Earlier today, we reported that the former Home Alone and Schitt’s Creek star Catherine O’Hara had died at the age of 71. Now, new details about her death are coming to light.
New Details About O’Hara’s Passing
O’Hara reportedly died at her home in Los Angeles, California “following a brief illness.” This was confirmed by her agency CAA. At the time of this writing, no specific cause of death has been made public.
“At 4:48 am we responded to a request for medical aid to that address and transported an approximately 70-year-old female in serious condition,” a spokesperson with the Los Angeles Fire Department told Daily Mail.
O’Hara leaves behind her husband Bo Welch, who she married in 1992. They met when Welch was a production assistant on her 1988 movie Beetlejuice. O’Hara also leaves behind their two sons Matthew, 32, and Luke, 29.
O’Hara made her last public appearance at the Emmy Awards back in September. At the time, she looked noticeably frail. Check out photos from that appearance below.
Tributes For O’Hara
O’Hara was absent from the Golden Globe Awards on January 11. Indeed, she didn’t attend this event despite being nominated for Best Supporting Actress on Television for The Studio. During that ceremony, O’Hara’s Home Alone co-star Macaulay Culkin took the stage to present the award for Best Screenplay – Motion Picture. He also took that opportunity to reflect on his role in the holiday classic.
After news of O’Hara’s death was made public, Culkin took to Instagram to pay tribute to her.
“Mama. I thought we had time,” wrote Culkin, 45. “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,” he added. “I’ll see you later.”
Other former co-stars of O’Hara’s have also been honoring her on social media. One such former co-star is Pedro Paschal, who appeared with O’Hara in season two of HBO’s The Last of Us.
“Oh, genius to be near you,” Paschal wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of himself with O’Hara. “Eternally grateful. There is less light in my world, this lucky world that had you, will keep you, always. Always.”
Ron Howard, who directed O’Hara in the 1994 movie The Paper, honored her on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“This is shattering news,” Howard wrote. “What a wonderful person, artist and collaborator. I was lucky enough to direct, produce and act in projects with her and she was simply growing more brilliant with each year. My heart goes out to Bo & family.”
Howard added the hashtag “#RIPCatherineO’Hara.”
O’Hara’s History
Born in Canada in 1954, O’Hara got her start with the renowned Second City Theater in Toronto. She then starred on the sketch comedy series Second City Television (and usually abbreviated as SCTV) from 1976 until 1984.
From there, a successful movie career followed. Indeed, she starred in classics like Beetlejuice (1988), Home Alone (1990), Waiting For Guffman (1996), Best In Show (2000) and more. She later won an Emmy for her work on Schitt’s Creek, which she starred in from 2015 until 2020.
O’Hara was a true legend, and she’ll be dearly missed.
Rest in peace, Catherine O’Hara.