Comedy Icon Catherine O’Hara Dies At 71 In Los Angeles

Catherine O’Hara, the beloved Canadian actress, writer, and comedian whose career spanned more than five decades, died on January 30, 2026, at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness. She was 71. The news was confirmed by her agency, Creative Artists Agency, and reported by multiple outlets, including Page Six and Rolling Stone. According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, emergency responders arrived at her residence at 4:48 a.m. local time and transported her to the hospital in serious condition. O’Hara’s cause of death has not yet been revealed, but it was known she suffered from dextrocardia with situs inversus, a rare condition where the organs are arranged as a mirror image of typical anatomy, as explained by the Cleveland Clinic.

O’Hara is survived by her husband of 33 years, production designer Bo Welch, and their two sons, Matthew and Luke. Born March 4, 1954, in Toronto, she was one of seven children in a family where humor was a cherished currency. “Being funny was highly encouraged in our family,” O’Hara told The New Yorker in 2019. “My dad would tell jokes, and my mom would tell stories and imitate everyone within the stories. I think everyone is born with humor, but your life can beat it out of you, sadly, or you can be lucky enough to grow up in it.”

After graduating high school in 1973, O’Hara began her career at Toronto’s famed Second City improv comedy hub in 1974, initially as a waitress. “Once I saw the Second City show, I thought, ‘Oh my Lord, that is what I want to do. This is what I am meant to do. Please let me in,'” she recalled to Playback in 2008. Her break came when she became Gilda Radner’s understudy and then joined the main cast after Radner left for Saturday Night Live. O’Hara’s time at Second City forged lifelong creative bonds with fellow comedians like Eugene Levy, John Candy, Martin Short, and Rick Moranis.

In 1976, O’Hara became a founding cast member of Second City Television (SCTV), a Canadian sketch show that would launch the careers of several comedy legends. Her sharp wit and talent for both comedic and dramatic roles made her a standout. O’Hara’s work as a writer on SCTV earned her an Emmy Award in 1982. “A lot of people come up to me to talk about ‘SCTV’ — it is really amazing how long that show has lived on,” she said in 2008. “There have always been amazingly funny people in Canada, and we were just one group.”

O’Hara’s journey briefly intersected with Saturday Night Live in 1981, but she left the show before ever appearing on air. Reflecting on her decision, she told People in 2024, “Basically, I said, ‘Oh, sorry, I gotta go be with my [comedy] family.'” She ultimately returned to SCTV, which was picked up by NBC and rebranded as SCTV Network 90. Her collaborations with Levy, Candy, and others from the SCTV era would continue for decades, both on-screen and off.

O’Hara’s transition to film began with Double Negative (1980), followed by supporting roles in Martin Scorsese’s After Hours (1985) and Mike Nichols’ Heartburn (1986). Her big-screen breakthrough came in Tim Burton’s 1988 cult classic Beetlejuice, where she played Delia Deetz, a role she reprised in the 2024 sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. O’Hara’s comedic energy and unique presence made her a favorite of Burton, who cast her as the voice of Sally in the animated hit The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). She continued to lend her talents to animated films, including Chicken Little, Over the Hedge, Frankenweenie (2012), Elemental (2023), and her final voice role as Pinktail in the Oscar-nominated The Wild Robot (2025).

But for many, O’Hara was immortalized as Kate McCallister, the frantic yet loving mother in the blockbuster holiday films Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). Macaulay Culkin, who played her son Kevin, wrote on Instagram after her passing, “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’s versatility shone in her work with director Christopher Guest, starring in a string of acclaimed mockumentaries: Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006). Her on-screen chemistry with Eugene Levy was a recurring delight for audiences. “In this kind of improvisational comedy, there are only so many people who are really quite adept at that, and Catherine is one,” Levy told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015.

The crowning achievement of O’Hara’s later career was her portrayal of Moira Rose on Schitt’s Creek, the Canadian sitcom created by Eugene and Dan Levy. The show, which aired from 2015 to 2020, followed the once-wealthy Rose family as they rebuilt their lives in a small town. O’Hara’s eccentric, fashion-forward Moira became an instant icon, earning her a second Emmy, a Golden Globe, a SAG Award, and a Critics’ Choice Award. Schitt’s Creek made history at the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning nine awards including Outstanding Comedy Series. “Thank you members of the Television Academy for nominating me alongside these very cool women,” O’Hara said in her acceptance speech. “I will forever be grateful to Eugene and Daniel Levy for the opportunity to play a woman of a certain age, my age, who gets to fully be herself.”

Even as her career soared, O’Hara maintained close ties with her SCTV collaborators, especially John Candy. She delivered a moving eulogy at Candy’s funeral in 1994, saying through tears, “His movies are a safe haven for those of us who get overwhelmed by the sadness and troubles of this world… I will miss him. But I hope and pray to leave this world too some day and to have a place near God – as near as any other soul, with the exception of John Candy.”

In her final years, O’Hara continued to challenge herself, earning Emmy nominations in 2025 for her roles in The Studio and The Last of Us. She appeared at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party and starred in the Apple TV hit The Studio in March 2025, just months before her passing. Reflecting on her career in a 2024 Parade interview, she remarked, “When you work with collaborative, good and talented people then you do feel safe… So I loved having the freedom to fail.”

O’Hara’s legacy is one of laughter, innovation, and generosity—both on and off the screen. Her ability to find humor in the world, and to share it with millions, ensured her place as a cherished figure in comedy and entertainment. Her family, friends, and countless fans will remember her not only for her unforgettable performances, but for the warmth and wit she brought to every stage and screen she graced.