Joe Flaherty, Original ‘SCTV’ Cast Member, Dead at 82

Joe Flaherty, the comedic actor known for his run on SCTV, Freaks and Geeks and the Adam Sandler film Happy Gilmore, has died at the age of 82.

The two-time Emmy winner’s passing was confirmed by his daughter, who noted to Variety that he died "after a brief illness."

Born in Pittsburg, Flaherty honed his comedic skills as a member of the famed Second City comedy troupe in Chicago, before relocating to Toronto to help launch a Second City location there in 1973.

In 1976, he became one of the founding castmembers of Second City Television, known as SCTV, alongside such other comedy giants as Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, John Candy, Dave Thomas and Harold Ramis (Rick Moranis and Martin Short would join in later seasons). The show became a success in Canada and was picked up in America in 1981.

Flaherty stayed with SCTV for its entire six season run, ending in 1984. The show scored a total of nine Emmy nominations, and he shared writing wins in 1982 and ‘83.

“We didn’t have a producer, nobody told us what to write, who to appeal to, we just wrote for ourselves,” he recalled to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1999. “We were the inmates running the asylum. We created our own little world and it paid off. … I wish we could do it again.”

One of Flaherty’s SCTV characters, Count Floyd, even aligned with one of Canada’s greatest bands. In 1984, while Rush was touring in support of their Grace Under Pressure album, Count Floyd appeared at concerts in a short video clip, shown just before Rush launched into "The Weapon.”

Watch Joe Flaherty's Count Floyd Introduce 'The Weapon' in 1984

Following his SCTV success, Flaherty became a popular character actor. He had a small role in Back to the Future Part II, and appeared in TV shows such as Married… With Children, Dinosaurs and Dream On.

Younger audiences who may have missed his SCTV era likely recognize Flaherty for his role as Harold Weir on the acclaimed series Freaks and Geeks. He also had a memorable role in Happy Gilmore, playing a trash-talking fan who constantly called Sandler’s character a “jackass.”

Watch Joe Flaherty in 'Happy Gilmore'