LOS ANGELES — The entertainment world is reeling from the loss of one of its most versatile and beloved figures, Catherine O’Hara, who passed away on Jan. 30 at the age of 71. On Monday, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office officially confirmed that the Emmy-winning actress died of a pulmonary embolism, shedding new light on the sudden loss that has prompted tributes from Hollywood stars and world leaders alike.
According to the death certificate released to the press and shared by TMZ, Ms. O’Hara’s passing was the result of a blockage in the pulmonary artery. The document also revealed for the first time that the actress had been battling rectal cancer, which was listed as a significant underlying cause. The revelation of this private health struggle has added a layer of profound tragedy to the death of a performer known as much for her vibrant, chaotic energy onscreen as for her grace and privacy off-screen.
Ms. O’Hara, whose career spanned the sketch comedy revolution of the 1970s to the viral streaming success of the 2020s, leaves behind a legacy defined by her fearless commitment to character. From the eccentric Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice to the unforgettable Kate McCallister in Home Alone and the imperious Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek, she crafted women who were often unhinged, frequently hilarious, and always deeply human.
Medical Examiner’s Findings: The Silent Danger of Pulmonary Embolism
The confirmation of a pulmonary embolism (PE) answers the lingering questions surrounding Ms. O’Hara’s sudden death, which was initially reported only as the result of a “brief illness.”
Shutterstock
A pulmonary embolism occurs when a blood clot, typically formed in the deep veins of the legs (a condition known as deep vein thrombosis, or DVT), travels through the bloodstream and lodges in the arteries of the lungs. This blockage obstructs blood flow, potentially causing heart failure or severe respiratory distress.
Dr. Aris Vanes, a thrombosis specialist at UCLA Medical Center (who was not involved in Ms. O’Hara’s care), explained that the connection between the actress’s underlying cancer and the embolism is clinically significant.
“Malignancy is a well-documented hypercoagulable state,” Dr. Vanes noted. “Cancers, particularly those of the gastrointestinal tract like rectal cancer, can release pro-coagulant factors into the blood. This thickens the blood and dramatically increases the risk of clot formation. For many patients, a PE can be the first sign of an undiagnosed cancer, or a fatal complication of a known one.”
The death certificate indicated that Ms. O’Hara was cremated shortly after her passing. The quiet handling of her diagnosis—rectal cancer—speaks to her desire to shield her family and her work from the scrutiny of the public eye during her final months.
Tributes: “A National Treasure” and a “Second Mom”
As the news of the medical examiner’s report broke on Monday evening, tributes began to flood social media and official channels, led by those who knew her best: her co-stars and her countrymen.
Macaulay Culkin, who starred alongside O’Hara in the 1990 classic Home Alone, posted a moving tribute. For millions of fans, O’Hara remains the quintessential “movie mom”—the frantic, guilt-ridden Kate McCallister screaming “KEVIN!” in an airport terminal.
“She was the only person who could lose me in New York and make me love her for it,” Culkin wrote in a statement that quickly went viral. “Catherine wasn’t just a movie mom; she was a guiding light. She taught me that you can be the funniest person in the room and the kindest at the same time. The world is a little quieter, and a lot less funny, without her.”
The loss was felt deeply in her native Canada. In Ottawa, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the press on Tuesday morning, deviating from his scheduled remarks on economic policy to honor the Toronto-born icon.
“Catherine O’Hara showed the world what it means to be Canadian,” Prime Minister Carney said. “She was humble, incredibly talented, and unafraid to look ridiculous if it made us laugh. From the Second City stage in Toronto to the global phenomenon of Schitt’s Creek, she never forgot her roots. Canada has lost one of its brightest stars, and we mourn alongside her family. She was, quite simply, a national treasure.”
A Chameleon from the Start: The SCTV Years
Born Catherine Anne O’Hara on March 4, 1954, in Toronto, she was the sixth of seven children in a boisterous Irish Catholic family. She often credited her large family with honing her comedic instincts; at the O’Hara dinner table, being funny was a survival skill.
Her professional journey began in 1974 when she joined The Second City improv troupe in Toronto. She was an understudy for Gilda Radner, a daunting task that she handled with a unique blend of manic energy and precise observation. It was here that she met the collaborators who would become her lifelong artistic family: Eugene Levy, Martin Short, John Candy, and Andrea Martin.
When the troupe transitioned to television with SCTV (Second City Television) in 1976, O’Hara became a breakout star. The show was a low-budget, high-concept sketch series that posed as a local TV station. It allowed O’Hara to showcase her uncanny ability to dissolve into character.
She played Lola Heatherton, a breathless, desperate variety show hostess; Dusty Towne, a terrifyingly cheerful bawdy dancer; and a spot-on impression of Katharine Hepburn. In 1982, her writing for SCTV earned her a Primetime Emmy Award, the first of many accolades.
“She didn’t just play a character,” Martin Short once said of her SCTV days. “She attacked them. She found the one thread of insanity in a person and pulled it until the whole sweater unraveled.”
Conquering Hollywood: Beetlejuice and Home Alone
Unlike many sketch comedians who struggle to find their footing in feature films, O’Hara transitioned seamlessly. Her gift was her ability to be funny in a way that supported the story, rather than dominating it with jokes.
In 1988, director Tim Burton cast her as Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice. As the pretentiously morbid sculptor who moves into a haunted house, O’Hara turned a supporting role into a comedic tour de force. The scene in which she is possessed by ghosts and forced to sing “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” at a dinner party remains one of the most beloved sequences in 80s cinema.
She revisited the character recently in 2024’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a project she described as a “joyous homecoming.” Her willingness to return to the role that helped launch her film career was a testament to her loyalty to Burton and her love for the character.
However, it was 1990’s Home Alone that cemented her face in the global consciousness. As Kate McCallister, she played the straight woman to the film’s slapstick chaos. Her performance was grounded in genuine maternal panic, which made the comedy land harder. The image of her realizing she has left her son behind while mid-flight is a staple of pop culture.
Throughout the 90s and 2000s, she became the muse of director Christopher Guest. In his improvised mockumentaries, O’Hara did some of her finest work. In Waiting for Guffman (1996), she played Sheila Albertson, a travel agent with dreams of stardom. In Best in Show (2000), she was Cookie Fleck, a woman with a “loose knee” and a promiscuous past. In A Mighty Wind (2003), she played a faded folk singer, showcasing a haunting singing voice that surprised critics.
These films relied entirely on the actors’ ability to improvise dialogue within a loose outline. O’Hara thrived in this environment. Her chemistry with Eugene Levy, who played her husband in several of these films, was telepathic. They created couples who were bizarre, often pathetic, but always deeply in love.
The Schitt’s Creek Renaissance
If the first half of her career defined her as a brilliant character actress, the last decade crowned her as a queen of television comedy. In 2015, she reunited with Eugene Levy for Schitt’s Creek, a sitcom created by Levy and his son, Dan.
O’Hara played Moira Rose, a washed-up daytime soap star who loses her fortune and is forced to live in a motel in a rural town. On paper, the character could have been a simple villain or a punchline. In O’Hara’s hands, Moira became a masterpiece of performance art.
She invented an accent for Moira that defied geographical origin—a mix of old Hollywood mid-Atlantic, British aristocracy, and alien pronunciation. She treated her collection of wigs as her children (naming them “Cindy” or “Maureen”) and wore couture outfits that looked like armor.
“I wanted Moira to be someone who is constantly performing for an audience that isn’t there,” O’Hara told Vanity Fair in 2020. “She is the star of her own life, even if the stage is a motel room.”
The role won her the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2020, completing a sweep for the show’s final season. It introduced her to a generation of fans who knew her only as the “bébé” pronouncing icon of the internet.
Final Projects and an Enduring Legacy
O’Hara remained a vital force in the industry until her final days. The death certificate notes she died on Jan. 30, just as anticipation was building for her latest project. She had joined the cast of Seth Rogen’s 2025 Hollywood satire series, The Studio. In the series, she portrayed Patty Leigh, the fired head of a film studio. Early reviews of the show had already singled her out as a highlight, praising her ability to play authority figures with a comedic, fragile underbelly.
Her passing leaves a void that is difficult to quantify. Catherine O’Hara was a bridge between the classic era of collaborative sketch comedy and the modern era of character-driven sitcoms. She proved that women in comedy did not have to be self-deprecating or play the victim to be funny; they could be loud, weird, arrogant, and delusional.
“She changed the geometry of a scene just by walking into it,” said Dan Levy in a past interview. “You couldn’t take your eyes off her because you never knew what she was going to do. And usually, neither did she until the camera rolled.”
Ms. O’Hara is survived by her husband, production designer Bo Welch, whom she met on the set of Beetlejuice and married in 1992, and their two sons, Matthew and Luke.
As the industry processes the news of the pulmonary embolism and the cancer battle she fought in private, the overwhelming sentiment is one of gratitude. Gratitude for the laughs, for the characters, and for the unique, irreplaceable spirit of Catherine O’Hara.
In the words of Moira Rose, a character who will surely live on forever: “Fear not, for we shall endure. We shall rise from the ashes like a phoenix… or a very expensive wig.”