“Home Alone” Star Catherine O’Hara Passes Away at 71

Actress Catherine O’Hara died this Friday from a brief illness, her manager reported to American media outlets, including Variety. She was 71 years old. Known to the general public for her roles in “Home Alone” and “Beetlejuice,” she began her career with Martin Scorsese, and had recently appeared in TV series such as “Schitt’s Creek,” “The Last of Us,” and “The Studio.”

Her on-screen son Macaulay Culkin (Kevin from “Home Alone”) expressed his emotions, stating:

“Mom. I thought we had more time. 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. See you later.”

A Legendary Comedic Actress

Born in 1954 in Toronto, Canada, Catherine O’Hara earned a degree in theatre and wrote for television. She moved to Chicago and became part of the renowned improvisational comedy group “Second City,” where she performed impersonations of Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and Brooke Shields. This act was a hit with audiences for five years and earned her an Emmy Award. Concurrently, she voiced numerous cartoon characters in the United States.

Film Debut with Martin Scorsese and Breakthrough in “Home Alone”

O’Hara began her film career in Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours” before being cast as the forgetful mother of Macaulay Culkin in Chris Columbus’s “Home Alone” series, and as Winona Ryder’s mother in Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice.”

She then appeared in “Dick Tracy” by Warren Beatty, adapted from the comic strip, and joined the cast of “Heartburn” by Mike Nichols in 1986. In 2002, she continued in comedy with roles such as the mother of Christina Applegate in “The Rental” by Mike Mitchell and participated in “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” with Jim Carrey.

Catherine O’Hara starred in several of Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries: “Waiting for Guffman,” “A Mighty Wind” (co-writing some of the songs), and “Best in Show,” for which she received the American Comedy Award. She reunited with the filmmaker and his usual collaborators in 2007 for the satirical comedy “For Your Consideration.”

In 2009, the Canadian actress appeared in Sam Mendes’ “Away We Go” before lending her voice to the character of Judith in “Where the Wild Things Are.” In the romantic comedy “Killers,” she starred alongside Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl.

Success with “Schitt’s Creek”

From 2015 and over 80 episodes, she became the matriarch of the Rose family in “Schitt’s Creek,” earning an Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.

When the series ended in 2020, she lent her voice to various animated feature films including “The Wild Robot,” appeared in Matthew Vaughn’s “Argylle,” and reprised her role of Delia in the sequel to “Beetlejuice” (2024), before playing a psychologist in a survivor town in the second season of “The Last of Us.”

In 2025, she was the former boss of the character played by Seth Rogen in the comedy series “The Studio,” a satire of Hollywood studio life. She was expected to reprise her role in this series as well as in “The Last of Us.”

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