Meryl Streep, Pedro Pascal, and Ben Stiller are among the prominent figures who have paid tribute to Emmy-winning actress Catherine O’Hara, who passed away on Friday at the age of 71.
The Canadian-born star garnered widespread recognition for her roles in films such as Beetlejuice and Home Alone, as well as her work in comedy television series including Schitt’s Creek and The Studio.
Streep remarked that O’Hara brought “love and light to our world, through whipsmart compassion for the collection of eccentrics she portrayed,” while Pascal, her co-star in The Last of Us, expressed being “eternally grateful” for the opportunity to have worked with her.
Stiller emphasized the profound impact she had on comedy, stating that “it’s hard to explain the impact she had on comedy,” and that, in his view, “there was no one better.”
O’Hara died on Friday at her residence in Los Angeles following a brief illness, according to her agent’s statement to the BBC.
After launching her career in Canada’s vibrant comedy scene, she delivered a string of unforgettable film performances, earning her significant critical acclaim.
Streep, who shared the screen with O’Hara in the 1980s comedy Heartburn, described her death as “such a loss for her family and friends, and the audience she graced as friends.”
Michael Keaton, who co-starred in 1988’s Beetlejuice and its 2024 sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, noted: “We go back before the first Beetlejuice. She’s been my pretend wife, my pretend nemesis and my real life, true friend.”
“This one hurts. Man am I gonna miss her.”
Tim Burton, the director of both films, shared a photograph of the cast of the latter film on Facebook.
“Catherine, I love you,” he wrote. “This picture shows how much light you gave to all of us. You were a special part of my life and afterlife.”
Alec Baldwin, who also appeared in the film, highlighted O’Hara’s “a quality that was all her own,” describing her as “one of the greatest comic talents in the movie business.”
In his tribute, Pascal conveyed that “there is less light in my world,” adding, “This lucky world that had you will keep you, always.”
Macaulay Culkin, who played her on-screen son in the holiday classics Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, also offered an emotional tribute on Instagram.
“Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you,” he wrote.
“I heard you. But I had so much more to say. I love you. I’ll see you later.”
O’Hara experienced a resurgence in popularity in recent years thanks to her award-winning performance as the eccentric matriarch Moira in Schitt’s Creek.
Dan Levy, the show’s co-creator and her on-screen son David, described O’Hara as “family before she ever played my family.”
He further stated on Instagram that he would “cherish every funny memory I was fortunate enough to make with her.”
Eugene Levy, his father and O’Hara’s on-screen husband Johnny Rose, shared a long-standing friendship with O’Hara, having collaborated with her extensively over more than five decades.
“Words seem inadequate to express the loss I feel today,” he stated to Variety.
“I cherished our working relationship, but most of all our friendship. And I will miss her.”
Annie Murphy, who played their daughter Alexis, commented on Instagram that O’Hara’s laugh “challenged anyone who heard it to join in, and be as delighted as she was.”
“Gosh, were we ever lucky to have her.”
In addition to winning a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 2021 for her role in Schitt’s Creek, O’Hara received a nomination for portraying ousted movie executive Patty Leigh in Seth Rogen’s satirical take on Hollywood, The Studio, at this year’s awards.
She also remains nominated at the Actor Awards (formerly the Screen Actors Guild Awards), scheduled for March, for her role as Patty.
Rogen stated on Friday that upon their first meeting, he told O’Hara that she “was the funniest person I’d ever had the pleasure of watching on screen” and that Home Alone was the film that inspired him to pursue filmmaking.
“Getting to work with her was a true honor,” he expressed on Instagram.
O’Hara was further lauded as “one of the comic giants of our age” by actor and director Christopher Guest, who collaborated with her on four films, including 2006’s For Your Consideration.
His wife, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, shared a clip of O’Hara in Guest’s 1996 mockumentary Waiting for Guffman, accompanied by the caption “BEST OF THE BEST IN SHOW,” referencing the title of one of his subsequent films that also featured O’Hara.
Fellow Canadian actor and comedian Mike Myers, known for Austin Powers and Shrek, described her passing as “a very sad day for comedy and for Canada.”
Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau characterized her as a “beloved Canadian icon,” while the country’s current leader, Mark Carney, stated that it had “lost a legend.”
O’Hara is survived by her husband, Bo Welch, her sons, Matthew and Luke, and her six siblings.