Conan O’Brien is mourning the loss of both of his parents in less than a week.
The former late-night talk show host’s mother, Ruth Reardon O’Brien, died at her Brookline, Massachusetts, home Thursday, December 12, at age 92. Conan’s father, renowned physician Dr. Thomas O’Brien, died days earlier on Monday, December 9, also at their home. Thomas was 95.
“Science has said there’s no such thing as perpetual motion, but my father was proof that that was wrong,” Conan, 61, told the Boston Globe in an interview published on Thursday. “My father was in constant motion. And he was interested in everything — absolutely everything.”
Conan credited his father with instilling a love of comedy in his children. According to the Globe, Thomas introduced his and Ruth’s six children to Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers’ movies.
“The loudest I’ve ever heard anybody laugh was sitting next to him in a theater watching Peter Sellers in a Pink Panther movie,” Conan recalled, adding that while people would often think his father was a “fascinating man” due to his work in epidemiology, there was more to him than that.
“But 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,” Conan said.
“For the rest of my time on earth I will be hearing from people who want to talk with me about my dad,” Conan 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’s mom, Ruth, meanwhile, was an attorney who became the second woman to make partner at Boston law firm Ropes & Gray, per an obituary.
Conan’s younger brother, Justin, remembered his mother’s fond love of attending reunions. “My mother once said she thought he enjoyed her reunions more than she did. He really loved meeting people and hearing their stories and getting to know them in a very meaningful way,” he told the outlet.
A funeral mass for both of Conan’s parents will be held in Boston on Wednesday, December 18.
The sad news comes as Conan prepares to host the 97th Academy Awards on March 2, 2025. It will be his first time emceeing the ceremony.
“America demanded it and now it’s happening: Taco Bell’s new Cheesy Chalupa Supreme. In other news, I’m hosting the Oscars,” Conan joked in a statement confirming his appointment in November.
“We are thrilled and honored to have the incomparable Conan O’Brien host the Oscars this year,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in a joint press release. “He is the perfect person to help lead our global celebration of film with his brilliant humor, his love of movies, and his live TV expertise.”
