Catherine O’Hara contributed to popular culture in perhaps even more ways than audiences recognize. She was best known for her roles in the “Home Alone” franchise, “Beetlejuice,” “Shitt’s Creek,” and her sometimes forgotten voice roles in “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “The Wild Robot.” O’Hara put her passion as a performer and comic actor into these projects and into every part of her illustrious film and television career that lasted for fifty years.

She was born in Canada, although she spent most of her life in America after meeting her husband on the set of “Beetlejuice,” and retained dual citizenship. O’Hara discovered a love for theater in high school and worked as a waitress until she found success as an actress. She got her first big break on “Second City Television,” a comedy sketch show. This role solidified her talent as an improviser and  became a founding building block to her renown. 

She received multiple awards throughout her career, including a Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy. 

In addition to her acting career, O’Hara participated in several acts of philanthropy and recognized her support for humanitarian causes. She donated money to Upward Bound House to fight homelessness and worked with the University Health Network of Canada to help advance their research on Parkinson’s disease. Additionally, O’Hara frequently acted as a spokesperson for the Terry Fox Foundation, a charity that works to research cancer. 

Specific information about her death has not been released, but it is known just before her death on January 30th she was hospitalized for an unknown illness. 

O’Hara brought joy, humor and connection to millions of people over the course of her 71 years of life. She will be missed.