Catherine O’Hara, Canadian actor and ‘Schitt’s Creek’ star, useless at 71
Catherine O’Hara, Canadian comedic actor and star of Schitt’s Creek, has died, her supervisor confirmed to World Information.
In keeping with a press release from her company, Artistic Artists Company, she handed at her house in Los Angeles “following a short sickness,” the Related Press reported.
She was 71.
O’Hara was born in Toronto in 1954, the second oldest of seven siblings. After graduating from highschool, she acquired a job as a waitress on the Second Metropolis Theater.
After auditioning for the solid, then-director Joe Flaherty suggested, “Sustain the day job. Sustain the waitressing,” in line with the Second Metropolis web site.
O’Hara finally joined the corporate in 1974 and was solid in a TV present referred to as Second Metropolis Tv, the place she grew to become identified for each her impressions of celebrities and unique fan-favourite characters.
Actor and comic Catherine O’Hara of Toronto and Los Angeles is invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada by Governor Basic Julie Payette throughout a ceremony at Rideau Corridor in Ottawa on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Justin Tang.
THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Justin Tang
O’Hara made her movie debut in 1980’s Double Unfavourable, which additionally featured future Schitt’s Creek co-star, Eugene Levy. O’Hara then took on roles in Martin Scorsese’s 1985 black comedy After Hours and 1986’s Heartburn.
In 1988, she had a task in Beetlejuice as Delia Deetz, the stepmother of Winona Ryder’s Lydia. O’Hara later reprised her function within the 2024 sequel Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. She additionally hosted Saturday Night time Stay twice in 1991 and 1992 however opted to depart the present to return to Second Metropolis Tv.

One in all her most well-known roles was in House Alone and House Alone 2: Misplaced in New York because the forgetful mom of Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin, which has gone on to be some of the beloved film franchises.
She would staff up with Levy and his son Dan for Schitt’s Creek in 2015, because the present grew from solely streaming in Canada to being picked up by Netflix.
O’Hara remembered for her ‘mild’
Reactions to O’Hara’s demise have begun to pour in.
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney posted on X that “I be part of Canadians and followers internationally in mourning the lack of Catherine O’Hara.”
“Over 5 a long time of labor, Catherine earned her place within the canon of Canadian comedy — from the long-lasting Toronto manufacturing of Godspell to SCTV to Schitt’s Creek. Canada has misplaced a legend,” he added.
“My ideas are together with her household, pals, and all those that liked her work on display. She can be dearly missed.”
Conservative Chief Pierre Poilievre additionally posted that himself and his spouse Anaida “are deeply saddened to be taught of the passing of Canadian comedic legend Catherine O’Hara.”
Former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau additionally took to , calling O’Hara a “beloved Canadian icon.”
Canadian-American comic Tom Inexperienced additionally paid tribute to O’Hara in an X publish, calling O’Hara “one of many biggest Canadian comedy icons of all time.”
Fellow House Alone star Macaulay Culkin posted a photograph of him and O’Hara from the film to his Instagram with the tribute: “Mama. I assumed we had time. I wished extra. I wished to sit down in a chair subsequent to you. I heard you. However I had a lot extra to say. I really like you. I’ll so long.”
Pedro Pascal additionally posted a tribute to her on his Instagram account, saying “Oh, genius to be close to you. Eternally grateful. There may be much less mild in my world, this fortunate world that had you, will hold you, at all times. All the time. The one and ONLY #CatherineOHara.”
Actor Lily Tomlin referred to as O’Hara “vibrant, lovely, and filled with pleasure that touched so many” in an Instagram publish.
Actor Justin Theroux additionally posted on his Instagram account; “Oh Catherine. You can be so so missed.”
When O’Hara was awarded the Order of Canada in in 2017, she was highlighted as a “cultural trailblazer” whose “worldwide success has impressed many artists and helped pave the way in which for the following era of girls in comedy.”
Actors Annie Murphy, from left, Catherine O’Hara and Jennifer Robertson attend the eleventh Annual New York Tv Pageant “Schitt’s Creek” screening on the SVA Theatre on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015, in New York. (Photograph by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP).
(Photograph by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Dan Levy, from left, Catherine O’Hara, Annie Murphy and Eugene Levy take part within the Pop TV “Schitt’s Creek,” panel through the Winter 2020 Tv Critics Affiliation Press Tour, Monday, Jan. 13, 2020, in Pasadena, Calif. The CBC sequence “Schitt’s Creek” and “Anne with an E” had been the highest winners on the ACTRA Awards in Toronto. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ AP-Photograph by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP .
THE CANADIAN PRESS/ AP-Photograph by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
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