Paul O’Sullivan, a well-respected actor and comedian known for stage performances in such Toronto productions as The Producers and The Drowsy Chaperone, died in a car accident near his home outside Peterborough on Friday afternoon. He was 48.

The Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company’s production of Lost in Yonkers, featuring O’Sullivan’s partner, Linda Kash, has been suspended until Wednesday.

Kash spoke to the Star from her home near Peterborough on Saturday. “This man was just so adored by his family, and everyone who knew him,” she said. “He was everything to us.”

Kash and O’Sullivan had three daughters.

O’Sullivan was a graduate of and frequent performer with the famed Second City comedy troupe, and an improv partner of such well-known comedians as Martin Short and Colin Mochrie. “When you improv’d with Paul, you knew you’d get more than you ever imagined,” Mochrie said. “He improv’d like he lived life: He made strong choices, and he committed to them. He taught me a lot.”

At Second City, O’Sullivan made a mark early. “Paul was the quintessential Second City performer and writer,” said Andrew Alexander, Second City’s CEO, reached in Beverly Hills Saturday. “He was quick-witted, and fast on his feet. But there was a sweetness about him that really came through as well.”

Over his career, O’Sullivan appeared in such Canadian television shows as Little Mosque on the Prairie, An American in Canada, Getting Along Famously, Murdoch Mysteries and The Sean Cullen Show, as well as lending his voice to several children’s animated series, such as George Shrinks.

But O’Sullivan’s love was always improv. “He was an extraordinarily funny man,” said Klaus Schuller, the producer at Second City in Toronto. “But he was also such a generous, caring, giving person to work with. It was a joy to see him walk in the room. The enthusiasm he had for the work was really just exceptional.”

On The Comedy Network’s Improv Heaven and Hell, where he was a regular cast member, other comics in the troupe, like Mochrie, would frequently goad him into singing, a gift for which he was renowned.

In recent years, O’Sullivan and Kash, who is well-known to Canadian television viewers as the angel in a long-running series of commercials for Philadelphia Cream Cheese, lived on a farm outside Peterborough with their three daughters.

“Aside from being such an exceptional artist, I don’t know if I ever saw a man who loved his family as much,” said family friend Kim Blackwell. “He was an incredible father and husband.”

In Peterborough, Kash and O’Sullivan founded The Peterborough Academy of Performing Arts, where they taught everything from scriptwriting to musical theatre to, of course, improv comedy.

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In addition to being an accomplished performer, O’Sullivan was a longtime teacher, passing on his improv skills to students at both Second City and Humber College. “He loved working with younger people,” said Schuller. “That’s when you saw his energy really shine.”

Memorial services are to be announced.