Catherine O’Hara, the Canadian-American actor celebrated for a decades-long career across sketch comedy, film and television, died on 30 January in Los Angeles at the age of 71, her agency Creative Artists Agency said.
A death certificate from the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health listed the immediate cause of death as a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in the lungs, with rectal cancer recorded as the underlying cause, according to the Page Six report.
The document also noted that O’Hara had situs inversus, a rare congenital condition in which the arrangement of the internal organs is a mirror image of typical anatomy. Medical specialists say the condition can occur in isolation, though it is sometimes associated with other abnormalities and can complicate diagnosis because symptoms may present atypically.
O’Hara died at her home following what her representatives described as a brief illness. Her family will hold a private celebration of her life, the Press Association reported, and she is survived by her husband, production designer Bo Welch, and their sons, Matthew and Luke.
In the hours before her death, emergency services were called to her Los Angeles home and she was transported to hospital in a serious condition, Page Six reported, citing information it said it had received from the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Tributes from colleagues and public figures described O’Hara as an essential voice in North American comedy, with a body of work that spanned generations and formats while retaining a distinctive blend of precision and warmth. In a statement published by the Canadian government, Prime Minister Mark Carney said: “I join all Canadians in mourning the loss of Catherine O’Hara.” He added that “over five decades of work” she had “earned her place in the canon of Canadian comedy”.
Eugene Levy, her longtime collaborator and co-star on Schitt’s Creek, said he had “the honour of knowing and working with the great Catherine O’Hara for over 50 years”. He described her as both a colleague and friend across eras that included Second City, SCTV, several Christopher Guest films and the television series that later brought her renewed global attention. “I cherished our working relationship, but most of all our friendship,” Levy said, adding: “And I will miss her.”
Macaulay Culkin, who played her on-screen son in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, posted an emotional message that appeared to reference their characters’ bond as well as their real-life connection. “Mama. I thought we had time,” he wrote. “I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you.”
Other figures in film and television used social media to mark her death. Pedro Pascal, who worked with O’Hara on The Last of Us, wrote: “Oh, genius to be near you. Eternally grateful.”
O’Hara was born in Toronto and rose through Canada’s comedy pipeline, emerging from the improvisational theatre scene that helped shape a generation of performers who would later cross repeatedly between television, film and stage. She became widely known as a key member of the SCTV ensemble, which established her as a performer capable of switching personas rapidly while grounding even broad comedy in recognisable human detail.
Her international profile expanded through film roles that became cultural fixtures, including her performance as Kate McCallister in Home Alone, the mother frantically trying to return to Chicago after her son is accidentally left behind. The film’s endurance as a holiday staple meant that O’Hara’s work remained in the public consciousness long after its initial release, introducing her to new audiences over time and helping to cement her status as a performer with range beyond sketch.
She also appeared in Beetlejuice and returned decades later for its sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, underlining a late-career phase in which long-running franchises, prestige television and high-profile streaming projects converged.
For many viewers, however, her most celebrated role came in Schitt’s Creek, where she played Moira Rose, a former soap actor reinventing herself after her family loses its wealth and is forced to relocate to a small town. The performance became one of modern television’s defining comic creations, pairing extravagant line deliveries with flashes of vulnerability. O’Hara won major awards for the role, including an Emmy and a Golden Globe, according to the Press Association report.
Beyond her screen work, her collaborators often highlighted her contribution to ensemble performance and to the craft of comedy itself, particularly her ability to elevate scenes while staying responsive to other actors. Christopher Guest, who directed her in multiple mockumentary-style comedies, said in a statement: “I am devastated. We have lost one of the comic giants of our age.”
Carney’s statement placed her within a national tradition of Canadian performers who built international careers while retaining a strong cultural connection to their origins. “Though her talents are recognised worldwide, Canadians will always claim her as one of our own,” he said, noting honours including the Order of Canada and her induction into Canada’s Walk of Fame.
The cause-of-death details, as presented in the Los Angeles County death certificate cited in the Page Six report, drew attention to pulmonary embolism and rectal cancer, as well as the rare anatomical condition recorded on the document. Pulmonary embolism is a medical emergency that can occur when a clot travels to the lungs and blocks blood flow; clinicians often emphasise that risk factors vary widely, including cancer and its treatments. In O’Hara’s case, the certificate listed rectal cancer as the underlying cause.
O’Hara’s death closes a career that moved fluidly between comedy’s most collaborative spaces and the highly visible demands of mainstream film and television. Her work, spanning more than five decades, included early ensemble sketch, iconic family films, mockumentary comedies and award-winning television, with colleagues repeatedly returning to the same description: a singular performer whose instinct for the funny never obscured the emotional reality underneath.
