The Emmy-winning ‘Schitt’s Creek’ star’s death certificate lists a pulmonary embolism as the cause, with rectal cancer as a secondary factor
LOS ANGELES: Emmy-winning actress Catherine O’Hara died from a blood clot in her lungs. Her death certificate, revealed Monday, listed a pulmonary embolism as the cause of death.
Rectal cancer was listed as a secondary factor on the certificate. The Canadian-born performer was rushed to hospital on January 30 after having difficulty breathing at her Los Angeles home.
The 71-year-old was declared dead a short time later. O’Hara was best known for her role as Moira Rose in the smash TV series “Schitt’s Creek.”
The role brought her an Emmy for best lead actress in 2020. She also won a Golden Globe and a SAG Award for the performance.
She became widely known to a global audience in 1990 as the mother in “Home Alone.” O’Hara played Kate McCallister, mother of Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin, in the classic holiday film.
She reprised the role in the film’s sequel, “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.” Her break into movies came in 1980 with “Double Negative” alongside Eugene Levy and John Candy.
In 1988, she played Winona Ryder’s stepmother in Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice.” She later married that film’s production designer, Bo Welch, and the couple had two sons.
O’Hara was born in Toronto in 1954, where she joined the legendary comedy theater Second City. There, she performed alongside Eugene Levy, with whom she would collaborate throughout her career.
The versatile comedienne also appeared in Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries like “Best in Show” and “A Mighty Wind.” She collaborated again with Tim Burton on “The Nightmare Before Christmas” in 1993.
