Prime Minister Mark Carney and his predecessor Justin Trudeau offered their condolences while remarking on O’Hara’s impact on Canadian culture.
The sudden death of O’Hara, whose career spanned some 50 years, beginning with the foundational sketch comedy show SCTV alongside her frequent collaborator and fellow Canadian Eugene Levy, shocked Hollywood, and tributes from co-stars, friends, politicians and fans poured in for the actor.
“What a gift to have gotten to dance in the warm glow of Catherine O’Hara’s brilliance for all those years,” wrote Dan Levy, Eugene Levy’s son in an Instagram tribute. He starred alongside his father and O’Hara, who played his parents on Schitt’s Creek.
“Having spent over fifty years collaborating with my Dad, Catherine was extended family before she ever played my family,” he wrote. “It’s hard to imagine a world without her in it. I will cherish every funny memory I was fortunate enough to make with her.”
The talented Canadian comic actress Catherine O’Hara, renowned for her unforgettable roles in a variety of mediums, from SCTV sketches to classic films like Beetlejuice and Home Alone, as well as the acclaimed sitcom Schitt’s Creek, has passed away.
On Friday, O’Hara’s agent confirmed that the 71-year-old died in her Los Angeles home “following a brief illness.”
O’Hara gained big-screen attention for supporting roles in Martin Scorsese’s After Hours and Mike Nichols’ Heartburn, Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice and two Home Alone movies. She and Levy would also go on to become prominent members of Christopher Guest’s stable of improv actors.
She played a deranged ice cream truck driver in After Hours Scorsese’s 1985 dark comedy about a man’s terrible and unexpected night.