but this week one of them has gone out.
According to the information portal Gold Derby, the American actor Joe Flaherty has died at the age of 82. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he became one of the main exponents of comedy in Canada as a founding member of SCTV, a comedy series that produced such notable names as John Candy, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis, Catherine O ‘Hara, Harold Ramis, Dave Thomas and Martin Short.
Under the acronym Second City Television, this format was broadcast between 1976 and 1984 for six seasons and 135 episodes. Its broadcast consisted of several sketches and segments in the form of a fake television channel, in charge of parodying the small screen of that time. Likewise, it explained the experiences of the workers of a rental chain in the fictional town of Mellonville.
Flaherty’s career began with this peculiar program, playing characters like Guy Caballero, the evil leader of the network in a wheelchair he did not need; the horror movie presenter Count Floyd or the private detective Vic Arpeggio. After finishing production, the interpreter participated in films such as 1941, Club Paradise, Innerspace, Who is Harry Crumb?, Back to the Future II or Happy Gilmore, all of them in small roles.
One of his best-known roles was that of Father Harold Weir in the series Freaks
The project, despite lasting a single season on NBC in 1999, became a cult classic over the years. Likewise, it had an outstanding cast of actors and actresses who would achieve fame over the years. Among the most striking, you can find Linda Cardellini, Jason Segel, James Franco and Seth Rogen.
