Catherine O’Hara, the Emmy Award-winning actress of Schitt’s Creek, Home Alone, and The Studio, has reportedly died. She was 71 years old.
TMZ reported the news on the morning of Friday, January 30, 2025. Variety reports that O’Hara died at her home in Los Angeles following a “brief illness,” according to her agency CAA.
She leaves behind two kids, Luke Welch and Matthew Welch, as well as her husband, Bo Welch.
Over the span of her 50+ year career in the industry as a writer, comedian, and actress, O’Hara took on some truly iconic roles. Her acting career began in 1975 on The Wayne & Shuster Show. Perhaps most famously, O’Hara played the mother of Macaulay Culkin in the 1990 smash hit film Home Alone.
She won an Emmy for acting as Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek, the beloved comedy series that ran for five seasons. Some of her other roles include the 2003 film A Mighty Wind, the 2000 mockumentary Best In Show, and the original and remake of Beetlejuice. She most recently appeared in the Apple TV+ series The Studio alongside Seth Rogen, which earned her last Emmy nomination.
In 2021, O’Hara was named the honorary mayor of the Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood.
O’Hara’s impact on the world of film and television will be felt for generations.