Catherine O’Hara, the beloved Canadian comedic actor known for her roles in Home Alone and Schitt’s Creek, has died at the age of 71. She passed away on Friday in Los Angeles following a brief illness, her manager confirmed to Variety. A cause of death has not been reported.
Macaulay Culkin, who played Kevin McCallister opposite O’Hara’s Kate in the first two Home Alone films, was among those paying tribute. On Instagram, he wrote: “Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more.” Pedro Pascal, who worked with O’Hara on The Last of Us, also shared his grief, writing: “Oh, genius to be near you. Eternally grateful. There is less light in my world.”
Born in Toronto on March 4, 1954, O’Hara began her career in improv with The Second City in 1974. She gained fame on the sketch show SCTV, winning her first Emmy in 1982 for writing. Her film career included roles in Beetlejuice (1988) and its 2024 sequel, as well as Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries such as Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show.
O’Hara earned a new generation of fans as Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek, winning her second Emmy in 2020. In her acceptance speech, she thanked the show’s creators for letting her “play a woman of a certain age who gets to fully be her ridiculous self.” She is survived by her husband, production designer Bo Welch, and their two sons, Matthew and Luke.
