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The 2026 Westminster Dog Show paid tribute to "Best in Show" star Catherine O'Hara during the Norwich Terrier segment of the event.
Posted in: Movies, Sports, TV | Tagged: catherine o'hara, Westminster Dog Show
Westminster Dog Show Tribute Honors "Best in Show's" Catherine O'Hara
The 2026 Westminster Dog Show paid tribute to "Best in Show" star Catherine O'Hara during the Norwich Terrier segment of the event.
Article Summary
- Westminster Dog Show honors Catherine O’Hara with a special tribute during the Norwich Terrier judging.
- The tribute highlights O’Hara’s iconic role in Best in Show and her impact on dog show pop culture.
- Industry friends like Eugene Levy and Martin Short share heartfelt tributes to the late comedy legend.
- Catherine O’Hara remembered as a “true legend, timeless talent, and icon” at the prestigious event.
To say that Catherine O'Hara had a profound impact on pop culture would be an understatement. The legendary comedic actress, who passed away at 71 on January 30th, continues to be mourned across the entertainment industry, and one unexpected tribute came from the Westminster Dog Show. The event, which took place at New York's Madison Square Garden from January 31 to February 3rd celebrated the actress's role in the 2000 Christopher Guest classic Best in Show as Cookie Fleck along with a few other highlights that includes Schitt's Creek, both she co-starred with fellow SCTV alum, Eugene Levy (who co-write the film with Guest), Beetlejuice (1988), and more. The moment was captured by actor and writer Michael Judson Berry, who shared it on his Instagram reel.
Westminster Dog Show Pays Tribute to Late Canadian Comedienne Legend Catherine O'Hara
Best in Show was one of four Guest mockumentaries O'Hara appeared in, along with Waiting for Guffman (1996), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006). Best in Show is a behind-the-scenes look into the highly competitive and cut-throat world of dog shows through the eyes of a group of ruthless dog owners. O'Hara's Cookie and Levy's Gerry Fleck are a middle-class couple from Florida who arrive at the Taft Hotel with their Norwich terrier Winky to compete at the Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show in Philadelphia. The reel, which ran during the Norwich terrier breed judging section of the Westminster Dog Show, featured the trio before it shifted to a solo shot of her, before featuring her other projects, closing with a title card followed by the caption, "A true legend, timeless talent, and icon."
In Levy's tribute, the actor wrote, "Words seem inadequate to express the loss I feel today. I had the honor of knowing and working with the great Catherine O'Hara for over 50 years. From our beginnings on the Second City stage, to SCTV, to the movies we did with Chris Guest, to our six glorious years on 'Schitt's Creek,' I cherished our working relationship, but most of all our friendship." Fellow SCTV alum, Martin Short, paid tribute to O'Hara at his and Only Murders in the Building co-star Steve Martin's stage show saying, "Catherine O'Hara, I met when she was 18 years of age and in all these years later, she has been the greatest most brilliant kindest sweetest angel that any of us worked with each other."
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