Los Angeles, Feb 10 (.) Catherine O’Hara’s cause of death has been revealed as a pulmonary embolism, with rectal cancer listed as an underlying condition, according to TMZ, which obtained her death certificate on Monday, reports Variety.
The actor passed away on Friday, January 30, at her Los Angeles home after being hospitalized earlier that morning with an illness. Paramedics were called to her residence at 4:48 am, according to Page Six. Her agency, CAA, said O’Hara died following a “brief illness.”
According to Variety, O’Hara’s career spanned more than 50 years, beginning with the Canadian sketch show Second City Television, where she won her first Emmy for writing. She gained international fame portraying Delia Deetz, the eccentric stepmother of Winona Ryder’s Lydia, in Tim Burton’s 1988 cult classic Beetlejuice. She later reprised the role in Burton’s 2024 sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
She also rose to prominence as Kate McCallister, the devoted mother in the Home Alone films alongside Macaulay Culkin. O’Hara and Culkin remained close throughout her life, with the actor honoring her at his Walk of Fame ceremony in 2023.
Culkin paid tribute on social media, writing: “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.”
O’Hara reunited with Burton on animated projects including The Nightmare Before Christmas, voicing Sally, a singing rag doll, and Frankenweenie. She experienced a late-career resurgence with Schitt’s Creek, starring as Moira Rose alongside Dan and Eugene Levy and Annie Murphy. She won an Emmy for the role in 2020 and received two additional nominations, as per Variety.
In recent years, O’Hara also appeared in ‘The Last of Us’ and ‘The Studio’, earning two Emmy nominations in 2025. Her enduring talent and versatility left an indelible mark on film, television, and comedy over five decades.
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