Introduction to Catherine O’Hara’s Legendary Career:
Catherine O'Hara was a Canadian comedian and actress who was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on March 4, 1954, and died in Los Angeles, California, on January 30, 2026. Her skillful improvisational abilities and remarkable ability to give humorous characters depth and humanity earned her widespread respect and a career full of iconic roles. She became especially well-known for her parts in the two Home Alone films (1990 and 1992) and mockumentaries like Best in Show (2000) and A Mighty Wind (2003). The popular television series Schitt's Creek (2015–20) is her most well-known creation.
Catherine O’Hara grew up in a large family in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, where everyone enjoyed making each other laugh and comedy was always appreciated. She worked as a waitress at the Second City Theatre, Toronto’s improvisational comedy club, following her high school graduation. When Gilda Radner left the company in 1974, O’Hara, who had been chosen as her understudy, became a full member.
When the ensemble started the sketch comedy television series SCTV in 1976, O’Hara was a cast member. She became well-known for her deft celebrity impersonations as well as the distinctive identities she created. O’Hara temporarily worked on Saturday Night Live in 1981, when SCTV was picked for a late-night slot in the US, before heading back to SCTV. In 1982, she received an Emmy Award for her literary contributions to the show.
During this period, Catherine O’Hara also appeared in several Canadian films and television shows. By the time SCTV ended in 1983, she had become more well-known and began to win larger roles, including minor roles in Martin Scorsese’s After Hours (1985) and Mike Nichols’s Heartburn (1986). Then, in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice (1988), she gave an outstanding performance as Delia, one of the eccentric owners of a terrifying house where nobody really belonged.
She appeared in a number of different TV series and movies before landing the part for which she is most likely best known: the mother in the iconic comedy Home Alone (1990) who accidentally leaves her child behind. She reprised the role in the 1992 sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
In 1993, Catherine O’Hara reunited with Burton to voice two characters in The Nightmare Before Christmas. She also continued to make cameos on comedies on television, such as The Larry Sanders Show. She was also featured in Ron Howard’s 1994 movie The Paper.
One of Catherine O’Hara’s most successful creative partnerships began when she starred in Christopher Guest’s largely improvised mockumentary. The 1996 film Waiting for Guffman focused on the community theater in a small town. She went on to star in Guest’s Best in Show (2000), a spoof of competitive dog shows, and A Mighty Wind (2003), where she and Eugene Levy (who played her husband in Best in Show) portrayed an aging folk-music pair who had experienced a hit record in the 1960s.
That song, “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow,” was nominated for an Academy Award, and O’Hara and Levy played it live during the televised event in 2004. O’Hara portrayed an elderly actress in Guest’s For Your Consideration (2006) who was hoping to win an Oscar for her role in the made-up movie Home for Purim.
The Life Before This (1999), Orange County (2002), A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), Penelope (2006), Away We Go (2009), and Temple Grandin (2010) were among her other works. She had a recurrent part on Six Feet Under (2003 and 2005) and appeared in a number of television comedy. In animated movies like Over the Hedge (2006), Burton’s Frankenweenie (2012), and Where the Wild Things Are (2009), she provided the voice of a monster.
Later, Catherine O’Hara and Levy got back together for the wildly successful television series Schitt’s Creek (2015–20), which portrayed a wealthy family that was forced to live in a tiny village after losing their fortune. O’Hara earned an Emmy Award in 2020 for her depiction of Moira Rose, a former soap opera star known for her extravagant behavior and peculiar accent.
With Pain Hustlers (2023), a drama on the opioid crisis starring Chris Evans and Emily Blunt, she changed course. Along with returning cast members Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, she rejoined with Tim Burton in 2024 for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the follow-up to the 1988 movie.
Following that, Catherine O’Hara made a comeback to television with a number of well-known shows. In 2025, she had an appearance as a psychologist in the second season of Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey’s dystopian thriller The Last of Us, which is based on a computer game. She also portrayed a Hollywood producer in the dramedy The Studio, which starred Seth Rogen, that same year.
In addition to receiving the Governor General’s Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award in 2020, Catherine O’Hara was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2017. She met production designer Bo Welch, who was also an art director and director, while working on Beetlejuice (1988). After being married in 1992, the couple had two boys, Luke and Matthew Welch. Following a brief illness, Catherine O’Hara passed away on January 30, 2026. Her age was seventy-one.