Beloved Canadian film and television icon Catherine O’Hara passed away yesterday after a reportedly brief illness. There was no initial news of a health decline or of a hiatus from work, and so it came as a shock to most of us.

Born in Etobicoke, a suburb of Toronto, Canada, she garnered long-lasting fame north and south of the border after finding her footing as part of the sketch theatre troupe The Second City. She went on to be part of their troupe’s celebrated television series SCTV, winning her first Primetime Emmy for the show’s U.S. run, which also earned her 4 nominations. She won over movie-goers in the 1980s with her roles in, to name only a few, Scorsese’s offbeat After Hours, and mega hit Beetlejuice. 1990 hit, and she became a surrogate mother to all millennials as Kevin’s mom, Kate McCallister, in Home Alone and then again in Home Alone 2 a few years later. Over the next decade, she joined the A-list-heavy ensembles in four of Christopher Guest’s critically-lauded mockumentaries: Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006). 

O’Hara also brought her considerable talent to voice-over work, too, as Sally in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and in films like Chicken Little (2005), Over the Hedge (2006), Where the Wild Things Are (2009), Frankenweenie (2012), The Addams Family (2019), and The Wild Robot (2024).

In the mid-2010s, she experienced a major career resurgence when she co-starred on Schitt’s Creek as fan favourite Moira Rose, for which she won both a Golden Globe and an Emmy. Most recently, O’Hara had starred in The Last of Us and the Seth Rogen’s Hollywood send-up The Studio. Both roles led to recent nominations at the 2025 Emmys and the latter for a recent Golden Globe. As part of both ensembles, she is nominated for two awards at the upcoming Actor Awards (formerly the SAG Awards).

Since the news broke, tributes from stars, including Rogen, Culkin, Eugene and Dan Levy, and more, have come fast and strong.

In an Instagram post soon after the news broke, Culkin lamented, “Mama. I thought we had time.”

Eugene Levy released a statement late on Friday, saying: “Words seem inadequate to express the loss I feel today. I had the honor of knowing and working with the great Catherine O’Hara for over fifty years. From our beginnings on the Second City stage, to SCTV, to the movies we did with Chris Guest, to our six glorious years on ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ I cherished our working relationship, but most of all our friendship. And I will miss her. My heart goes out to Bo, Matthew, Luke and the entire O’Hara family.”

Dan Levy wrote on his Instagram: “What a gift to have gotten to dance in the warm glow of Catherine O’Hara’s brilliance for all those years. Having spent over fifty years collaborating with my Dad, Catherine was extended family before she ever played my family. It’s hard to imagine a world without her in it. I will cherish every funny memory I was fortunate enough to make with her. My heart goes out to Bo, Matthew, Luke and every member of her big, beautiful family.”

Rogen also posted on his Instagram: “Really don’t know what to say… I told O’Hara when I first met her I thought she was the funniest person I’d ever had the pleasure of watching on screen. Home Alone was the movie that made me want to make movies. Getting to work with her was a true honour. She was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous… she made me want to make our show good enough to be worthy of her presence in it. This is just devastating. We’re all lucky we got to live in a world with her in it.”

Replying to Rogen’s Instagram post, Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley, who guest-starred as a fictionalized version of herself on The Studio, said: “Loved how openly you guys worshipped her. It was beautiful to witness.”

Other tributes and social media celebrations of life include those from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Justin Trudeau, Pedro Pascal, Tim Burton, and Michael Keaton.

O’Hara is survived by her husband, production designer Bo Welch, and sons Matthew and Luke. She was 71.