Acclaimed Hollywood actress Catherine O’Hara, best known for her roles in Home Alone, Schitt’s Creek, and Beetlejuice, has passed away at the age of 71.
O’Hara died at her home in Los Angeles on Friday, January 30, 2026. Her agency, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), confirmed her death, stating she died “following a brief illness,” without providing further medical details.
According to a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department, paramedics were called to O’Hara’s Brentwood residence at 4:48 a.m. Friday for a medical emergency. She was transported to a local hospital in “serious condition” before passing away later that morning.
While unverified reports from journalist Jeff Sneider suggested she had been receiving cancer treatment in Toronto, her representatives have not officially confirmed a cause of death.
Macaulay Culkin, who played her son in the Home Alone films, shared an emotional tribute on Instagram. He wrote:
“Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say. I love you. I’ll see you later.”
Dan Levy, co-creator of Schitt’s Creek and O’Hara’s on-screen son, also honored the actress. He said:
“What a gift to have gotten to dance in the warm glow of Catherine O’Hara’s brilliance for all those years. Having spent over fifty years collaborating with my dad, Catherine was extended family before she ever played my family.”
He added:
“I will cherish every funny memory.”
O’Hara’s career spanned more than five decades. She began in the 1970s on the Canadian sketch comedy show SCTV before gaining global fame as Kate McCallister in Home Alone (1990). She later won an Emmy Award for her role as Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek.
Her longtime collaborator Christopher Guest described her as a “comic giant,” saying:
“I am devastated. We have lost one of the comic giants of our age. I send my love to her family.”
Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.
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