Catherine O’Hara, born on March 4, 1954, was a Canadian-American actress well-known for her portrayals in the 1990 Christmas movie Home Alone and the popular six-season show Schitt’s Creek that came out in 2015.
On Friday, January 30, O’Hara died in her Los Angeles home after experiencing a short illness the public was not aware of until it was announced not long after her passing. Fans and fellow actors are shocked and devastated by her death, considering it was so sudden and took the world by surprise. O’Hara’s last acting role was in the satirical comedy show The Studio, created by actor Seth Rogen. The first episode was released on March 26, 2025, not even a year before her passing.
O’Hara’s earliest known roles include Mrs. (Kate) McCallister in Home Alone, Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice (1988), the voice of Sally in Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), and more. Her acting career began when she starred on the CBS Television children’s television sitcom Coming Up Rosie in 1975, when she was 21 years old.
Many esteemed colleagues of hers posted on social media, paying tribute to her and expressing the honor it was to be able to. On Instagram, actor Macaulay Culkin posted a side-by-side photo – the two of them as their characters in Home Alone and them recently. In the caption he wrote, “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.” Lea Finnegan, a current 11th grader who knows O’Hara for her roles in Home Alone and Beetlejuice, agreed that “she was a good mother figure to Macaulay Culkin”.
Dan Levy, who played her on-screen son in Schitt’s Creek, also made a post for her. He said it was a gift to have had her in his life and that she was like extended family, having spent fifty years collaborating with his dad, award-winning actor Eugene Levy. The first TV show Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy were in together was Second City Television (SCTV), a Canadian television sketch comedy show that ran between 1976 and 1984. They were later seen in the 2000 comedy/drama film Best in Show, playing a quirky and dysfunctional married couple.
Catherine O’Hara’s face graced the screen for over 50 years, and her legacy will never be forgotten.
