Catherine O’Hara quit ‘Saturday Night Live’ after just one week: Here's why

Catherine O’Hara revealed the surprising reason she left the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) after just one week, a decision she later called “not cool,” but one rooted in loyalty to her original comedy troupe.

In a 2024 interview with People, O’Hara, who died on January 30, 2026, at the age of 71, reflected on the early years of her career.

When Saturday Night Live offered her a spot on its sixth season in the early 1980s, she gladly accepted, seeing it as a dream opportunity at the time.

However, O’Hara was already part of the Canadian sketch troupe Second City Television (SCTV), which then unexpectedly secured a new season. 

Faced with a choice between staying with the group that had launched her comedy career and continuing with SNL, she chose to return to her “comedy family” on SCTV before filming a single episode of Saturday Night Live.

Moreover, O’Hara later admitted that her quick exit was unprofessional and a youthful mistake, but one that ultimately “worked out the way it was supposed to.”

Her brief stint never aired, and her place on SNL was taken by her longtime friend Robin Duke.

Despite leaving Saturday Night Live so swiftly, O’Hara’s career flourished. 

She became widely celebrated for her roles in films like Home Alone and Beetlejuice, and earned critical acclaim for her Emmy-winning performance as Moira Rose on Schitt’s Creek, leaving an enduring legacy in comedy.