The legends of Second City comedy troupe

Martin Short was planning to be a social worker until his college friend Eugene Levy got him into a legendary Toronto production of “Godspell,” alongside other future Second City performers Andre Martin and Dave Thomas, plus Victor Garber and Short’s then-girlfriend Gilda Radner. He went on to join the cast of SNL, win a Tony on Broadway and generally become a national treasure for both America and Canada. Short joined Second City Toronto in 1977 and debuted on Second City TV in 1982. He sings, he dances, he does drama, he’s a pioneer of men’s synchronized swimming and he plays the world’s greatest celebrity interviewer, Jiminy Glick. 

Academy Award winner Alan Arkin joined the Second City Chicago cast back in 1960, which launched him to a career on Broadway, which led him to Hollywood. By 1966, Arkin had earned an Oscar nomination for the comedy, “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!” He followed that up with a terrifying role in “Wait Until Dark” as Audrey Hepburn’s menacing stalker and another Oscar performance in “The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter.” Arkin seamlessly moved from comedy to drama throughout his career, won an Oscar for “Little Miss Sunshine,” published a memoir called “An Improvised Life,” and has a lasting musical legacy as co-writer of “The Banana Boat Song.” You can watch him in his most recent role as Norman Newlander in Netflix's "The Kominsky Method."

The late John Candy was only 22 when he joined the Second City Toronto cast in 1973 and just 26 when he became part of the SCTV cast. By the '80s, Candy was starring in a string of classic comedies, starting with “Stripes” and continuing through “Splash,”“Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,” “Spaceballs,” “Uncle Buck,” “Home Alone” and “Cool Runnings.” Tragically, Candy died at the young age of 43, but left behind a vast body of work in his all-too-brief life.

Gilda Radner was another American who developed as a performer north of the border, joining The Second City Toronto when it opened in 1973. That’s where many of Radner’s later characters from "Saturday Night Live" and her one-woman show originated, which won her an Emmy in 1978. Radner is one of the most beloved and influential female comedians of all time and died far too young, at age 42, after a battle with cancer.

The first-ever cast of The Second City Toronto featured Eugene Levy, who was also a mainstay on the first cast of “SCTV,” winning two Emmys for writing. Levy was and is known for his range of strange, fully realized supporting characters, as well as his musical chops, which got him a Grammy in 2003 for “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow.” Yes, Eugene Levy has a Grammy! More than almost any other Second City alum, Levy has made improv a central part of his later career, especially in his collaborations with Christopher Guest in “Waiting For Guffman,” “Best In Show,” and more. Most recently he got an Emmy nomination for his performance on “Schitt’s Creek,” the show he co-created, co-wrote and co-starred in with his son, Dan Levy.

Before she joined the cast in 1974, Catherine O’Hara was a waitress at Second City in Toronto. She went on to star on SCTV, winning an Emmy and getting poached by "Saturday Night Live" — but she quit to return to SCTV before appearing in a single episode. O’Hara had memorable film roles as Kevin McAllister’s mom in “Home Alone” (alongside Second City cast mate John Candy) and a distressed homeowner in “Beetlejuice." Her partnership with Levy continued into “Schitt’s Creek,” where her tour de force performance as former soap opera star and wig enthusiast Moira Rose got her an Emmy nomination last year.

Bob Odenkirk started performing at Second City in 1990 while he was simultaneously writing for “Saturday Night Live.” That’s where he created one of Chris Farley’s most enduring characters, motivational speaker Matt Foley. Odenkirk went on to write and star in “The Ben Stiller Show,” create and star in “Mr. Show With Bob and David” alongside David Cross and direct his own films. Recently, Odenkirk has turned into a critically acclaimed dramatic actor with his role on “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” and he held his own alongside Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks in “The Post.”

Before “Key & Peele” and “MAD TV,” Keegan Michael-Key was a breakout star at Second City Detroit. Key moved to the Chicago company in 2001, and by 2004 he and Jordan Peele were both hired on "MAD TV" and began their long comedy partnership. “Key & Peele” is one of the all-time great sketch shows, but Key is actually a Shakespeare-trained actor, which he showed off in 2017 starring alongside Oscar Isaac’s Hamlet as Horatio.

Andrea Martin was a trained actress, not an improviser, when she joined the Second City Toronto cast in 1975, though her first role was as a singing chicken on Captain Kangaroo. She subsequently wrote and starred in SCTV. She’s been in movies ranging from “Wag The Dog” to “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” to “Black Christmas.” but Martin’s biggest success has come in the theater, where she starred in two different one-woman shows and received a record five Tony nominations as Best Featured Actress in a Musical — and won for her role in”Pippin.” Though Martin is a Toronto legend, she was born in America, and after 47 years, she became a Canadian citizen in 2017.

Rick Moranis, who recently ended his two-decade hiatus from acting, joined SCTV in its third season without actually performing at the theater first. He and Dave Thomas had a breakout hit with their roles as the beer-loving McKenzie Brothers, originally created to meet a request for “Canadian content” for the show, which eventually turned into the movie “Strange Brew.” Moranis found a niche in Hollywood playing lovable nerdy characters in blockbusters like “Little Shop Of Horrors,”“Ghostbusters,” and “Honey I Shrunk The Kids” and as ineffectual villain Dark Helmet in “Spaceballs.” During his acting break, motivated by his commitment to raising his kids, he put out a musical comedy album, “The Agoraphobic Cowboy.”

John Belushi’s work with Second City began in an unconventional way. He started performing Second City sketches around Chicago without permission, but when the theater caught wind of it, the 21-year-old Belushi was invited to join the cast. From there, he went on to work with National Lampoon, joined the first cast of "Saturday Night Live" and became a movie star with “Animal House” (written by Second City cohort Harold Ramis) and “The Blues Brothers.” Belushi died at age 33, his infinitely promising career cut short by drugs.

Chris Farley followed in the footsteps of his hero, John Belushi, only too well, also succumbing to drugs and alcohol at 33. Farley was originally part of the Second City Touring Company before graduating to the main stage in 1989, where his manic energy and physicality made him an immediate star. A year later, he'd been hired by "SNL," the informal grad school for high-achieving Second City students. The highlight of his movie career was "Tommy Boy," which managed to capture Farley's slapstick prowess but also his inherent sweetness. Unfortunately, we never got to see where else his career would lead.

When Joan Rivers auditioned for Second City in 1961, she didn’t realize the theater’s devotion to improv. So after waiting five hours to audition and then finding out there were no scripts, Rivers raged after being told to “improvise,” flinging a glass ashtray in rage. They hired her anyway, and she credited Second City for making her the performer she was in her later six decades as a stand-up comic, actress, talk show host and savage fashion critic. 

Like Catherine O’Hara before her, Betty Thomas started as a server at Second City before ending up a regular performer. She went on to play Lucy Bates on “Hill Street Blues,” a role that got her seven Emmy nominations and one win. Thomas then moved on to a career as an Emmy-winning TV director and helmed huge hits with “The Brady Bunch Movie” and “Private Parts,” as well as the first female-directed film to crack $200 million at the box office, “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeekquel.”

Fred Willard was hired by Second City back in 1965, along with Robert Klein, and subsequently formed an improv group called the Ace Trucking Company, which was a regular act on "The Tonight Show." Willard broke through with the various incarnations of “Fernwood 2 Night,” but really hit his stride with the Christopher Guest films of the '90s, particularly as the clueless dog show announcer in “Best In Show.” That’s the definitive Fred Willard performance: a smooth, lovable, blissfully confident idiot.

Harold Ramis was a Chicago native who joined Second City in 1969 and eventually became the head writer of SCTV. He collaborated with Second City pals John Belushi and Bill Murray quite a bit, as the writer of “Animal House” and “Ghostbusters” (with Dan Aykroyd) and the writer-director of “Caddyshack” and “Groundhog Day.” Ramis was also an excellent performer who was overshadowed by his talents as  a writer and director, and after his death in 2014, he was honored with the Harold Ramis Film School at Second City, still the only film school in the world that’s devoted to comedy.

Bill Murray is one of the most influential comedians of his or any generation, but he wasn’t even the first member of his family to end up at Second City. That was his brother Brian Doyle-Murray, who went on to co-write “Caddyshack.” Murray eventually went on to SNL, comedy superstardom, a dramatic acting career and life as a walking urban legend, But it all started at Second City, where Murray once reportedly broke a heckler’s arm, then took him out for a beer and drove him to the hospital. Possibly not in that order!

Tina Fey was working at a YMCA during the day and taking Second City classes at night when she started out in comedy, and by 1994 she was part of the touring company. By 1996 she was on the main stage, by 1997 she was working for SNL and by 1999, she was the head writer. After she took over as Weekend Update anchor, she began to emerge as a performer, later creating, writing and starring in the all-time great sitcom "30 Rock." She has almost too many credits to list, but there's "Mean Girls" the movie and musical, "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," "Baby Mama," the bestseller "Bossypants" and the upcoming Pixar film "Soul," which she both wrote and starred in.

A former Marine, Peter Boyle left a touring company of “The Odd Couple” to join Second City, and after leaving the troupe, he became a star playing the title role in “Young Frankenstein.” He worked constantly until his death in 2006, racking up seven Emmy nominations for “Everybody Loves Raymond.” And beyond his considerable talent, Boyle was just a cool guy as evidenced by the best man at his wedding, John Lennon. 

Dan Aykroyd started his comedy career at age 17 and was a performer at both Second City Chicago and Toronto by 1973, the same time he was also running an after-hours speakeasy. He went on to a huge career on "Saturday Night Live" and in films like “Trading Places” and “Ghostbusters,” which he co-wrote with Harold Ramis. He got an Oscar nomination for “Driving Miss Daisy” and is the greatest Second City alumnus in terms of paranormal research and vodka manufacturing.

Barbara Harris was the first performer in Second City’s first show, in 1959, after she’d first found success in the Compass Players, with Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Ed Asner and others. Harris then moved on to Broadway, where her first role in “From The Second City” got her the first of many Tony nominations. (She’d eventually win for “The Apple Tree”.) Harris also had success in Hollywood, notably in “Nashville,” and “Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?” and she was such a transcendent performer that entire Broadway shows were built around her and her talents.

Mike Myers successfully auditioned for Second City Toronto on his last day of high school in 1986, and later moved on to the Chicago stage where he wrote and performed the early versions of Wayne’s World and Sprockets. Myers had a great six-year at “Saturday Night Live” before leaving for a very successful movie career, particularly the Austin Powers series. Most recently, he hosted “The Gong Show” deep in character as the fictional British comedian Tommy Maitland. 

Second City's Las Vegas show only lasted from 2001-08, but it did feature future SNL cast member Jason Sudeikis, who at the time still dreamed of joining the Blue Man Group. SNL hired him as a writer in 2003, promoted him to cast member in 2005, and since then he's gone on to stardom in "Horrible Bosses" and "We're The Millers." 

Jane Lynch was a classically-trained actress with the Steppenwolf Company who joined the Second City touring company in 1989, one of only two women in the troupe. Lynch first broke out with her role as a dog trainer in "Best In Show," one of many roles that showcased her improvisational skills. Those came through in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and the cult classic "Party Down," but once she took a role on "Glee," Lynch became a huge star.

Sam Richardson and Tim Robinson both got started at Second City in their beloved Detroit, where Robinson taught improv, tender bar, and snuck Richardson into bars even though he wasn't 21 yet. After time in the Touring Company, both joined the main stage in Chicago, Robinson went on to SNL, while Richardson found his breakout role as Richard Splett in "Veep" (alongside another Second City alum, Julia Louis-Dreyfus). The two went on to create and star in the phenomenal "Detroiters" together, and Rchardson guests on several episodes of Robinson's equally spectacular "I Think You Should Leave."