Catherine O’Hara Dies at 71; Final TV Role in The Studio Draws Praise
Catherine O’Hara, the legendary actress and comedian, has died at the age of 71. Her decades-long on-screen career culminated in one of 2025’s standout TV offerings. O’Hara died at her Los Angeles home on Friday, January 30, after a brief illness. A cause of death has not been disclosed, her representatives confirmed.
Tributes quickly followed, including a heartfelt note from Home Alone co-star Macaulay Culkin: “Mama. I thought we had time… I love you. I’ll see you later.”
O’Hara began in sketch and improv before transitioning to film, famously portraying Kevin’s mom in the Home Alone movies and Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice. In recent years, however, her work on television became a defining facet of her career.
Her final acting role came in The Studio, Apple TV’s satire about the Hollywood film industry. Co-created by Seth Rogen, O’Hara played Patty Leigh, a high-powered studio executive who mentors Rogen’s Matt Remick. Critics praised her performance for perfectly capturing the show’s frenetic absurdity and energy, marking her as a standout in a series hailed as one of 2025’s sharpest takes on the industry.
At the 2025 Emmys, O’Hara was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for The Studio. She had previously claimed the lead actress Emmy for Schitt’s Creek, portraying Moira Rose, and was also nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for The Last of Us, underscoring her wide range and enduring talent.
Seth Rogen paid tribute after her passing, sharing a photo of the two of them 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.