Hollywood legend Catherine O’Hara died on Friday at 71.
Her cause of death is unclear, but her agency, Creative Artists Agency, confirmed to Page Six that she passed away “following a brief illness.”
The actress and comedian had a storied career spanning fifty years, including the Second City improv troupe in her native Toronto in the ‘70s – where she worked with Martin Short, John Candy, Eugene Levy – the sketch comedy series, “Second City Television” from 1976 to 1984, 1988’s “Beetlejuice,” and 1990’s “Home Alone.”
At the time of her death, the Canadian-American actress was best known for the second wave of her career – her iconic role as the flamboyant Moira Rose in “Schitt’s Creek,” arguably her most famous role.
In a 2019 interview with Vulture, she said that she nearly turned it down. “I’ve been allowed to create my own characters and do my own writing and improvise and just create in such a free way. I was just used to playing a lot of different characters and having something new to do every day.”
That was why she had “trepidation” about taking the role, she explained.
The show (which aired from 2015-2020) won her an Emmy and a Golden Globe, and ignited a career resurgence. Created by and starring the father/son duo Eugene and Dan Levy, “Schitt’s Creek” followed a formerly wealthy family as they relocate to a motel in a small town after losing their fortune.
Her role as kooky matriarch, Moira Rose – a scene-stealing former soap star with outrageous fashion – stemmed out of her longstanding working relationship with the older Levy, who she briefly dated in the ‘70s.
“I’m so glad it worked out that way. We probably wouldn’t be working together if we’d gone longer on the dating. Really, it was, like, one or two dates. That’s it,” she told The New Yorker in 2019.
They worked on several projects together, including “Best in Show” and “For Your Consideration.”
Levy told Elle Canada in August of 2024 that O’Hara was a “bona fide star” long before the show, “but what she did with the character of Moira Rose was an absolute artistic coup de grâce and seemed to remind the world just what an accomplished actress she really is.”
He added, “She’s a truly good person with an acute sense of humour, and that combo is a perfect recipe for a fun working relationship.”
O’Hara said she worked well with Levy because they both took comedy “very seriously.”
She attributed that to growing up in a Toronto family with six siblings – which led to her brushing elbows with a fellow comedy legend in her early years, as one of her brothers dated original “Saturday Night Live” star Gilda Radner.
“She would come home [with my brother] and improvise with our family, teaching games to my mom and dad. She was so in touch with the child within — more than anyone I’ve ever known — but such a beautiful, sexy woman at the same time,” she told Elle.
In a 2019 interview with the New Yorker, O’Hara credited the late “SNL” star with her career beginnings, including “opening up my world to Second City.”
“That’s where I met Eugene and Marty [Short] and Andrea [Martin], all the people I ended up working with years later. Gilda got into Second City, and I auditioned and got a job as a waitress [in the theatre] instead. Then John Candy hired Marcus — my brother — and me for the touring company, and Joe Flaherty made me the understudy for Gilda,” she explained.
O’Hara told the outlet that being funny was “encouraged” in her family.
“My dad would tell jokes, and my mom would tell stories and imitate everyone within the stories. I think everyone is born with humor, but your life can beat it out of you, sadly, or you can be lucky enough to grow up in it.”
“Schitt’s Creek” wasn’t an overnight hit. The show had a modest start, as it famously got rejected by both HBO and Showtime, before airing on CBC in Canada and Pop in the US.
It exploded when it hit Netflix in 2017, and entered Nielson’s list of most-streamed shows for the first time in 2020. It swept the Emmys that year, taking home seven trophies.
“You never know how something’s going to be received. I mean, that’s the magic. That’s the scariest thing,” O’Hara told Elle.
“But if you’re lucky enough to work with people who make each day exciting, creative and stimulating, that’s the best, because you really don’t know where it’s gonna go from there. So much of it is luck and timing.”
She said that “Schitt’s Creek” was “a freaky example of that, because we did this little show for ourselves.”
Her career resurgence introduced O’Hara to a younger audience, and because of Moira Rose’s iconic fashion, it led to the unexpected phase of her career where she was embraced by the fashion industry.
“It’s because of that character. It’s crazy — it’s so cool,” she said.
O’Hara spent her final years showing off her comedy chops in several high-profile TV roles.
Her re-invigorated career after ”Schitt’s Creek” led to a part in Seth Rogen’s series “The Studio,” which premiered in March and swept the Emmys and Golden Globes.
The comedy follows fictional Hollywood execs. O’Hara’s character, Patty Leigh, was an ousted former studio exec.
“It was Seth and [co-creator] Evan [Goldberg] talking me into it,” O’Hara told Forbes in March. “Then, the scripts came in and they were great – really funny. I’ve never played, I don’t think, someone like this in this kind of power position, who loses it right away.”
Following her death, “The Studio” co-star Ike Barinholtz posted on Instagram, “I never in a million years thought I would get to work with Catherine O’Hara….so profoundly sad….so incredibly grateful I got to spend the time I did with her.”
She also joined the gritty Pedro Pascal HBO series “The Last of Us” for Season 2, which aired in April and May.
O’Hara told Elle one year before her death, “I’m lucky [I get] to keep doing things like this at my age—I can’t believe it,” she says. “Over the past few years, when I’ve gotten scared or nervous or if I start grousing about something, I’ve tried to really practise turning it around and being grateful.”
O’Hara is survived by her husband of 33 years, Bob Welch, and their two sons, Matthew, 31, and Luke, 29.
Read the full article here
