Letter: Mark Fisher obituary

In his fat 2004 volume Britain’s Best Museums and Galleries, the former arts minister Mark Fisher displayed great enthusiasm and knowledge, dating from museum visits with his father when he was very young. I greatly enjoyed working with him when he was a well-informed commissioner and I was deputy director of the Museums & Galleries Commission.We shared common ground in that I grew up in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, where he was an MP for from 1983 to 2010. Members of my family have been involved in heritage projects for many years, from museums and historic houses to oatcakes and bottle ovens, and with their advice he was able to intervene quietly and helpfully from time to time in such matters in the city.

Wil Anderson: ‘I honestly believe being mistaken for Adam Hills is one of the great gifts of my life’

Do you have a nemesis?I know Adam Hills did one of these and he chose me as his nemesis because we often get confused. He said it in a nice way – but I wouldn’t say Adam, because I honestly believe being mistaken for Adam Hills is one of the great gifts of my life. Even at the peaks of my career going well, it was always quite a good reminder that people never care as much about anything that you care about. Sometimes you’d have moments where you think: “Everyone thinks this or that about me” – and then someone would say, “Hey, I love you Adam!” Adam’s a very well-known comedian, I’m a very well-known comedian and yet, half the time when somebody comes up to say g’day to us, they don’t even know who it is. There’s something really nice and humbling in that

‘One of the greatest comic talents’: tributes paid to actor Catherine O’Hara

Tributes have poured in from the world of showbiz and politics for Catherine O’Hara, with the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, and Schitt’s Creek’s co-creator Dan Levy mourning the loss of a “legend” after the actor died at the age of 71.O’Hara, who won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her role in the TV comedy series, died on Friday at her home in Los Angeles after a brief illness, according to her agency, CAA.The Canadian-American actor was also known for roles in Home Alone and the Beetlejuice films. In a post on Instagram, Levy said he would “cherish every funny memory I was fortunate enough to make with her”.He added: “What a gift to have gotten to dance in the warm glow of Catherine O’Hara’s brilliance for all those years

From Nouvelle Vague to Mock the Week: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead

Nouvelle VagueOut now Never bet against Richard Linklater: the veteran director (Dazed and Confused, Boyhood) loves turning his hand to different genres, and his latest is a typically mellow dramatisation of the period in French film history that saw the likes of Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut and Claude Chabrol shake off their lives as critics and become bona fide film legends.Is This Thing On?Out nowIt sounds like an improbable standup bit in itself, but no: here we have a Hollywood comedy inspired by the life of the UK’s own John Bishop. Will Arnett plays the man in a troubled marriage who decides to give open mic a go and is a surprise hit, while Laura Dern plays his wife. Directed by Bradley Cooper (yes, the Bradley Cooper).PrimateOut nowCome on now, people: chimpanzees are unsuitable enough as pets to start with

Catherine O’Hara managed to make difficult characters utterly delightful

One of the later and less beloved Christopher Guest comedies featuring his troupe of peerless, often SCTV-related improvisers is For Your Consideration, a medium-funny savaging of Hollywood’s feverish awards-season prestige campaigning.The film’s unquestionable highlight is Catherine O’Hara, playing an actor who gets a whisper of awards buzz for a schlocky, still-filming drama called Home for Purim, and slowly loses her mind with the knowledge that she could maybe, possibly be recognized by her peers. O’Hara, known for her distinctively brassy yet malleable trill of her voice and her frequently red hair, peels back her performer’s bravado to expose the frenzied need beneath it. She somehow plays the outsized beneath the regular-sized, as her Marilyn Hack goes from plugging-away workhorse to desperate striver. Unsurprisingly, O’Hara briefly generated awards buzz of her own for playing this part; even less surprisingly, an Oscar nomination was not forthcoming

Catherine O’Hara, actor known for Home Alone and Schitt’s Creek, dies aged 71

Catherine O’Hara, actor known for Schitt’s Creek, Home Alone and Best in Show, has died at the age of 71.Her manager confirmed the news to Variety. She died after a brief illness.O’Hara started her comedy career in the 1970s and helped to create the Canadian sketch show SCTV. She broke into film in the 1980s with her first big-screen credit in the romantic comedy Nothing Personal with Donald Sutherland, and in 1985 she had a role in Martin Scorsese’s black comedy After Hours