Catherine O’Hara, the acclaimed Canadian actress known for her roles in 'Schitt’s Creek' and 'Home Alone,' died on January 30, 2026, at her Los Angeles home after a brief illness. She was 71. Tributes from co-stars and collaborators highlight her comedic brilliance and enduring friendships.
Catherine O’Hara passed away on January 30, 2026, at age 71, following a brief illness at her Brentwood home in Los Angeles. Paramedics responded around 5 a.m. after she experienced difficulty breathing, and she died shortly after at a hospital, according to reports citing her agency, Creative Artists Agency. No specific cause was disclosed, though O’Hara had been diagnosed with situs inversus, a rare condition where major organs are reversed, which she learned accidentally during a hospital visit with her son years earlier.
Born March 4, 1954, in Toronto, O’Hara began her career in the 1970s at The Second City improvisational theatre and rose to prominence on the sketch comedy series 'SCTV,' earning an Emmy for outstanding writing. She collaborated extensively with Eugene Levy over 50 years, starting from Second City and 'SCTV,' through Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries like 'Waiting for Guffman' (1996), 'Best in Show' (2000), 'A Mighty Wind' (2003), and 'For Your Consideration' (2006). Her film roles included Delia Deetz in 'Beetlejuice' (1988 and 2024 sequel), Kate McCallister in 'Home Alone' (1990 and 1992), and voicing Sally in 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' (1993).
O’Hara’s portrayal of the eccentric Moira Rose in 'Schitt’s Creek' (2015-2020), created by Eugene and Dan Levy, brought her a Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, and other awards in 2020. In her acceptance speech, she said, “I will forever be grateful to Eugene and Daniel Levy for the opportunity to play a woman of a certain age, my age, who gets to fully be herself.” Recently, she appeared in 'The Studio' on Apple TV+, earning an Emmy nomination, and as a therapist in 'The Last of Us' season two.
Tributes poured in from colleagues. Eugene Levy stated, “Words seem inadequate to express the loss I feel today... I cherished our working relationship, but most of all our friendship. And I will miss her.” Dan Levy wrote on Instagram, “What a gift to have gotten to dance in the warm glow of Catherine O’Hara’s brilliance... It’s hard to imagine a world without her in it.” Macaulay Culkin posted, “Mama. I thought we had time... I love you. I’ll see you later.” Christopher Guest called her “one of the comic giants of our age,” while Seth Rogen praised her as “the funniest person I’d ever had the pleasure of watching on screen.” Canadian leaders, including former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, remembered her as a “beloved Canadian icon.”
O’Hara is survived by her husband of over 30 years, production designer Bo Welch—whom she met on 'Beetlejuice'—and their sons, Matthew and Luke.
