Joe Flaherty's Back to the Future Part II character explored in the wake of the actor's death at age 82

Joe Flaherty, the American actor best known for his work in the Canadian sketch-comedy show, Second City Television, passed away after a "brief illness" on Monday, April 1, 2024, at the age of 82. Joe's daughter, Gudrun Flaherty, broke the news of his passing to media outlets. However, she did not specify what illness led to the actor's death. Her statement read:

"After a brief illness, he left us yesterday, and since then, I’ve been struggling to come to terms with this immense loss. Dad was an extraordinary man, known for his boundless heart and an unwavering passion for movies from the ’40s and ’50s. His insights into the golden age of cinema didn’t just shape his professional life; they were also a source of endless fascination for me."

The 82-year-old also played the role of Western Union Man in the 1989 sci-fi movie, Back to the Future Part II. His character in the movie is a delivery person who brings a letter from Doc Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd. The Doc wrote the message in 1885 to Marty McFly in 1955.

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How Joe Flaherty's character in Back to the Future Part II helped set up the premise for Back to the Future Part III

Joe Flaherty portrayed the role of Western Union Man in Back to the Future Part II. It was a relatively minor role, but one that held great significance, as it helped the protagonist, Marty McFly form the premise for Back to the Future Part III.

At the end of the second movie, Emmett "Doc" Brown and Marty successfully got the sports almanac from their arch-nemesis, Biff, in 1955 and got rid of the alternate 1985. However, things then worsen, as lightning strikes the flying DeLorean and makes it disappear along with Doc, who was in it.

As McFly feels hopeless without his mentor, a car appears in the scene and Joe Flaherty gets out. After the Western Union Man confirms that he is Marty, he fetches something out of his coat, momentarily startling the latter.

Joe Flaherty then said that it was a letter. McFly did not believe this, since he technically did not exist, yet. He asked:

"Who the hell are you?"

The union worker responded:

"Western Union. Actually, a bunch of us at the office were kind of hoping maybe you could shed some light on the subject. See, we've had that envelope in our possession for the past 70 years. It was given to us with the explicit instructions that it be delivered to a young man with your description answering to the name of Marty at this exact location at this exact minute, November 12, 1955."

Joe Flaherty then quipped that he had lost the bet since McFly was indeed present in the location. When the protagonist asked if he said the letter was from 70 years ago, Joe responded in the affirmative, adding:

"Yeah. 70 years, two months, uh, 12 days, to be exact. Here, sign on line six, please. Here you are."

The scene then proceeded with Marty McFly meeting the Doc from the first Back to the Future movie to get him to 1855, where the future Doc currently resides.

Joe Flaherty garnered a huge following from the sci-fi movie role and his other projects during his four-decade-long career.

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Following Flaherty's death on Monday, his daughter, Gudrun, mentioned in her statement that he was facing "health challenges." She also added how they rewatched some classic old films during this time:

"In these last few months, as he faced his health challenges, we had the precious opportunity to watch many of those classic movies together — moments I will forever hold dear."

Several actors and netizens posted tributes for the actor and comedian.

He is survived by his children, Gabriel and Gudrun, and his younger brother, Paul Flaherty. The actor was married to Judith Flaherty for 20 years until their divorce in 1996.