Who's That Lady? - It's Catherine O'Hara!

Two down, two to go! If you're just joining me, Who's That Lady? is currently all about the women of Best in Show, which I recently reviewed as part of Film for the Soul's series, Counting Down the Zeroes. Ibetolis's ambitious project chronicles a decade's worth of cinema: the noughties.

If you've never read my series, it is based on Blog Cabins's post Familiar Faces - Unknown Names where Fletch catalogs the careers of That Guys. Who's That Lady? spins the gender, focusing on those That Gals we love to watch, even if we don't always remember their name.

If you've seen Best in Show, you may have found yourself asking:

Who's That Lady?
Catherine O'Hara

Catherine O'Hara was born in Toronto, Canada. It's also where she became a member of The Second City comedy troupe, the company responsible for the popular Second City TV or SCTV. She was almost a cast member on SNL, but she ultimately quit and returned to SCTV. She's credited with over seventy film and television projects on IMDB. She hasn't been as visible in the last couple years, but her "in production" credits look to remedy her absence very soon.

3 Unforgettable Roles
Beetle Juice - My earliest memory of Ms. O'Hara had to be her performance as the heavily-medicated, suffering artist Delia Deetz. Her crazy outfits and even crazier sculptures were actually quite tame in comparison to her wild-eyed neuroticism.

A Mighty Wind - She was the better half of the faux folk legends Mitch and Mickey. Catherine and co-star Eugene Levy brought their bitterly touching history to life. She also impressed me with her mad autoharp skills.

Home Alone - Who could forget Kevin's mom, Kate McCallister? Her condescending retort to Kevin's wish to be family-less jump-started the comedic premise that set theater box offices ablaze in 1990.

Honorable Mentions: It was a hoot watching her play the once hot-to-trot Cookie Fleck in Best in Show. She donned her dysfunctional mother's cap once again in Orange County to keep Colin Hanks and Jack Black in line.

Saw it, but even I don't remember her in it!
With over thirty years of television, film and voice work on her resume, there's no way I could have seen and remembered her in everything! Here's a few places where you may not have recognized her.

Films: The Nightmare Before Christmas, Dick Tracy, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Over the Hedge, Penelope


If you haven't noticed, Catherine O'Hara finds herself in the role of mother on more than a few occasions. I adore her when she's playing the more off-kilter characters that Christopher Guest creates in his mockumentaries. If you want to know more about her career, be sure to check out her IMDB and Wikipedia pages.

Catherine O'Hara is coming off her hiatus with seven, count 'em, seven upcoming productions. For one reason or another they all sound great, but if I had to choose three must-sees they'd be: Good Behavior, Away We Go and, most exciting of all, hearing her voice Judith in Where the Wild Things Are.