Legendary actress Catherine O’Hara, the comedy icon best known for her roles in Home Alone and Schitt’s Creek, died of a pulmonary embolism with rectal cancer listed as the underlying cause, according to information released Monday from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office.
O’Hara, 71, passed away on January 30, at her Los Angeles home following what her representatives previously called a “brief illness.” Emergency responders were dispatched to her Brentwood residence in the early morning hours after she reportedly had difficulty breathing; she was transported to a local hospital in serious condition and later pronounced dead.
The death certificate obtained by TMZ lists a pulmonary embolism — a blockage in a lung artery usually caused by a blood clot — as the immediate cause of death, with rectal cancer cited as the contributing underlying condition.
O’Hara’s body was cremated and her remains were released to her husband, Robert “Bo” Welch, according to reports.
O’Hara was one of the most respected and quietly influential comedic performers of the past four decades, known for her fearless character work, impeccable timing, and total commitment to even the most absurd roles. Born in 1954, in Toronto, Canada, O’Hara emerged from the legendary Second City comedy scene in the late 1970s, where she quickly distinguished herself as a performer who specialized not in punchlines but in fully realized characters.
Her early collaborations with fellow Canadian comedy icons like Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, and Martin Short laid the groundwork for a career built on chemistry, trust, and creative risk-taking. That reputation was cemented on SCTV, where O’Hara became known for playing hilariously delusional, self-important figures with such sincerity that they never felt like caricatures.
Rather than pursuing traditional leading roles, O’Hara carved out a singular niche as an elite supporting actress who routinely stole scenes without overpowering them. Her film work includes memorable performances in Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and a series of acclaimed Christopher Guest mockumentaries, most notably Best in Show, where her portrayal of the aggressively confident Cookie Fleck is widely regarded as one of the greatest character-comedy performances ever put on film.
O’Hara’s style is marked by complete seriousness in the face of ridiculousness, a lack of vanity, and an instinctive understanding of how people behave when they think they are impressive.
That same sensibility has made her a sought-after voice actor as well, with notable roles in animated films like The Nightmare Before Christmas and later projects that rely heavily on vocal nuance and emotional control.
Her cultural stature reached new heights with her portrayal of Moira Rose on Schitt’s Creek, a role that introduced her to a new generation and earned her multiple Emmy Awards well into her 60s.
Moira’s bizarre accent, theatrical wardrobe, and profound self-absorption could have easily become a one-note joke, but O’Hara played her with empathy and conviction, turning the character into one of the most celebrated figures in television comedy history.
Off-screen, O’Hara maintained an unusually private life by Hollywood standards, married since 1992 to production designer Bo Welch and largely absent from celebrity scandal or self-promotion.
