Catherine O’Hara, the legendary star of Home Alone and Schitt’s Creek amongst many other adored works, has passed away at the age of 71. The hugely popular performer was also known for hits such as The Studio, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Christopher Guest classics Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration.
A statement from the Creative Artists Agency confirmed that she passed away at home in California this morning (Friday, 30 January).
“Prolific multi-award-winning actress, writer, and comedian Catherine O’Hara died today at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness,” they said.
“O’Hara is survived by her husband Bo Welch and sons Matthew and Luke, along with siblings Michael O’Hara, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Maureen Jolley, Marcus O‘Hara, Tom O’Hara, Patricia Wallice.”
To a whole generation of families worldwide, she will perhaps best be known as Kevin’s mother Kate McCallister in the first two Home Alone movies; playing alongside Macaulay Culkin in the 1990 original and its 1992 sequel, Lost In New York.
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Culkin said in a heartfelt tribute 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.”
O’Hara found global megastardom all over again in Schitt’s Creek, the hit comedy series in which she played the incomparable Moira Rose, matriarch of the Rose family, for all 80 episodes. The role won her a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy amongst several other accolades.
She did so much beloved work alongside those two projects, though; not least the cult phenomenon Beetlejuice and its 2024 sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, HBO drama The Last of Us, Netflix film Pain Hustlers and indie gem Away We Go, among so much more.
Her Last of Us co-star Pedro Pascal also took to Instagram and said: “Oh, genius to be near you. Eternally grateful. There is less light in my world, this lucky world that had you, will keep you, always. Always. The one and ONLY #CatherineOHara.”
After growing up in Toronto, Canada, O’Hara – born in 1954 – first came to prominence in the improvised sketch show Second City Television from 1976 to 1984, for which she won her first Emmy.
In a past interview with Vulture, she looked back on her experience of making Home Alone and said: “Well, I’ll tell you right away, it was not a big film when I signed on. It was just a good script with some good people, John Hughes, Chris Columbus…
“Going in, I never had a sense of whether something’s going to be big or not, and I don’t think I’ve ever put too much thought into it because you can’t control that. It was not until I negotiated for the second movie was I aware that I was maybe part of a big project! That was the most money I have ever been offered up front.”
She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress on Television at the Golden Globes just this month, thanks to her work on The Studio; and is thought to have filmed an appearance for the upcoming second season, per IMDb.
For her role as Patty Leigh, she is also nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries & Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television at the Satellite Awards; which are slated for 8 March.
Shaun is an Evening News Editor at Digital Spy, with over a decade of experience reporting on all things pop culture. He has written for outlets including Metro, Attitude, Huffington Post, The Mirror, Yahoo!, Pink News and Express Online; specialising in TV, movies, soaps, music and LGBTQ+ issues. He is also a BAFTA Rocliffe-winning scriptwriter, having written episodes of the soap Hollyoaks, the official Steps musical Here & Now and multiple Offie Award-nominated plays. He studied English Literature and Drama at the University of East Anglia, and will happily talk at length about Desperate Housewives to anyone who’ll listen.