Catherine O'Hara's Real Name: Catherine Anne O'Hara
Catherine O'Hara → Catherine Anne O'Hara
Quick answer: Catherine O'Hara's full name was Catherine Anne O'Hara. She was born on March 4, 1954, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and was known for SCTV, the Home Alone films, Beetlejuice and her Emmy-winning role as Moira Rose on Schitt's Creek. She died on January 30, 2026, in Santa Monica, California, at 71, the Associated Press reported (AP).
Real name and early life
O'Hara worked under her birth name. Anne was her middle name and O'Hara her Irish-Canadian family surname. She grew up in Toronto in a large Catholic family, the sixth of seven children. Her sister Mary Margaret O'Hara became a respected singer-songwriter. After high school she worked at Toronto's Second City club, first as a waitress and then as a performer with its comedy troupe.
Career highlights
O'Hara became a founding cast member of SCTV (Second City Television) in the 1970s, alongside Eugene Levy, John Candy, Andrea Martin and Martin Short. She became known for sharp character impressions.
In film she played the art-obsessed stepmother Delia Deetz in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice (1988), a role she reprised in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024). She played Kate McCallister, Kevin's frantic mother, in Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). With Christopher Guest she co-wrote and starred in improvised comedies including Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration. She also voiced Sally in The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Late-career fame came with Schitt's Creek (2015–2020), co-created by Eugene Levy and his son Dan Levy. As the flamboyant former soap star Moira Rose she won the Primetime Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series in 2020, part of the show's record sweep. She later appeared in HBO's The Last of Us and Apple TV+'s The Studio.
Death
Her agency, CAA, said at the time that she had been briefly ill. A Los Angeles County death certificate issued Feb. 9, 2026, listed a pulmonary embolism as the immediate cause, with rectal cancer as the underlying cause; she died at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, according to AP and The New York Times.
More to know
O'Hara was married to production designer Bo Welch, whom she met on the set of Beetlejuice; they married in 1992 and had two sons. Colleagues including Macaulay Culkin, Eugene Levy and Dan Levy paid public tribute after her death, AP reported.
Related on RealNameOf
FAQ
What was Catherine O'Hara's full name?
Catherine Anne O'Hara.
Where was she born?
Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Who did she play in Schitt's Creek?
Moira Rose, a role that won her a 2020 Emmy.
Who did she play in Home Alone?
Kate McCallister, Kevin's mother.