Catherine O’Hara, actor known for Schitt’s Creek, Home Alone and Best in Show, has died at the age of 71.
Her manager confirmed the news to Variety. She died after a brief illness.
O’Hara started her comedy career in the 1970s and helped to create the Canadian sketch show SCTV. She broke into film in the 1980s with her first big screen credit in romantic comedy Nothing Personal with Donald Sutherland, and in 1985 she had a role in Martin Scorsese’s black comedy After Hours.
In 1988, O’Hara starred in Tim Burton’s comedy horror Beetlejuice and later reprised the role in the 2024 sequel. On the set of the original, she met her husband, production designer Bo Welch and they married in 1992.
O’Hara played Macaulay Culkin’s careless mother in smash hit 1990 comedy Home Alone, a role she also reprised for the 1992 sequel.
“It’s a perfect movie, isn’t it?” she said of Home Alone to People in 2024. She added, of the experience: “It was lovely. All those kids that played our children were just lovely.”
O’Hara recently appeared at Culkin’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, wiping away tears as she praised him.
Culkin paid tribute to O’Hara on Instagram, writing: “Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you but I had so much more to say. I love you. I’ll see you later.”
She began working with Christopher Guest in 1996, starring in mockumentary Waiting for Guffman and starred in three more of his films: Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration in 2006.
Guest praised O’Hara for her ability to master comedy and drama in their last collaboration together. “Catherine is one of not many actresses that can pull off both sides of this, where she’s incredibly funny but can also shift into an emotional area that surprises people and it’s just amazing, that transition,” he said.
O’Hara also provided her voice for many animated films including Chicken Little, Over the Hedge, Monster House, Frankenweenie and, most recently, The Wild Robot.
On the small screen, she had roles in The Larry Sanders Show, Six Feet Under, Curb Your Enthusiasm and 30 Rock before she reunited with another Guest actor, Eugene Levy, for the hit sitcom Schitt’s Creek.
“It’s always more fun working with someone you know,” she said to the Guardian in 2021. “I get too nervous doing solo bits – it’s too much pressure and it feels like showing off. With someone else, you can share the showing off.”
The show, about a wealthy family who are forced to downsize, ran for six seasons and won O’Hara an Emmy award.
Her recent television roles also included A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Last of Us, which scored her an Emmy nomination.
Her Last of Us co-star Pedro Pascal paid tribute on Instagram. “Oh, genius to be near you,” he wrote. “Eternally grateful. There is less light in my world, this lucky world that had you, will keep you, always.”
O’Hara had recently been seen in the award-winning comedy series The Studio with Seth Rogen. The role had garnered her Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.
Ron Howard, who directed O’Hara in 1992 comedy drama The Paper, paid his respects on social media today.
“This is shattering news,” he wrote. “What a wonderful person, artist and collaborator. I was lucky enough to direct, produce and act in projects with her and she was simply growing more brilliant with each year.”
Rita Wilson also called her “authentic and truthful in all she did” on Instagram while Lily Tomlin wrote “bright, beautiful, and full of joy that touched so many” next to a picture of O’Hara.
Mike Myers shared with the Hollywood Reporter: “It is a very sad day for comedy and for Canada. She was one of the greatest comedy artists in history, an inspiration for millions and above all a very elegant lady. Sending much love and condolences to her family.”
“I’m always drawn to characters who have no idea of the impression they’re making on other people,” O’Hara said in 2021. “We’re all delusional, really, and I love that about us humans and I love playing it.”
