‘What a Gift’: Hollywood Remembers Catherine O’Hara

Hollywood is mourning the death of Catherine O’Hara, the beloved actress and comedian whose illustrious career spanned decades across television and film.

News of her passing at the age of 71 was confirmed on Friday by her manager, prompting an outpouring of tributes from filmmakers, actors, and collaborators across the entertainment industry.

O’Hara first rose to prominence as a cast member on SCTV before becoming a defining presence in films including Beetlejuice, Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and a series of Christopher Guest mockumentaries such as Best in Show and For Your Consideration. In the latter part of her career, she became a cultural icon for a new generation with her Emmy-winning performance as Moira Rose on Schitt’s Creek.

Director Martin Scorsese, who worked with O’Hara on his 1985 film After Hours, paid tribute in a statement following the news of her death. “Many people know her from Schitt’s Creek. For many others, it’s the Home Alone pictures or Beetlejuice or the Christopher Guest comedies,” Scorsese said. “For me, and for most of my friends, it’s SCTV. All I have to do is think about one of the characters she created, like Lola Heatherton or Dusty Towne, and I’m laughing. Catherine was a true comic genius, a true artist, and a wonderful human being. I was blessed to be able to work with her on After Hours, and I’m going to miss her presence and her artistry. We all are.”

Seth Rogen, who recently worked with O’Hara on Apple TV+’s The Studio, shared a lengthy tribute on Instagram reflecting on her influence on his career. “Really don’t know what to say… I told O’Hara when I first met her I thought she was the funniest person I’d ever had the pleasure of watching on screen,” Rogen wrote. “Home Alone was the movie that made me want to make movies. Getting to work with her was a true honour. She was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous … she made me want to make our show good enough to be worthy of her presence in it. This is just devastating. We’re all lucky we got to live in a world with her in it.”

O’Hara’s death has been especially felt by the Schitt’s Creek cast and creative team. The series, which aired from 2015 to 2020, became one of television’s most celebrated comedies, culminating in a historic Emmy sweep in its final season.

Dan Levy, who co-created the series alongside his father Eugene Levy and starred opposite O’Hara throughout its six-season run, shared a tribute on Instagram Friday evening.

“What a gift to have gotten to dance in the warm glow of Catherine O’Hara’s brilliance for all those years,” Levy wrote. “Having spent over fifty years collaborating with my Dad, Catherine was extended family before she ever played my family. It’s hard to imagine a world without her in it. I will cherish every funny memory I was fortunate enough to make with her.”

Levy added that he was thinking of O’Hara’s husband, Bo Welch, and her sons, Luke and Matthew Welch.

Macaulay Culkin, who played O’Hara’s son in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, shared a deeply personal tribute honoring his on-screen mother. “Mama. I thought we had time,” Culkin wrote. “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.”

Culkin and O’Hara remained close over the years, and she appeared alongside him at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2023. O’Hara’s performance as Kate McCallister helped ground the emotional core of the Home Alone films, turning the holiday comedies into enduring classics.

Tributes also poured in from Michael Keaton, Pedro Pascal, Lily Tomlin, Melanie Lynskey, Christopher Guest and Amy Sedaris, with many praising O’Hara’s generosity, warmth and ability to elevate every project she touched.

O’Hara is survived by her husband, Bo Welch, and their sons, Matthew and Luke. As Hollywood continues to reflect on her legacy, she is being remembered not only as one of comedy’s greats, but as a rare presence whose artistry and humanity left an indelible mark on film and television.