Tragically, Home Alone, Schitt’s Creek, and Beetlejuice star Catherine O’Hara has died. The star, also known as the voice of Sally in The Nightmare Before Christmas, was 71. According to TMZ, who were first to report the news, no cause of death has been confirmed (and speculation is ghoulish). Most recently, the comedy legend starred alongside Seth Rogen in Apple’s The Studio and in The Last of Us. Her co-star in the latter, Pedro Pascal shared a tribute on the news of her passing: “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. Always.”
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O’Hara is a multi-Emmy award winner, for The Studio and for her iconic role as Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek, who easily ranks as one of the greatest comedy character performances in recent memory. Not only a Canadian national treasure, O’Hara was also a gift to comedy, having worked multiple times with director Christopher Guest. She also collaborated with Tim Burton on both Beetlejuice movies as Delia Deetz, and The Nightmare Before Christmas (which he, of course, didn’t direct).
Remembering Catherine O’Hara (1954-2026)
The Ontario native first came to the world’s attention in the early 1980s as part of sketch show SCTV (Second City Television), which led to mainstream movie roles in Beetlejuice and Home Alone – the latter of which kicked off a lifelong friendship with co-star Macaulay Culkin. He shared his own heartbreaking tribute on Instagram:
As part of the sketch show troupe, O’Hara showed her comedy skills and an aptitude for musical performance that would later see her voice Jack Skellington’s beloved Sally in Henry Selick’s seminal stop-motion.
It was on the Beetlejuice set that O’Hara met her husband, production designer Bo Welch: they married in 1992 and had two sons, Matthew and Luke. She was also the sixth of seven children herself, including her sister, musician and actress Mary Margaret O’Hara.
Arguably her most prolific and some might say rewarding collaboration came with Christopher Guest, whose mockumentary work extended far beyond the excellent Spinal Tap movies. In all, O’Hara and Guest worked together six times – on mockumentaries Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), For Your Consideration (2006), and Mascots (2016). They also reunited for a more conventional movie, A Prairie Home Companion in 2006. Outside of her work as Moira Rose, her turn as dog breeder Cookie Fleck will likely be remembered as her best.
Alongside her live-action roles, which also included TV appearances in the likes of The Outer Limits, Six Feet Under, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and 30 Rock, she also amassed a huge number of vocal roles in animations. Her voice could be heard in Disney’s Chicken Little, Brother Bear 2, Pixar’s Elemental, The Addams Family, and 2024’s beautiful The Wild Robot. Sadly, a reunion with Henry Selick for The Shadow King didn’t materialize when the exciting stop-motion project was canceled in 2012.
R.I.P. Catherine O’Hara, March 4, 1954 – January 30, 2026. We send our condolences to her friends, family, and fans in their time of mourning.
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