Catherine O’Hara, two-time Emmy Award winner and beloved film star, has died on the age of 71.
A consultant for O’Hara confirmed the information to Enterprise Insider on Friday afternoon. Her company mentioned in an announcement that her loss of life on Friday got here after a “transient sickness,” per The Related Press.
O’Hara has been a fixture of TV and films since breaking out on the Canadian sketch comedy sequence “SCTV” within the early ’80s alongside John Sweet, Eugene Levy, Martin Quick, Andrea Martin, and Rick Moranis.
Since then, she’s turn into beloved to audiences for her roles in
“Beetlejuice,” “House Alone,” “Schitt’s Creek,” “The Studio,” “Finest in Present,” “The Final of Us,” and lots of voiceover roles, together with Sally in “The Nightmare Earlier than Christmas” and Susan Frankenstein in “Frankenweenie.”
See her legendary profession in pictures.
Catherine O’Hara’s breakout was performing with the Canadian comedy troupe Second Metropolis within the ’70s and ’80s.
Reg Innell/Toronto Star/Getty Photos
“SCTV,” a sketch sequence a few fictional TV community, ran on Canadian tv from 1976 to 1984 and on NBC from 1981 to 1983.
O’Hara was simply one of many many Canadian comedians who had been launched to American audiences by means of “SCTV,” which was one thing of a cult traditional.
She received her first Emmy, for writing on “SCTV,” in 1982.
She met lots of her longtime collaborators there, together with Eugene Levy.
John Mahler/Toronto Star/Getty Photos
“You are fortunate to work with mates, and I believe it is good to see mates collectively. I like understanding when folks know one another and have a historical past; that comes throughout on display. I believe it is enjoyable for folks to see. It’s for me,” O’Hara advised BuzzFeed about working with Levy in 2014.
Her first main movie position was 1988’s “Beetlejuice,” sparking one other lengthy collaboration between O’Hara and director Tim Burton.
Warner Bros.
The “Day-O” scene in “Beetlejuice” is maybe essentially the most iconic in a movie crammed with iconic scenes, and all of it begins with O’Hara’s character.
O’Hara went on to work with Burton in “The Nightmare Earlier than Christmas,” “Frankenweenie,” and “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”
“Beetlejuice” was additionally essential for her private life — she met her husband, manufacturing designer Bo Welch, on the set.
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Assortment/Getty Photos
They had been married from 1992 till her loss of life. They shared two sons.
O’Hara will all the time be identified for enjoying Kate McAllister in 1990’s “House Alone” and its 1992 sequel.
twentieth Century Fox
O’Hara has been a staple in houses around the globe each December for 35 years attributable to her position as Kevin’s mother, Kate, in “House Alone” and “House Alone 2: Misplaced in New York.”
She additionally appeared in a number of mockumentaries written and directed by Christopher Visitor within the ’90s and 2000s.
Warner Bros. Photos
Particularly, she was in “Ready for Guffman” in 1996, “Finest in Present” in 2000, “A Mighty Wind” in 2003, and “For Your Consideration” in 2006.
Beginning in 2015, she turned identified to a completely new era as Moira Rose in “Schitt’s Creek.”
Andrew Lipovsky/NBC/NBCU Photograph Financial institution /Getty Photos
“Schitt’s Creek” turned a full-blown phenomenon throughout its run from 2015 to 2020, and most of the present’s most memorable moments got here from her character, Moira.
She received an Emmy for her efficiency because the lovably kooky Rose matriarch.
Frank Ockenfels/ABC/Getty Photos
She received in 2020 after receiving a nomination for the prior 12 months, as nicely. It was her second win from eight nominations.
Her final public look was the 2025 Emmys, the place she was nominated for her performances in “The Final of Us” and “The Studio.”
Distinctive Nicole/WireImage/Getty Photos
O’Hara was a double nominee eventually 12 months’s Emmys: she was nominated for excellent supporting actress in a comedy sequence for “The Studio” and excellent visitor actress in a drama sequence for “The Final of Us.”
