Catherine O'Hara of 'Beetlejuice,' 'Home Alone' & 'Schitt's Creek' Fame Dies at 71

Catherine O'Hara, the hilarious, fan-favorite SCTV star who won an Emmy for "Schitt’s Creek" and who made unforgettable appearances in films including "Beetlejuice" and “Home Alone," has died, "Extra" has confirmed. She was 71.

O'Hara's manager tells "Extra" she died at her L.A. home. Page Six reports she was rushed to a hospital early Friday morning in serious condition.

She died following what is described to us as "a brief illness."

TMZ was first to report the story.

O'Hara was born March 4, 1954, in Toronto.

In 1974, she became a regular member of the Second City comedy troupe, understudying for Gilda Radner, who was later hired as an original member of the cast of "Saturday Night Live."

O'Hara's first big break on TV came as part of the creative team behind the troupe's "Second City Television" (1976-1984), for which she won a writing Emmy in 1982.

While on the show, O'Hara became famous for loopy characters like Lorna Minnell, Lucille Hitzger and Lola Heatherton, thinly veiled, manic parodies of superstars.

Briefly hired as an "SNL" regular herself, she quit before going to air, chalking it up to her dislike of living in NYC.

A regular guest on episodic TV, she also built an impressive film résumé, including her 1980 debut in "Nothing Personal" and pivotal parts in Martin Scorsese's "After Hours" (1985), Nora Ephron's "Heartburn" (1986), Warren Beatty's "Dick Tracy" (1990), and Alan Alda's "Betsy's Wedding" (1990).

Her earliest mainstream hit was "Beetlejuice" (1988). Playing Delia Deetz for Tim Burton proved so iconic she could not resist reprising the performance in Burton's 2024 sequel "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice," and she also went on to lend her distinctive voice to Burton's 1993 hit "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

As successful as "Beetlejuice" was, perhaps her most widely viewed performances ever came when she accepted the part of Kate McCallister in the 1990 mega hit "Home Alone," directed by Chris Columbus, in which she played the mother of Macaulay Culkin's mischievous Kevin. She returned for "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" in 1992.

One part of O'Hara's legacy that can not be underestimated is her string of improvised comedy films for Christopher Guest: "Waiting for Guffman" (1996), "Best in Show" (2000), "A Mighty Wind" (2003), and "For Your Consideration" (2006). For the latter, O'Hara ironically generated Oscar buzz playing an actor desperate to win an Oscar.

Other films included "The Paper" (1994), "Wyatt Earp" (1994), "Home Fries" (1998), "Surviving Christmas" (2004), "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" (2004), "Penelope" (2006), "The Addams Family" (2019), "Pain Hustlers" (2023), and "The Wild Robot" (2024).

After being Emmy-nominated for her performance in the made-for-TV movie "Temple Grandin" (2010), O'Hara enjoyed a major career resurgence when she took the part of lovably flighty Moira Rose on CBC's "Schitt's Creek" (2015-2020). For her work as the eminently quotable Moira (“Gossip is the devil’s telephone. Best to just hang up.”) she took home her first and only acting Emmy, and also snagged both a Golden Globe and an Actor (formerly known as the SAG Award).

She told The Hollywood Reporter of her amazing late-career renaissance, “We’re so lucky to do the show we wanted and, apparently, leaving people wanting more. I’m happy to be a late bloomer, I always have been in my life and I’m grateful for it.”

She was nominated for an Emmy for her searing guest work on "The Last of Us" (2025) and is currently nominated for an Emmy along with the rest of the cast of "The Studio," her final TV work.

O'Hara's final feature-film appearance arrived last year via the acclaimed documentary "John Candy: I Like Me," devoted to her late SCTV co-star.

O’Hara is survived by her husband Bo Welch and by her sons Matthew and Luke. She is also survived by her siblings Michael O’Hara, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Maureen Jolley, Marcus O‘Hara, Tom O’Hara and Patricia Wallice.

O'Hara's rep confirms to "Extra" there will be a private celebration of life for family members.