Catherine O’Hara, the beloved actress best known for her roles as Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek and Kate McCallister in Home Alone, has reportedly died at the age of 71.
This comes from TMZ, which spoke to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, as well as Variety, which confirmed with her manager. Variety reports that O’Hara died at her home in Los Angeles, following “a brief illness.”
O’Hara had a storied career spanning over 50 years, beginning in 1974 as a The Second City cast member in Toronto and moving into sketch shows, cartoon voice work, and eventually various television and film roles. In film, she appeared as Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice, Kate McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2, was the voice of Sally in The Nightmare Before Christmas (a role which she also voices in Disney Dreamlight Valley and Disney Speedstorm), and Cookie Fleck in Best in Show. We interviewed her back in 2012 about her role as Susan Frankenstein in Frankenweenie.
In television, O’Hara was best-known for portraying the eccentric Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek from 2015-2020 across all six seasons, a role for which she won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, as well as a Golden Globe for Best Actress. She also appeared in numerous other roles, such as Carol Ward in Six Feet Under, Dr. Orwell in A Series of Unfortunate Events, and most recently Patty Leigh in The Studio, and Gail Lynden in The Last of Us. Her final film appearances included as Ruth in Argylle, a reprise of her portrayal of Delia in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the voice of Pinktail in The Wild Robot, and as herself in the documentary John Candy: I Like Me.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
