We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

€2 a Month €5 a Month One-off amount I already contribute Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.

An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.

AWARD-WINNING ACTRESS Catherine O’Hara, who starred in Schitt’s Creek and Home Alone, died from a blood clot in her lungs, her death certificate revealed.

The Canadian-born performer was rushed to the hospital on 30 January after having difficulty breathing at her home in the ritzy Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The 71-year-old, who starred in Beetlejuice and more recently in Apple TV’s Hollywood satire show The Studio, was declared dead a short time later.

The actress’s death certificate said she had died of a pulmonary embolism and listed rectal cancer as a secondary factor.

O’Hara was born in Toronto in 1954, where she joined the legendary comedy theater Second City, alongside Eugene Levy, with whom she would collaborate throughout her career, including on the smash TV series Schitt’s Creek.

Her break into movies came in 1980 with Double Negative – also alongside Levy, and John Candy.

In 1988, she played Winona Ryder’s stepmother in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice. She would later marry the film’s production designer Bo Welch. The couple had two sons, Matthew and Luke.

It was in 1990 that she became widely known to a global audience, as the mother of Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin in Home Alone.

She would reprise the role in the film’s sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

In 1993 she collaborated again with Burton on The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The versatile comedienne also appeared in British filmmaker Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries that revel in silly spectacles of Americana, like zany dog handlers in Best in Show, vain folk singers in A Mighty Wind, and award-hungry actors in For Your Consideration.

She is perhaps best known by modern audiences for her role in Schitt’s Creek, created by Eugene Levy’s son, Dan Levy.

The role brought her an Emmy for best lead actress in 2020. She was also awarded a Golden Globe and a SAG Award.

600px wide <iframe width="600" height="460" frameborder="0" style="border:0px;" src="https://www.thejournal.ie/https://www.thejournal.ie/catherine-ohara-death-certificate-actress-6952246-Feb2026/?embedpost=6952246&width=600&height=460" ></iframe>

400px wide <iframe width="600" height="460" frameborder="0" style="border:0px;" src="https://www.thejournal.ie/https://www.thejournal.ie/catherine-ohara-death-certificate-actress-6952246-Feb2026/?embedpost=6952246&width=400&height=460" ></iframe>

300px wide <iframe width="600" height="460" frameborder="0" style="border:0px;" src="https://www.thejournal.ie/https://www.thejournal.ie/catherine-ohara-death-certificate-actress-6952246-Feb2026/?embedpost=6952246&width=300&height=460" ></iframe>