Catherine O’Hara, the legendary comedic actress best known for Schitt’s Creek and Home Alone, died on Friday. She was 71. TMZ was first to report the news, with O’Hara’s manager confirming to People shortly after. O’Hara’s agency, CAA, told Variety the actress died at her home following a brief illness.
O’Hara came up as part of Toronto’s Second City theater, where she performed sketch comedy with fellow soon-to-be stars Eugene Levy, Martin Short, and Andrea Martin. In the ’80s, she worked with a string of impressive directors including Martin Scorsese, Mike Nichols, and Tim Burton. In 1990, she took on perhaps her most famous film role as Kevin McCallister’s mom in Home Alone.
In the late ’90s and early aughts, O’Hara established herself as a staple of Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries, turning in wildly funny performances in Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration.
In the past decade, O’Hara experienced a massive career resurgence thanks to her role as Moira Rose on Schitt’s Creek. The performance earned her a well-deserved Emmy in 2020. Most recently, she starred in The Studio as film exec Patty Leigh and in The Last of Us as Gail Lynden. She was Emmy-nominated for both.
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O’Hara is survived by her husband, production designer Bo Welch, and their two sons, Matthew and Luke.
