‘Beetlejuice’ actress Catherine O’Hara dies at 71
Catherine O’Hara dies at 71, remembered as the award-winning star known for “Home Alone,” “Beetlejuice” and “Schitt’s Creek.”
Catherine O’Hara, the legendary actress known for “Home Alone,” “Best in Show” and “Schitt’s Creek,” has reportedly died. She was 71.
The Canadian actress died Friday, Jan. 30, her manager confirmed to People. TMZ was first to report the news.
Variety and Deadline report O’Hara died at home after “a brief illness,” citing her agency CAA.
A veteran in the entertainment industry, O’Hara has been one of the most lauded and respected actors of her generation, winner of two career Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe and two Actor Awards (formerly Screen Actors Guild Awards). She was nominated for two Emmys at the 2025 ceremony.
Born in Canada in 1954, O’Hara began her career in “The Second City” comedy troupe in Toronto. The group later formed “SCTV,” the Canadian sketch comedy show also responsible for launching stars like Martin Short, Rick Moranis and Eugene Levy, O’Hara’s “Schitt’s Creek” costar. Her performance on “SCTV” made her a Canadian household name and she won an Emmy in 1982 for her writing on the show, after it moved to U.S. television on NBC and became known as “SCTV Network.”
In the 1980s and 1990s she worked steadily in television and film, mostly in supporting roles. She appeared in Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours” in 1985 and Mike Nichols’ “Heartburn” in 1986.
In 1988 she danced to “Day-O” in Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice” as Delia Deetz, one of her best-known performances. She would later collaborate with Burton again as a voice in two of his animated films “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993) and “Frankenweenie” (2012) and in the 2024 sequel “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.” Speaking to USA TODAY about the long-awaited return to the world of the horror comedy, the actress embraced the nostalgia of the film’s fans. Fans whose parents let them see the movie as kids were at the age “where you look at those times in your life and you remember them fondly,” she said.
Celebrities honor Catherine O’Hara with social media tributes
Celebrities paid tribute to actress Catherine O’Hara, best known for her roles in “Home Alone” and “Schitt’s Creek,” who died at the age of 71.
In 1990 she landed her most iconic role in Christmas classic “Home Alone,” as the mother of Macaulay Culkin’s poor forgotten Kevin. She reprised her role in the sequel “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” in 1992. O’Hara and Culkin have maintained a close relationship since the film, and she was there at the actor’s 2023 Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony to honor him.
“Mama. I thought we had time,” Culkin wrote Friday on Instagram in a tribute to O’Hara. “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.”
The actress frequently collaborated with director Christopher Guest for his signature mockumentary films including “Waiting for Guffman” (1996), “Best in Show” (2000), “A Mighty Wind” (2003) and “For Your Consideration” (2006). During the 2000s she earned praise for work as a guest star in series like HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Six Feet Under.” In 2010 she received her first acting Emmy nomination for the TV movie “Temple Grandin,” alongside Clare Danes.
O’Hara’s fame and career prospects took off even further with “Schitt’s Creek,” which premiered on Pop TV in 2015 but became wildly popular after it was subsequently added to Netflix. In 2020 she won an Emmy for playing Moira Rose, the theatrically high-maintenance family matriarch opposite Dan and Eugene Levy and Annie Murphy; she took home a Golden Globe for the role in 2021.
She most recently appeared alongside Seth Rogen in his industry satire “The Studio” on Apple TV and in the second season of HBO’s zombie apocalypse hit “The Last of Us.” She received Emmy nominations for both of those performances.
O’Hara married production designer Bo Welch in 1992, after the two met on the set of “Beetlejuice.” The couple has two sons, Matthew and Luke. The family has resided in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles for many years, and O’Hara was named the “honorary mayor” in 2021.
O’Hara spoke with USA TODAY in 2025 about her Michelob Ultra Super Bowl commercial, in which she appeared alongside Willem Defoe, saying that she had finally reached career success not for her film or television work, but for the ad. “I brag to people that I’m doing a Super Bowl commercial,” O’Hara said at the time. “It’s like, ‘Oh, I’ve made it.'”
When discussing her experience in the industry and in comedy she added, “It’s a beautiful gift to be able to laugh, and especially to laugh at yourself.”
Contributing: Ralphie Aversa, Brian Truitt, USA TODAY
(This story was updated to add a video.)