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ACTOR CATHERINE O’HARA – who starred in Schitt’s Creek and Home Alone – has died aged 71.

She died today at her home in Los Angeles “following a brief illness”, according to a statement from her agency CAA.

Her role as eccentric Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek, starring opposite Eugene and Daniel Levy, earned her an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

O’Hara won an Emmy for her role as Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek, and was also a regular in Christopher Guest’s mockumentary films, including Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show during a decades-long career on the screen.

The Canadian performer was nominated recently for another Emmy and a Golden Globe for her turn in Apple TV’s Hollywood satire show The Studio.

Warm tributes have been paid to her from across Hollywood and her native Canada.

Meryl Streep, who was in the 1986 comedy Heartburn with O’Hara, said: “Catherine O’Hara brought love and light to our world, through whipsmart compassion for the collection of eccentrics she portrayed… such a loss for her family and friends, and the audience she graced as friends.”

And Macaulay Culkin, who played O’Hara’s son in the iconic Christmas movie Home Alone, said: “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 played Culkin’s mother Kate in the 1990 classic Christmas movie Home Alone, in which he starred as youngster Kevin McCallister, who outsmarts two bumbling intruders after his family accidentally go on holiday without him.

Culkin reprised the role in 1992 sequel Home Alone 2: Lost In New York alongside O’Hara.

Michael Keaton, her co-star in the original Beetlejuice film, was among those remembering the actress.

In an Instagram post, he said: “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.”

Seth Rogen, her co-star in the Apple TV+ comedy series The Studio – for which O’Hara received both Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, called the news of her passing “devastating”.

He said in an Instagram post: “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.”

Another recent role saw her starring in the second season of The Last Of Us, alongside Pedro Pascal, who paid tribute to her saying: “Oh, genius to be near you. Eternally grateful. There is less light in my world, this lucky world that had you, will keep you, always.”

Former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau called her a “beloved Canadian icon” while the country’s current premier Mark Carney said: “Canada has lost a legend.”

Canadian singer Michael Buble called O’Hara a personal inspiration, posting on X that “Heartbroken doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

Heartbroken doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Catherine O’Hara was one of a kind. A rare light in this world and her passing hits with a weight I can’t fully put into words.

She wasn’t just a legendary artist,
actor and comedian. She was an ambassador for Canada in the truest… pic.twitter.com/06jGk7OyCP

— Michael Bublé (@MichaelBuble) January 30, 2026

“Catherine O’Hara was one of a kind. A rare light in this world and her passing hits with a weight I can’t fully put into words.