Two-time Emmy-winning actress and screenwriter Catherine O’Hara died Friday at the age of 71. The “Home Alone” actress died following a “brief illness,” according to her agent and manager. Throughout her 51-year career, the comedic sensation knew every way to bring audiences to tears with her physical acting and famously rambunctious characters.
O’Hara began her career in Toronto, her hometown, as a cast member of the theatre troupe The Second City. The troupe would go on to create the sketch comedy show “Second City Television,” better known as “SCTV,” in which she was a frequent performer and writer until the show ended in 1984. She would secure her first Primetime Emmy Award for her writing in the episode, “Moral Majority.”
She would first break onto the film scene in Martin Scorsese's “After Hours,” later fully cementing herself with her critically-acclaimed role in the Oscar-winning film “Beetlejuice,” as Delia Deetz. She would become a true star with her iconic role as Kevin McCallister’s mom, Kate McCallister, in the Christmas classic, “Home Alone.”
“Home Alone” would be the first of several box office smashes for O’Hara, with the film racking up over $475 million. Her character would make her into “America’s Mom” and was the defining role of her career.
Months before the premiere of the “Home Alone” sequel, she married her partner, Bo Welch, whom she met on the set of “Beetlejuice.” At the time of her death, they had been married for nearly 34 years.
In 1993, after putting her name in the history books of Christmas movies, she would do the same for Halloween. O’Hara rejoined “Beetlejuice” director Tim Burton for the stop-motion film “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” voicing Sally. It would be one of the most well-received animated films in her long list of voice acting.
O’Hara’s career would be mostly quiet throughout the end of the 2000s and early 2010s. That was, until her first main role in a sitcom television series as Moira Rose in “Schitt’s Creek.”
“Schitt’s Creek,” written by Eugene Levy and his son, Daniel Levy, is a show following the Rose family’s collapse from riches and ending up in the town that Eugene Levy’s character, Johnny, bought as a joke for his son years prior.
O’Hara was the first thought by the Levys to play the role of Moira Rose, but she initially declined as she has never been a fan of long-term TV series and being “in the hands of strangers,” as she told Buzzfeed. But, following a pilot presentation to CBC and a lot of begging from Eugene Levy after the show was picked up, she accepted the role, and the rest is history.
It’s safe to say that Rose would be nothing without the mind and hands of O’Hara to shape her character. It was O’Hara who crafted the idea for Rose’s overall look, complete with wigs and a Daphne Guinness-inspired wardrobe.
Moira is a vivacious balatron of a woman. Those are words actually used by the well-habilimented matriarch. Many of Moira’s famously eccentric phrases were added to the script by O’Hara herself, including the famous pronunciation of “baby.”
Moira, along with O’Hara herself, also became an icon for the LGBTQ+ community. Moira’s son, David, played by Daniel Levy, is pansexual and is always treated with nothing but unconditional love by Moira and the characters of “Schitt’s Creek.”
The show would win two GLAAD Media Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series. The award ceremony represents the best in media for representation of queer people and relationships.
That would be some of the many awards that “Schitt’s Creek” would take home to Canada. In 2020, the final season of “Schitt’s Creek” would sweep the main seven Primetime Emmy Awards for a comedy series, including a win for O’Hara for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
Even at 66, after the conclusion of the show that gave her first acting Emmy, O’Hara continued working until her death. Her final film roles were in the 2024 sequel of “Beetlejuice,” returning as Delia Deetz and as the voice of Pinktail in “The Wild Robot.”
Her final television show roles were as Gail in the second season of the hit HBO show “The Last of Us” and as Patty Leigh in the comedy show “The Studio.” She received Emmy nominations for both roles and is currently nominated for an Actor Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for “The Studio.”
O’Hara was an actress, wife, mother and friend to many. Since her death, there have been countless tributes and statements from her co-stars and colleagues, including from Eugene Levy, Macaulay Culkin, “The Studio” co-star Seth Rogan and “The Last of Us” co-star Pedro Pascal.
Culkin, who still refers to O’Hara as “mom” decades after “Home Alone,” wrote on Instagram, “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.”
In the wise words of Moira’s daughter, Alexis, played by Annie Murphy, “goodbye to a great actress.” Her life and work will live on for generations to come.
O’Hara is survived by her husband, Welch, and her sons, Matthew and Luke.
