Catherine O'Hara: A Comedy Icon Remembered
The world of entertainment mourns the loss of Catherine O'Hara, the brilliant actor who passed away aged 71 after a short illness. Known for her masterful portrayals of eccentric characters suffused with vanity, mischief, and vulnerability, O'Hara carved a unique niche in comedy that spanned decades and genres.
From Panicked Parent to Pretentious Sculptor
For many, O'Hara will forever be remembered for her panicked exclamation "Kevin!" in the festive comedy Home Alone (1990). As Kate McCallister, she cemented her place as one of cinema's most memorably neglectful screen parents, inadvertently leaving her young son behind in Chicago while the family flew to Paris for Christmas. Her frantic journey back, including accepting a lift from a polka band led by John Candy, transformed maternal despair into comedy gold. She reprised the role in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), proving that plausibility often bows to commercial success.
Yet this famous role was not typical of her work. Earlier, she had found a wide audience in Tim Burton's comedy Beetlejuice (1988), playing Delia Deetz, a pretentious sculptor who moves into a creaky Connecticut house whose ghostly previous occupants plot to evict her family. In the film's standout sequence, where dinner party guests are possessed and forced to sing and dance to Harry Belafonte's Day-O, O'Hara's blend of horror, embarrassment, and slow-dawning rapture created delirious slapstick joy. Critic Pauline Kael praised her "sexy evil eyes" and "freakiest blue-eyed stare since early Gene Wilder." She returned as Delia in the 2024 sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
The Grande Dame of Schitt's Creek
Perhaps O'Hara's most deranged creation was Moira Rose in the beloved sitcom Schitt's Creek (2015-20). This former soap star, reduced to sharing cramped motel rooms after losing the family fortune, dreamed of recapturing her opulence through dubious projects like horror sequel The Crows Have Eyes 3: The Crowening and a commercial for ghastly fruit wine. Her mystifyingly wayward accent, incongruous couture wardrobe, and cuckoo behaviour became legendary, yet she remained a loving mother in her own unique way. O'Hara won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for this performance, which was co-written by Eugene Levy and his son Dan Levy.
Improvisational Genius and Christopher Guest Collaborations
O'Hara's roots in Toronto's improvisational comedy troupe Second City, alongside stablemates like Eugene Levy, Martin Short, and Gilda Radner, shaped her career. She and Levy sparked together magically in four astute, exceptionally funny films directed by Christopher Guest. In Waiting for Guffman (1996), she played a travel agent and atrocious actor with evident warmth. Best in Show (2000) saw them as a married couple beset with problems at a dog show. A Mighty Wind (2003) featured them as estranged folk musicians reuniting for a memorial concert, providing the film's touching emotional undercurrent. For Your Consideration (2006) showcased O'Hara's specialty—the comedy of delusion—as a veteran actor whose head is turned by Oscar rumours.
These films, largely improvised from raw footage that could span 60 hours, demonstrated what Sam Wasson called in his book Improv Nation her status as "one of the most fluid improvisers of her generation. Others may be crazier; none were as elegantly at ease."
A Diverse Career Spanning Decades
Born and raised in Toronto as the sixth of seven children, O'Hara credited her parents' sense of humour with informing her own. After starting as a waitress at Second City, she became understudy for Gilda Radner and eventually starred in the cult sketch show SCTV, earning an Emmy in 1982.
Her film career included driving an ice-cream van in Martin Scorsese's After Hours (1985), playing a gossipy journalist in Mike Nichols' Heartburn (1986), and roles in Dick Tracy and Betsy's Wedding (both 1990). Most recently, she impressed in 2025 TV hits: as a former studio boss in Seth Rogen's The Studio and as a therapist in the second season of The Last of Us.
Her voice work spanned Chicken Little (2005), Where the Wild Things Are (2009), The Wild Robot (2024), and Tim Burton's stop-motion gothic animations The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and Frankenweenie (2008), where she played "Weird Girl"—a fitting description of her unique niche.
Catherine O'Hara is survived by her husband, production designer Bo Welch, whom she met on the set of Beetlejuice and married in 1992, their children Matthew and Luke, and her six siblings, including singer Mary Margaret O'Hara.
