Joe Flaherty

For the Irish politician, see Joe Flaherty (politician).

Joe Flaherty
File:Joe Flaherty.jpg Flaherty in 2009
Born	Joseph O'Flaherty (1941-06-21)June 21, 1941 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S
Died
Occupation	Actor writer comedian
Years active	1969–2018
Spouse(s)	Judith Dagley (m. 1974, div. 1996)
Children	2

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).

Life and career

Joseph O'Flaherty was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the eldest of seven children. His father was a production clerk at Westinghouse Electric and of Irish heritage and his mother was of Italian descent.

Flaherty served in the United States Air Force for four years. He then got involved in dramatic theatre.

Flaherty moved to Chicago, where he started his comedy career in 1969 with the Second City Theater as Joe O'Flaherty, where he would work with future stars such as John Belushi and Harold Ramis, He dropped the O as there was another Joseph O'Flaherty registered with Actors Equity. 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. 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.

Other memorable Flaherty characterizations included emotional talk-show host Sammy Maudlin, seedy saxophonist-private eye Vic Arpeggio, aggressive elocution lecturer Norman Gorman, myopic public-television host Hugh Betcha, and "crazy as a snake" ex-convict Rocco.

SCTV ceased production in 1984. The same year, Flaherty played Count Floyd in a short film that was shown at concerts by the rock band Rush before the song "The Weapon", for their tour in support of Grace Under Pressure (and can be seen in the home video, Grace Under Pressure Tour).

Flaherty appeared in a number of cult-favorite films, for example, playing the part of the Western Union postal worker who delivers 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. In season eight of Family Guy, Flaherty once again played the Western Union man in "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side". He likewise satirizes his Back to the Future Part II character in "The Big Bang Theory", this time playing a Vatican worker whose role is essentially identical to that of his Western Union character.

In 1989, Flaherty played a guest role in Married... with Children in the season-four episode "Tooth or Consequences", as a recently divorced dentist who must repair Al Bundy's teeth.

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.

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 irascible father of two teens. Despite a dedicated cult following, the show only lasted one season. In the third episode, "Tricks and Treats", he dons a cheap vampire costume reminiscent of his "Count Floyd" character of the depicted era.

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 CBC program The Second City's Next Comedy Legend.

From 2001 to 2004, he had appeared in various Disney shows and films, including The Legend of Tarzan and Home on the Range.

In 2018, Flaherty participated in a cast reunion at Toronto's Elgin Theatre filmed by Martin Scorsese for a yet to be released Netflix special.

Beginning in 2004, Flaherty was a member of the faculty at Humber College, where he taught a comedy-writing course. He was also on the program's advisory committee.

Flaherty was married to Judith Dagley for 22 years until their divorce in 1996. They had two children, Gudrun, who is also an actress and writer, and Gabriel. His brothers, Paul and Dave, are comedy writers. He died on April 1, 2024, at the age of 82 after a short illness.

Characterizations

Celebrities impersonated by Flaherty on SCTV include: Kirk Douglas, Charlton Heston, William F. Buckley, Jack Klugman, Robert Mitchum, Bing Crosby, Don Knotts, Yassir Arafat, Richard Nixon, Alistair Cooke, Slim Whitman, the corpse of Albert Schweitzer, Gregory Peck, Eddie Anderson (as 'Rochester'), Alan Alda, Elvis Presley, Hugh Beaumont, John Huston, Larry Fine, Pope Paul VI, Geraldo Rivera, Art Garfunkel, Broderick Crawford, Jacques Cousteau, Lowell Thomas, Henry Fonda, Marcello Mastroianni, Sylvester Stallone, Shoo Boxx, Paul Bradley, Aaron Copland, Dom DiMaggio, Dick Beddoes, Gavin MacLeod, Prince Philip, Tom Wolfe, Peter O'Toole, Salvador Dalí, Gene Siskel, Hugh Hefner, and musician Paul Revere.

Flaherty appeared in a cameo in the deleted scenes from Anchorman as the salacious News Director who first employs Rita Genkin after her graduation from Syracuse University. He encourages her to wear a swimsuit to due the weather.

Flaherty appeared as an immigration Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer in the "Canadian Road Trip" episode of That '70s Show alongside fellow SCTV member Dave Thomas.

In the third episode of Freaks and Geeks, "Tricks and Treats", he is dressed up as a vampire, a reference to his character Count Floyd.

Discography

• Gold Turkey (National Lampoon album, 1975)
• Count Floyd (1982) (RCA)

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Tunnel Vision	Carl Michaelevich
1979	1941	Sal Stewart, Raoul Lipschitz
1980	Nothing Personal	Patrol Car Policeman #2
1980	Used Cars	Sam Slaton
1981	By Design	Veteran Father
1981	Stripes	Border Guard
1981	Heavy Metal	Lawyer, General (voice)
1983	Going Berserk	Chick Leff
1984	Johnny Dangerously	Death Row inmate	Uncredited
1985	Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird	Sid Sleaze
1986	Club Paradise	Pilot
1986	One Crazy Summer	General Raymond
1987	Innerspace	Waiting Room Patient
1987	Blue Monkey	George Baker
1988	Kid Safe: The Video	Count Floyd	Video
1989	Who's Harry Crumb?	Doorman
1989	Speed Zone	Vic DeRubis	AKA Cannonball Fever
1989	Back to the Future Part II	Western Union Man
1994	A Pig's Tale	Milt	Video
1995	Stuart Saves His Family	Cousin Ray - Funeral
1996	Happy Gilmore	Donald the Jeering Fan
1997	Snowboard Academy	Mr. Barry	Video
1997	The Wrong Guy	Fred Holden
1999	Detroit Rock City	Father McNulty
2001	Freddy Got Fingered	William	Uncredited
2002	Slackers	Mr. Leonard
2003	National Security	Owen Fergus
2004	Home on the Range	Jeb the Goat (voice)
2004	Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy	Texas TV Station Manager	Deleted scene
2004	Phil the Alien	The Beaver (voice)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	The Sunshine Hour	Various	Regular
1976	The David Steinberg Show	Kirk Dirkwood / various	10 episodes
1976–1984	SCTV	Various	131 episodes
1978	King of Kensington	Fast Frankie	Episode: "The Hustler"
1985	George Burns Comedy Week	Jerry Toffler	Episode: "Home for Dinner"
1986	The Hitchhiker	The Chemist	Episode: "O.D. Feelin'"
1986	Really Weird Tales	Your Host	TV movie/pilot, also producer and writer
1988	CBS Summer Playhouse	Regis Rogan	Episode: "Limited Partners"
1988	The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley	Count Floyd (voice)	13 episodes
1989	Looking for Miracles	Chief Berman	TV movie
1989	I, Martin Short, Goes Hollywood	Gene Siskel	TV movie
1989	Married... with Children	Dr. Plierson	Episode: "Tooth or Consequences"
1990	Monsters	Sherwin	Episode: "Murray's Monster"
1990–1993	Maniac Mansion	Dr. Fred Edison	65 episodes
1991	Morton & Hayes	Thug	Episode: "The Vase Shop"
1991	Little Dracula	Big Dracula (voice)	4 episodes
1993–1994	Dinosaurs	Chief Elder (voice)	2 episodes
1994	Nurses	Mr. Fortin	Episode: "The Big Jack Attack"
1994	Phenom	Father O'Malley	Episode: "Strictly Lunchroom"
1994	Rebel Highway	Mr. Nicholson	Episode: "Runaway Daughters"
1994	Hardball	Butt Winnick	Episode: "The Butt Winnick Story"
1995	Family Reunion: A Relative Nightmare	Kevin Dooley	TV movie
1996	Dream On	Stoo	Episode: "Second Time Aground"
1996	The Louie Show	Mr. Wells	Episode: "Take Two Donuts and Call Me in the Morning"
1996	Ellen	Perry	Episode: "Kiss My Bum"
1997	Cartoon Planet	Count Floyd	Episode: "The Big Mouths"
1997	The Don's Analyst	Dr. Lowell Royce	TV movie
1997–1998	Police Academy: The Series	Cmdt. Stuart Hefilfinger	26 episodes
1999	Traders	McGraff	Episode: "This World... Then the Fireworks"
1999	The Wonderful World of Disney		Episode: "Dogmatic"
1999–2000	Freaks and Geeks	Harold Weir	18 episodes
2000	Mentors	James Naismith	Episode: "Nothing But Net"
2001	Even Stevens	Mr. Rupert	Episode: "Almost Perfect"
2001	The Industry	Don Douglas	Episode: "Goodbye"
2001	That '70s Show	Bryan (Mountie)	Episode: "Canadian Road Trip"
2001	Go Fish	Dr. Frank Troutner	5 episodes
2001	Primetime Glick	Clay Glick	Episode: "Molly Shannon/Nathan Lane"
2001	The Legend of Tarzan	Hooft (voice)	7 episodes
2001	The Santa Claus Brothers	Snorkel (voice)	TV movie
2001–2003	The King of Queens	Father McAndrew	5 episodes
2002	Maybe It's Me	Chaz	Episode: "The Romeo & Juliet Episode"
2002	Royal Canadian Air Farce		Episode #9.11
2002	Frasier	Herm Evans	Episode: "Frasier Has Spokane"
2002	A Nero Wolfe Mystery	Dr. Vollmer	2 episodes
2002–2004	Teamo Supremo	Cloaked Skull (voice)	4 episodes
2002	The True Meaning of Christmas Specials	Bing Crosby	TV movie
2002–2003	Clone High	Abe's Foster Dad (voice)	2 episodes
2004	Puppets Who Kill	Joe	Episode: "Bill's Got the Blues"
2005	Tilt	Casino Player from Aliquippa	Episode: "Risk Tolerance"
2005	Chilly Beach	Antoine DelVecchio	Episode: "Driving Mr. Biggs"
2007	The Business	Mr. Dawson	Episode: "Field Trip to Hollywood: Part 1"
2007–2008	Robson Arms	Ramon Garcia	2 episodes
2008–2010	Caution: May Contain Nuts	Count Floyd	2 episodes
2008–2011	Family Guy	Various voices	3 episodes
2009	American Dad!	Car Door Owner (voice)	Episode: "Delorean Story-An"
2011	The Life & Times of Tim	Frank / Security Guard (voice)	2 episodes
2012	I, Martin Short, Goes Home	Atticus Finch	TV movie
2012	Call Me Fitz	Mayor Andrews	Episode: "Teetotal Recall"

External links

• Joe Flaherty at the Internet Movie Database
• Joe Flaherty discography at Discogs
• Interview on The Sound of Young America, 9/06