Catherine O’Hara, the legendary actress and comedian, has died at the age of 71. Her decades-long on-screen career ended with one of the best TV shows of 2025.
O’Hara’s agency CAA confirmed that she died at her LA home on Friday (January 30) following a brief illness. A cause of death has not been revealed.
Tributes poured in for the late actress, including from her Home Alone co-star Macaulay Culkin, who wrote, “Mama. I thought we had time… I love you. I’ll see you later.”
O’Hara started out her career in sketch and improv comedy before moving onto the big screen, famously playing Kevin’s mom in the Home Alone movies and Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice. But some of her most iconic roles in recent years have been on TV.
Catherine O’Hara’s final acting role was in The Studio
O’Hara’s last acting role was in The Studio, the Apple TV satire on the Hollywood film industry. Co-created by Seth Rogen, O’Hara portrays Patty Leigh, a high-powered studio exec who is the mentor of Rogen’s Matt Remick.
O’Hara was widely praised for her performance, perfectly encapsulating the frantic absurdity her character called for. She’s a notable highlight of the show, which itself was one of the best series of 2025 for its sharp take on the modern Hollywood machine.
This was highlighted at the 2025 Emmys, where she was nominated for the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series accolade, a ceremony where she won the lead actress award for her performance as Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek.
What’s more, at the same awards O’Hara was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series due to her portrayal of Gail in The Last of Us series, demonstrating not only her talent but her range.
Rogen has responded to the news of her death, sharing a photo of them together and writing, “Really don’t know what to say… I told O’Hara when I first met her I thought she was the funniest person I’d ever had the pleasure of watching on screen.
“Home Alone was the movie that made me want to make movies. Getting to work with her was a true honour. She was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous… she made me want to make our show good enough to be worthy of her presence in it.
“This is just devastating. We’re all lucky we got to live in a world with her in it.”
The Studio Season 1 is streaming on Apple TV now.
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