Editing Joe Flaherty (section)

==Early life and career==
Joseph O'Flaherty was born on June 21, 1941, in [[Pittsburgh|Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]], the eldest of seven children.<ref name="globe" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Holpuch |first=Amanda |date=April 2, 2024 |title=Joe Flaherty, 'SCTV' and 'Freaks and Geeks' Actor, Dies at 82 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/02/arts/joe-flaherty-dead.html |access-date=April 4, 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> His father was a production clerk at [[Westinghouse Electric]] and of Irish heritage and his mother was of Italian descent.<ref name="globe">{{Cite news |last=Hampson |first=Sarah |date=July 24, 2004 |title=The worrier in the comic mask |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/the-worrier-in-the-comic-mask/article1001345/ |access-date=April 4, 2024 |work=[[The Globe and Mail]]}}</ref>

Flaherty served in the [[United States Air Force]] for four years, before becoming involved in dramatic theatre.<ref name="globe"/>

Flaherty moved to [[Chicago]], where he started his comedy career in 1969 with the [[The Second City|Second City]] Theater as Joe O'Flaherty and would work with future stars such as [[John Belushi]] and [[Harold Ramis]].<ref name="CBCobit">{{cite news |last1=Weaver |first1=Jackson |title=Joe Flaherty, comedian known for work on SCTV and Freaks and Geeks, dead at 82 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/joe-flaherty-obit-1.7161032 |access-date=April 2, 2024 |work=CBC News |date=April 2, 2024}}</ref> He dropped the "O" in his birth name as there was another Joseph O'Flaherty registered with [[Actors Equity]].<ref name="globe"/> Along with several other Second City performers, he began appearing on the ''[[National Lampoon Radio Hour]]'' from 1973 to 1974. After seven years in Chicago, he moved to [[Toronto]] to help establish the Toronto Second City theatre troupe.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.secondcity.com/people/other/joe-flaherty/|title=The Second City – Joe Flaherty|website=The Second City|access-date=May 6, 2019}}</ref> During those years, he was one of the original writer/performers on ''SCTV'', where he spent eight years on the show, playing such characters as Big Jim McBob (of ''Farm Film Report'' fame), [[Count Floyd]]/[[Floyd Robertson]], and station owner/manager [[Guy Caballero]], who goes around in a [[wheelchair]] only for respect and undeserved sympathy.<ref name="THR">{{cite news |title=Joe Flaherty, Original 'SCTV' Castmember, Dies at 82 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/joe-flaherty-dead-sctv-1235864525/ |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=April 2, 2024}}</ref><ref name="MJ">{{cite news |title=Comedian Joe Flaherty of 'SCTV,' 'Freaks and Geeks' Dead at 82 |url=https://www.mensjournal.com/news/joe-flaherty-dead-sctv-freaks-and-geeks |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=Men's Journal |date=April 2, 2024}}</ref><ref name="CE"/>

''SCTV'' ceased production in 1984.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Greg |date=April 2, 2024 |title=Joe Flaherty Dies: 'SCTV' And 'Freaks And Geeks' Actor Was 82 |url=https://deadline.com/2024/04/joe-flaherty-dead-1235873973/ |access-date=April 4, 2024 |website=[[Deadline (magazine)|Deadline]] |language=en-US}}</ref> The same year, Flaherty played Count Floyd in a short film that was shown at concerts by the rock band [[Rush (band)|Rush]] before the song "The Weapon", for their tour in support of ''[[Grace Under Pressure (Rush album)|Grace Under Pressure]]'' (and can be seen in the home video, ''[[Grace Under Pressure Tour (video)|Grace Under Pressure Tour]]'').<ref name=":1" />

In 1988, Flaherty reprised his Count Floyd character for live-action segments of the animated series ''[[The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley]]'', a character created and voiced by another [[Second City Television|SCTV]] alum, [[Martin Short]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Callan |first=Matthew |date=July 5, 2011 |title="It's All My Fault, Although I Also Blame Others": The Curious Case of the Ed Grimley Cartoon |url=https://www.vulture.com/2011/07/its-all-my-fault-although-i-also-blame-others-the-curious-case-of-the-ed-grimley-cartoon.html |access-date=April 5, 2024 |website=[[Vulture (website)|Vulture]] |language=en}}</ref>

Flaherty appeared in a number of cult-favorite films, including an appearance as a [[Western Union]] postal worker who delivers [[Emmett Brown|Doc Brown's]] 70-year-old letter to [[Marty McFly]] in ''[[Back to the Future Part II]]'' (1989), as well as the crazed fan yelling "jackass!" who secretly works for antagonist Shooter McGavin in ''[[Happy Gilmore]]'' (1996).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Holmes |first=Martin |date=April 2, 2024 |title=Joe Flaherty, 'SCTV' and 'Freaks and Geeks' Star, Dies at 82 |url=https://www.tvinsider.com/1129950/joe-flaherty-dead-tributes-sctv-freaks-and-geeks/ |access-date=April 4, 2024 |website=[[TV Insider]] |language=en-US}}</ref> In [[Family Guy (season 8)|season eight]] of ''[[Family Guy]]'', Flaherty once again played the Western Union man in "[[Something, Something, Something, Dark Side]]".<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ankers-Range |first=Adele |date=April 2, 2024 |title=Joe Flaherty, SCTV and Freaks and Geeks Star, Dies at 82 |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/joe-flaherty-sctv-freaks-and-geeks-star-dies-82 |access-date=April 4, 2024 |website=[[IGN]] |language=en}}</ref>

Flaherty plays a Vatican Messenger in the ''[[Family Guy season 9]]'' episode "The Big Bang Theory".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Family Guy: Season 9, Episode 18 |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/family_guy/s09/e18 |access-date=April 5, 2024 |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |language=en}}</ref> In 1989, he played a guest role in ''[[Married... with Children]]'' in the season-four episode "Tooth or Consequences", as a dentist who must repair Al Bundy's teeth.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> From 1990–93, Flaherty starred in [[The Family Channel (American TV network, founded 1990)|The Family Channel]] series, ''[[Maniac Mansion (TV series)|Maniac Mansion]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vlessing |first=Etan |date=April 2, 2024 |title=Joe Flaherty, Original 'SCTV' Castmember, Dies at 82 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/joe-flaherty-dead-sctv-1235864525/ |access-date=April 5, 2024 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

During 1997–1998, Flaherty starred in the television adaptation of ''Police Academy'' (''[[Police Academy: The Series]]'') as Cmdt. Stuart Hefilfinger. The series lasted for only one season.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=April 2, 2024 |title=Joe Flaherty, SCTV and Freaks and Geeks Star, Dead at 82 |url=https://www.aol.com/entertainment/joe-flaherty-sctv-freaks-geeks-150000057.html |access-date=April 4, 2024 |website=[[AOL]] |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1999, Flaherty joined the cast of ''[[Freaks and Geeks]]'', an [[NBC]] hour-long [[dramedy]] set in the 1980–1981 academic year, in which he played Harold Weir, the "imperfect perfect" father of two teens.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lloyd |first=Robert |date=December 6, 2012 |title=2 Good 2 Be 4Gotten: An Oral History of Freaks and Geeks |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/01/freaks-and-geeks-oral-history |access-date=April 4, 2024 |website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Despite a dedicated cult following, the show only lasted one season.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bartleet |first=Larry |date=September 27, 2019 |title=Why was there never a second season of 'Freaks And Geeks', the cult show that's 20 years old |url=https://www.nme.com/features/tv-features/freaks-and-geeks-season-2-1969369 |access-date=April 4, 2024 |website=[[NME]] |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Flaherty made appearances on the [[CBS]] sitcom ''[[The King of Queens]]'' as Father McAndrew, the priest at the Heffernans' church. He starred on the [[Bite TV]] original program, ''Uncle Joe's Cartoon Playhouse'', and served as a judge on the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] program ''[[The Second City's Next Comedy Legend]]''.<ref name="globe 2">{{cite news |last1=Semley |first1=John |title=What happens when Martin Scorsese reunites the SCTV cast |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/article-what-happens-when-martin-scorsese-reunites-the-sctv-cast/ |access-date=April 2, 2024 |work=Globe and Mail |date=May 14, 2018}}</ref>

From 2001 to 2004, he had appeared in various [[Disney]] shows and films, including ''[[The Legend of Tarzan (TV series)|The Legend of Tarzan]]'' and ''[[Home on the Range (2004 film)|Home on the Range]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary|url=https://archive.org/details/disneyvoiceactor00thom|url-access=limited|author=Hischak, Thomas S.|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|year=2011|page=[https://archive.org/details/disneyvoiceactor00thom/page/n82 74]|isbn=978-0-7864-6271-1}}</ref>

In 2018, Flaherty participated in [[An Afternoon with SCTV|a SCTV cast reunion]] at Toronto's [[Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres|Elgin Theatre]] filmed by [[Martin Scorsese]] for a yet to be released [[Netflix]] special on SCTV.<ref name="globe 2" />

Beginning in 2004, Flaherty was artist-in-residence at [[Humber College]]'s School of Creative and Performing Arts in Toronto, where he taught a comedy writing course. He previously helped found the school's [[Humber College Comedy: Writing and Performance|comedy writing and performance program]] serving as its artistic director. He was also on the program's advisory committee.<ref name="CBCobit"/><ref name="CE">{{cite web |title=Joe Flaherty |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/joe-flaherty |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=April 3, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Leblanc |first1=Gilles |title=Joe Flaherty was American, but he delighted his Canadian fans with his many SCTV characters |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/joe-flaherty-was-american-but-he-delighted-his-canadian-fans-with-his-many-sctv-characters/article_8371394a-f12d-11ee-a39d-cf26dcc2eb15.html |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=Toronto Star |date=April 2, 2024}}</ref>