Comedy legend Conan O’Brien is grieving the heartbreaking loss of his parents, who passed away just days apart.
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On Monday, December 9, Dr. Thomas O’Brien, the father of the former late-night host and SNL writer, died at the age of 95 after a period of declining health. Just three days later, on Thursday, December 12, Conan’s mother, Ruth Reardon O’Brien, peacefully passed away at the age of 92. The couple both passed away in their Brookline, Massachusetts home, per The Boston Globe.
Conan O’Brien Credits His Father For Instilling His Sense of Humor
O’Brien’s father was a groundbreaking epidemiologist who led pioneering research on antibiotic resistance. “[He] had a voracious appetite for ideas and people and the crazy variety and irony of life. He wanted to go everywhere, meet everybody, see everything, taste everything,” O’Brien, 61, told The Globe.
“Science has said there’s no such thing as perpetual motion, but my father was proof that that was wrong,” the former The Simpsons writer added. “My father was in constant motion. And he was interested in everything — absolutely everything.”
So sad to learn that both of Conan O’Brien’s parents died within the past week (only a couple of days apart).
— Rob Dean (@neuroticmonkey) December 13, 2024
My heart goes out to the whole family. pic.twitter.com/pVljhm2O3w
O’Brien also attributed his father with fostering a deep appreciation for comedy in his family. Thomas ensured his children were well-versed in the classics of the genre, introducing them to the timeless works of Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers.
O’Brien also recalled his father’s thunderous guffaws.
“The loudest I’ve ever heard anybody laugh was sitting next to him in a theater watching Peter Sellers in a Pink Panther movie,” O’Brien told The Globe. He added that “he was often the funniest guy in the room. And when he would laugh, his whole body would convulse, and he would almost hug himself.”
“For the rest of my time on earth, I will be hearing from people who want to talk with me about my dad,” O’Brien continued. “I’ve never met anyone like him, and he happens to be my father. If I met him randomly in a hotel lobby, I’d think, ‘Who the hell is this guy? He’s the most interesting person I’ve ever met.’”
Conan O’Brien’s Parent Married in 1958
Meanwhile, O’Brien’s mother was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, according to an online obituary. A graduate of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, she earned her degree in 1953 before embarking on an impressive legal career. She began as a law clerk for Raymond Wilkins, the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. In 1978, she made history as the second woman to become a partner at the prestigious law firm Ropes & Gray. She also worked at the firm until retiring in 1996.
Thomas and Ruth, who met through college friends, married in 1958, according to the Globe. The couple shared 66 years of marriage.
A funeral mass honoring the couple is set to take place in Boston on Wednesday, Dec. 18.