Conan O'Brien pays tribute to parents who died 3 days apart: 'They were kindred spirits'
Conan O'Brien is paying tribute to his parents, "kindred spirits" who died three days apart in early December.
The "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend" podcast opened up to The Boston Globe in an interview Tuesday about losing both of his parents within days of one another.
"My parents complemented each other very well," the Massachusetts native told the Globe, telling the outlet that "they were kindred spirits." O'Brien's dad Dr. Thomas F. O’Brien died Dec. 9 at age 95 and then, three days later, his mom Ruth Reardon O'Brien died at age 92, according to the outlet and reports from The New York Times.
"My dad was the dreamer. My dad was the one who was saying 'I'm off to Peru with a change of clothes in my briefcase to try and launch this website for a hospital there high in the mountains,'" O'Brien said.
O'Brien, one of six children, was raised by a "heroic" mom, who was partner at lofty legal firm Ropes and Gray's Boston office while his dad worked as a Harvard Medical School professor and epidemiologist in disease prevention.
"My mother was the realist," he said. "As my dad was rushing around doing this incredible work, my mom was the one who really saw to it when we were little kids that we were fed and our clothes were laid out, and that we got to our dental appointments and medical appointments."
O'Brien said that "if anyone was unhappy around my mom in a 50-mile radius, she thought it was incumbent on her to fix the problem," adding that "it did not make her life easy, but it was very much a part of her Catholic drive — that I have to be of service to people.' And good God, she was."
O'Brien said that when his dad cared about things, "he thought it was important to hear people's stories. He was genuinely curious about other people."
He continued: "As much as he did, or will have been shown to have done, with antibiotic resistance, that's really the quality that will resonate. He cared deeply about people who were very different from him, and from completely different backgrounds. That's the real beauty of his legacy."
The "Conan O'Brien Must Go" star is set to host the 97th Academy Awards in March, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced last month.
Next year's ceremony will mark O'Brien's first time hosting the Oscars, though he previously hosted the Emmys in 2002 and 2006, with the comedian joking in a statement that "America demanded it and now it's happening: Taco Bell's new Cheesy Chalupa Supreme. In other news, I'm hosting the Oscars."
Contributing: Brendan Morrow