Catherine O’Hara, A Singular Comic Voice, Passes Away At Age 71

The death of Catherine O’Hara at 71 leaves a particular kind of silence. Her work never shouted for attention, yet it stayed with people for decades, resurfacing in moments of grief, laughter, and recognition. From the raw inventiveness of Second City and SCTV to the emotional precision of Moira Rose, O’Hara made comedy feel humane and interior. She played foolishness without cruelty, sadness without sentimentality, and ambition without vanity. What remains is not just a body of work, but a sense of companionship, the feeling that someone deeply observant was standing just off to the side, watching the same world and quietly telling the truth about it.

71 Things You May Not Have Known About Catherine O’Hara

  1. She portrayed the Virgin Mary in her first school play
  2. She was the sixth of seven children
  3. Her father worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway
  4. Her mother was a real estate agent
  5. She grew up in Toronto
  6. She was raised Catholic
  7. She graduated from Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute
  8. She worked as a waitress at Second City before joining the troupe
  9. Joe Flaherty once told her to stick to waitressing
  10. She auditioned again anyway and was hired
  11. She joined Second City in 1974
  12. She was initially terrified of improv
  13. Her improv strategy was “when in doubt, play insane”
  14. She was an original cast member of SCTV
  15. She won an Emmy as part of the SCTV writing staff
  16. She turned down Saturday Night Live before appearing on air
  17. Robin Duke took her SNL slot
  18. She never regretted leaving
  19. She disliked living in New York
  20. She made her film debut in Double Negative
  21. She worked with Martin Scorsese in After Hours
  22. She played Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice
  23. She reprised that role in 2024
  24. She played Kate McCallister in Home Alone
  25. She reprised that role in Home Alone 2
  26. She voiced Sally in The Nightmare Before Christmas
  27. She collaborated repeatedly with Christopher Guest
  28. She improvised most of her dialogue in Guest films
  29. She co-wrote songs for A Mighty Wind
  30. She sang onscreen with Eugene Levy
  31. She called Levy a lifelong creative partner
  32. She married Beetlejuice production designer Bo Welch
  33. They married in 1992
  34. They had two sons
  35. She used humor to resolve arguments
  36. She described sarcasm as marital glue
  37. She has situs inversus
  38. Her internal organs are reversed
  39. She held dual Canadian and American citizenship
  40. She was honorary mayor of Brentwood, Los Angeles
  41. She remained close with Macaulay Culkin
  42. She attended his Walk of Fame ceremony
  43. She joined Schitt’s Creek in her 60s
  44. She helped shape Moira Rose’s voice
  45. She insisted Moira wear wigs
  46. The wigs reflected Moira’s mood
  47. She won an Emmy for Schitt’s Creek
  48. She also won a Golden Globe
  49. And a SAG Award
  50. She thanked Eugene and Dan Levy in her Emmy speech
  51. She valued playing women her own age
  52. She appeared on Six Feet Under
  53. She appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm
  54. She appeared on 30 Rock
  55. She earned an Emmy nomination for Temple Grandin
  56. She voiced characters well into her later years
  57. She appeared in Elemental in 2023
  58. She appeared in Argylle in 2024
  59. She appeared in The Last of Us in 2025
  60. She starred in Apple TV+’s The Studio
  61. She avoided projects she felt were “bad”
  62. She trusted her gut over opportunity
  63. She disliked defending work she didn’t believe in
  64. She preferred smaller, better roles
  65. She called Home Alone a perfect movie
  66. She believed comedy should contain sadness
  67. Critics called her the queen of bittersweet
  68. She never chased celebrity
  69. She valued collaboration over stardom
  70. She stayed loyal to old friends
  71. She made audiences feel understood