Schitt’s Creek icon Catherine O’Hara dies, age 71

Catherine O’Hara, the screen icon known for roles in Home Alone and Schitt’s Creek, has passed away at 71.

Her manager confirmed the tragic news to Variety. At the time of writing, a cause of death has not been confirmed.

O’Hara was the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

She began her career in the 1970s, earning a reputation as a legendary comic through her work on the Canadian sitcom Coming Up Rosie and the sketch comedy series Second City Television, the latter of which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing.

In the years that followed, O’Hara became known to mainstream audiences through roles in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice (1988), Home Alone (1990), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and Six Feet Under (2003–2005). She also played various eccentric characters in Christopher Guest’s mockumentary cult comedies, including Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003) and For Your Consideration (2006).

Between 2015 and 2020, O’Hara’s career experienced a major resurgence thanks to her role as Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.

The series, alongside her character, received universal critical acclaim and adoration from the LGBTQIA+ community. In a 2019 interview with Gay Times, O’Hara said LGBTQIA+ people “are the best kind of people”.

“Daniel [Levy] has created a world that he wants to live in, that I want to live in,” she explained. “It’s ridiculous that we live in a world where we don’t know how to respect each other and let each other be. It’s crazy.

“Other shows should follow suit and present the world and present humans as the best that we can be. It doesn’t mean you can’t laugh, that you can’t be funny in light ways and dark ways. It’s all still possible when you respect and love each other.”

O’Hara also shared her love for the series’ iconic scene between David (Levy) and Patrick (Noah Reid), in which Patrick professes his love for David by singing Tina Turner’s ‘Simply the Best’.

“I cried every single time looking at Daniel as David. To see him be loved by this good, good man was just killer to me. I could not… Noah would start singing, I cried so much I had to turn my back to the camera,” she reflected.

“There are so many takes where I turn my back to the camera, as I knew Moira was supposed to be crying like that… but it killed me. I had Kleenex behind me, trying to get my face back in order to play the scene. I didn’t want to kill the take by blubbering. It was just so beautiful to see that kind of open love.”

Following Schitt’s Creek’s conclusion, O’Hara went on to star in Elemental (2023), Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024), Apple TV+’s sitcom The Studio and HBO’s post-apocalyptic series The Last of Us (2025).

Our thoughts are with Catherine O’Hara’s loved ones as they grieve the loss of a true icon.