Home Alone star Catherine O’Hara dies aged 71

Catherine O’Hara, has died aged 71.

Best known for her starring roles in the Home Alone and Beetlejuice films as well as her Emmy-winning turn in Schitt’s Creek, Catherine died on Friday at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness.

The Canadian star rose to fame through Toronto’s Second City improvisation troupe and on SCTV, before making a name for herself in the 1988’s cult movie, Beetlejuice and holiday classic Home Alone.

Most recently, Catherine played Moira in comedy series Schitt’s Creek – the comedy show that follows the wealthy Rose family as they abruptly lose their money and mansion, and are forced to move into a shabby motel in a deadbeat town they bought as a joke.

Dan Levy, who played her son David in the series, which he also co-wrote and produced, said it was a gift “to have gotten to dance in the warm glow of Catherine O’Hara’s brilliance”.

“Having spent over 50 years collaborating with my dad, Catherine was extended family before she ever played my family,” he wrote.

“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.”

O’Hara had continued working until very close to her death, playing a therapist in HBO’s sci-fi drama The Last of Us and as an ousted movie executive in Seth Rogen’s The Studio just last year.

In The Studio, she embodied Patty Leigh, a studio boss replaced by Rogen’s character, who pursues more creative roles as a film producer and makes her way to the Golden Globes – a stage that O’Hara was no stranger to.

She won a Golden Globe for best actress in 2021 for her role in Schitt’s Creek and was nominated for her role in The Studio at this year’s awards.

She is also nominated at the Actor Awards (formerly the Screen Actors Guild Awards), which take place in March, for her role as Patty.