Catherine O’Hara Portrayed the Vain and Delusional With a Radical Lack of Vanity

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We have a snobby actress haunted by ghosts and disliked by her gothic stepdaughter. Then there’s a stressed-out mother who realizes she accidentally left her little boy home by himself on Christmas. And a seasoned actress desperately trying to win an Academy Award. These are the stories of Moira Rose and others.

Catherine O’Hara, the celebrated comedic actress who passed away on Friday at age 71, created a remarkable collection of unforgettable characters throughout her more than 50-year career. She often played larger-than-life women – dramatic, self-absorbed, commanding, and intensely emotional – who weren’t afraid to express themselves. O’Hara excelled at portraying people who were either falling apart or convinced of their own greatness. Despite their flaws, her characters were consistently endearing and popular because she always brought a surprising tenderness to her performances, revealing the vulnerabilities beneath their strong exteriors, and fully committing to each role without ego.

Catherine O’Hara grew up in Toronto and began her comedy career when the Second City improv troupe arrived in the mid-1970s, at the height of a comedy boom across North America. She came up alongside stars like Gilda Radner, John Candy, and Eugene Levy, and continued collaborating with Levy for many years. While Saturday Night Live became popular in the United States, O’Hara joined the cast of its Canadian equivalent, SCTV. There, she created memorable characters like Lola Heatherton, a flamboyant showgirl, foreshadowing the many larger-than-life roles she would become known for.

Glenn Close’s acting career really began to flourish in the 1980s. Director Martin Scorsese noticed her unique energy and cast her in his quirky film, After Hours, where she played a rebellious ice cream truck driver. She gained wider recognition with her role as Delia Deetz in Tim Burton’s 1988 hit, Beetlejuice, playing the snobby stepmother to Winona Ryder’s character. Her wildly energetic “Day-O” dance during a séance is a highlight of the film, even with Michael Keaton’s over-the-top performance as a ghost. Close convincingly portrays Delia losing control, and despite being unpleasant, she’s strangely captivating. Her character’s development in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is successful because Close makes Delia a character audiences can’t help but like.

Catherine O’Hara found a sweet spot with audiences in the early 90s playing frazzled moms, particularly in Home Alone and its sequel. Her characters weren’t perfect; they were overwhelmed by the chaos of family life. But it was her over-the-top reaction to the family’s travel disaster in Home Alone – the iconic scream of “KEVIN!” followed by dramatically fainting – that really stood out. It became a defining comedic moment. Director Christopher Guest then repeatedly cast her in roles that played on her ability to portray eccentric, artistic characters. She was a travel agent with a secret passion for theater in Waiting for Guffman, a folk singer with a complicated love life in A Mighty Wind, and a determined but unlikely awards hopeful in For Your Consideration. These performances weren’t just funny; they showed a deeper vulnerability and inner conflict, and they remain some of her best work.

Catherine O’Hara consistently worked as an actress, but like many women in the industry after turning 50, her roles became less prominent in the late 2000s. That changed in 2015 with Schitt’s Creek, a Canadian sitcom about a wealthy family who suddenly loses everything and is forced to live in a small-town motel they once jokingly purchased. Despite starring O’Hara and Eugene Levy, the show took years to gain popularity in the U.S., initially being overlooked by many. When it finally caught on, however, it became one of the decade’s most beloved comedies, known for its warmth and charming performances, making even its self-absorbed characters enjoyable. Moira Rose, the matriarch of the family, is the perfect embodiment of all the unique characters O’Hara has played – a culmination of her comedic talent. Her dramatic flair, distinctive fashion sense, and unusual voice and accent are instantly recognizable. (I often rewatch a clip of her hilariously mispronouncing “Herb Ertlinger” in a wine commercial just to cheer myself up!) In 2020, Schitt’s Creek dominated the Emmys, earning O’Hara her first acting Emmy (she previously won for writing on SCTV in 1982) and solidifying her and Levy’s status as icons of Canadian comedy.

The show sparked a wave of prominent new projects, including the Beetlejuice sequel, Pain Hustlers, the series The Last of Us, and The Studio. The characters she recently played – an angry woman fighting for control, a grieving therapist from a sci-fi world, and a fired studio executive – all echoed her iconic role as Kate McCallister. Catherine O’Hara delivered fantastic performances in both, earning Emmy nominations in 2025 for each. Her sudden passing is especially shocking because she was experiencing a remarkable career resurgence, and it felt like we’d be enjoying her work – both these characters and many more – for years to come.

The loss of Catherine O’Hara is particularly felt because of the person she was: a genuinely humble comedian, despite playing such larger-than-life characters. She loved working with other funny people and always shared the stage. I remember being surprised by how petite she was when I interviewed her near the end of Schitt’s Creek – her characters always seemed to take up so much space! But I wasn’t surprised, as many people had said, by how kind, insightful, and engaging she was to talk to. When I asked her why she often played self-absorbed characters, she jokingly wondered if it was a way to work through those tendencies in herself, admitting she was afraid of being that way. Thankfully, she never was, but it’s easy to see how a strong dislike of vanity could inspire someone to brilliantly portray such memorable, over-the-top characters.

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2026-01-31 03:07