The world feels a little less magical with beloved actress Catherine O’Hara gone. Known for her iconic roles in Schitt’s Creek, The Studio, Home Alone and Beetlejuice – the Hollywood legend passed away on January 20, 2026 aged 71.
According to Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office report obtained by TMZ, her immediate cause of death was listed as a pulmonary embolism, which is a blood clot in the lungs, with rectal cancer as the underlying cause.
O’Hara’s career was an impressive one, spanning more than 50 years.
Catherine O’Hara’s career
Born in Canada, O’Hara created the hugely popular sketch comedy series Second City Televison with fellow actor Eugene Levy, with whom she would go on to appear in several other projects, such as Christopher Guest’s Best In Show.
Mainstream success came with hit films such as Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice, in which she played kooky art dealer Delia Deetz, and the Home Alone films, in which she played the mother to Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin.
However, it was perhaps her role as Moira Rose, the eccentric, high-fashion-dressing, washed-up soap actress who finds herself destitute and living in a small town motel with her family in Schitt’s Creek, that firmly placed O’Hara as a cultural icon.
Moira’s unusual vernacular became part of the wider lexicon, and her outfits became inspiration for everything from Halloween costumes to everyday attire.
What was Catherine O’Hara’s cause of death?
According to Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office report obtained by TMZ, her immediate cause of death was listed as a pulmonary embolism, which is a blood clot in the lungs, with rectal cancer as the underlying cause.
The report also noted that O’Hara has been cremated.
Did Catherine O’Hara have kids?
O’Hara is survived by her husband, production designer Bo Welch, and sons Matthew and Luke, along with siblings Michael O’Hara, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Maureen Jolley, Marcus O‘Hara, Tom O’Hara and Patricia Wallice.
Tributes pour in for Catherine O’Hara
As tributes begin to roll in for the beloved performer, Macaulay Culkin’s was, perhaps, one of the most heartbreaking.
“Mama. I thought we had time,” he said in an Instagram caption. “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.”
“This is just devastating,” her Studio co-star, Seth Rogen, wrote on Instagram. “We’re all lucky we got to live in a world with her in it.”
O’Hara’s Beetlejuice co-star, Michael Keaton, also shared a tribute on Instagram. “We go back before the first Beetlejuice. She’s been my pretend wife, my pretend nemesis and my real-life, true friend,” he wrote. “This one hurts. Man, am I gonna miss her. Thinking about Beau as well.”
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