Catherine O’Hara, best known for playing Macaulay Culkin’s frantic mother in the first two “Home Alone” films and for her Emmy‑winning turn as the extravagantly eccentric Moira Rose in “Schitt’s Creek,” died on Friday. She was 71. Her agency, Creative Artists Agency, said O’Hara passed away at her Los Angeles home after “a brief illness.” No additional details were released.
In a post on Instagram, her ‘Home Alone’ son, Macaulay Culkin shared a a still from “Home Alone” alongside a recent recreation of the moment. “I wanted more… I love you.” “Mama, I thought we had time,” he wrote on Instagram.
Catherine O’Hara’s Early Life And Career
Born and raised in Toronto, O’Hara was the sixth of seven children in a Catholic family of Irish heritage. She graduated from Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute, an alternative high school, and joined Second City in her early 20s as Gilda Radner’s understudy. (She was briefly hired for “Saturday Night Live” but left before ever appearing on the show.)
O’Hara’s career began in the 1970s at Toronto’s Second City, where she met Eugene Levy who would go on to become a lifelong creative partner and, decades later, her costar on “Schitt’s Creek.” Both were part of the original ensemble of “SCTV,” an acronym for “Second City Television.”
She took on quirky supporting roles in Martin Scorsese’s 1985 film “After Hours” and in Tim Burton’s 1988 hit “Beetlejuice,” a role she returned to for the 2024 sequel. She portrayed a more grounded character in the “Home Alone” films, playing a panicked mother attempting to reunite with her accidentally abandoned son. The movies became massive box‑office successes in the early 1990s and evolved into enduring holiday favourites.
Nearly half a century later, “Schitt’s Creek” became her crowning achievement, perfectly showcasing her distinctive comedic instincts. The series, created by Levy and his son, Dan Levy, about a wealthy family forced to rebuild their lives in a tiny town, swept the Emmys in its sixth and final season. The show introduced O’Hara to an entire new generation of admirers.
The series also sparked a late‑career resurgence, leading to dramatic work such as her role as a therapist guiding Pedro Pascal’s character and other survivors in HBO’s “The Last of Us,” and a buttoned‑down comedic turn opposite Seth Rogen in “The Studio.” Both roles earned her Emmy nominations.
Catherine O’Hara’s Family
O’Hara is survived by her husband, Bo Welch; their sons, Matthew and Luke; and siblings Michael O’Hara, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Maureen Jolley, Marcus O’Hara, Tom O’Hara and Patricia Wallice.
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