Canadian-American actress, comedian and screenwriter Catherine O’Hara, best known for her roles in the movies Home Alone and Beetlejuice and TV series Schitt’s Creek, has died aged 71.
Her death was confirmed to the BBC by her manager.
Most recently, she acted in Apple TV’s The Studio and HBO’s The Last of Us.
Among the accolades O’Hara won during her career are two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
She is survived by her husband, production designer Bo Welch, and her two sons.
O’Hara got her foot in the door as a waitress at the Toronto Second City theatre in the 1970s, before auditioning for a role with the acting troupe.
She further developed her comedic chops after joining the cast of sketch comedy show Second City Television, alongside the likes of Eugene Levy and the late John Candy.
It became one of the most successful Canadian TV programmes ever.
She has credited her Canadian roots with helping develop her sense of humour.
In 2020, she told Rolling Stone that growing up Canadian didn’t have the same sense of nationalism or patriotism that she saw in the US.
“And that’s a good thing because it does make you look outside of yourself and be aware of the world and not take yourself seriously,” she said.
“And I think Canadians have not only a sense of humour about others but also about themselves.”
The actress said that humour could have a dark side.
“There’s an edge to it, but with compassion and love,” she said.
Toronto-born O’Hara received the Order of Canada in 2018 and a lifetime achievement award in 2021 at the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards.
O’Hara created multiple memorable movie moments
Few actors can claim to have, with just one word of dialogue, created a moment that is still talked about and imitated decades later.
Catherine O’Hara did it twice, kind of.
Her look of horror in Home Alone as she realises her youngest son has been left behind – and her scream of “Kevin!” – is one of the most memorable moments from one of the most successful comedies ever.
And it’s repeated in Home Alone 2, when she realises the family have done it again – this time accompanied by her fainting backwards.
She also was part of perhaps the most famous sequence from 1989’s Beetlejuice, as she leads her possessed dinner guests in an enthralling song and dance performance of Day-O (the Banana Boat song).
Another classic moment of cinema that is still remembered nearly 40 years later.
Schitt’s Creek: Catherine O’Hara’s late career surge
Catherine O’Hara had a late career surge thanks to a certain Canadian comedy series that became one of the biggest hits of the Covid lockdown.
Schitt’s Creek had already been running for years with several seasons under its belt, and enjoyed a dedicated but relatively small following.
That all changed in 2020, when it was discovered by a whole new audience who were stuck at home for months and in desperate need of a few laughs.
The show followed a wealthy family who suddenly lose their money and mansion, and are forced to move into a shabby motel in a deadbeat town.
It’s a series with real heart, and viewers watched as the Roses gradually adapt to their new life and become a key part of their new community, with all of its eccentric but fundamentally kind characters.
With dozens of 20-minute episodes, it was the kind of light-hearted show viewers could buzz through easily to take their mind off things. A long-hidden gem was no longer hidden.
And O’Hara’s character was a particular delight. Moira Rose will be remembered for her wildly fluctuating accent, outlandish fashion sense, and brilliant one-liners. (A personal favourite: “Never assume, Twyla, because when you assume, it makes an ass out of… both of us.”)
‘I love you’ – Culkin pays tribute
We have a statement from Macaulay Culkin, who starred with O’Hara in the first two Home Alone films.
“Mama. I thought we had time,” Culkin writes in an Instagram post.
“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.”
O’Hara played Kate McCallister, mother of the mischievous Kevin, in Home Alone.
Source: BBC
