Eugene Levy has paid tribute to his “cherished” friend and Schitt’s Creek co-star Catherine O’Hara following her death at the age of 71. The actress died on Friday at her home in Los Angeles “following a brief illness”, according to her agency CAA.
Levy, 79, who played Johnny Rose, the on-screen husband of O’Hara’s Moira Rose in the US sitcom, said he was struggling for words to describe the loss. In a statement, he said: “Words seem inadequate to express the loss I feel today. I had the honour of knowing and working with the great Catherine O’Hara for over 50 years. From our beginnings on the Second City stage, to SCTV, to the movies we did with Chris Guest, to our six glorious years on Schitt’s Creek, I cherished our working relationship, but most of all our friendship. And I will miss her.”
Levy’s son and Schitt’s Creek co-creator Dan Levy described O’Hara as “family before she ever played my family”. On Instagram, he said: “What a gift to have gotten to dance in the warm glow of Catherine O’Hara’s brilliance for all those years. It’s hard to imagine a world without her in it.”
The Canadian-American actress, who won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her role in Schitt’s Creek, was also known for roles in Home Alone and the Beetlejuice films. Meryl Streep, who acted alongside O’Hara in the 1986 comedy Heartburn, said: “Catherine O’Hara brought love and light to our world, through whipsmart compassion for the collection of eccentrics she portrayed… such a loss for her family and friends, and the audience she graced as friends.”
Macaulay Culkin, who played O’Hara’s son in Home Alone and its sequel, 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.” Co-star Michael Keaton said: “We go back before the first Beetlejuice. She’s been my pretend wife, my pretend nemesis and my real life, true friend.”
Seth Rogen, her co-star in The Studio, called the news “devastating”, adding: “She was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous… she made me want to make our show good enough to be worthy of her presence in it. This is just devastating. We’re all lucky we got to live in a world with her in it.”
