It’s hard to know where to start with this one — Catherine O’Hara is dead. And honestly, there’s an awful feeling that comes with this kinda news. The news of losing someone who we all felt like we knew, someone we loved because we felt they loved us back. Someone who made weird seem wonderful. And if you’re feeling gutted right now—especially if you’re part of West Hollywood’s queer community—you’re not alone”
The news broke Friday morning through TMZ. A statement from CAA, the agency that represented O’Hara, said she died Friday “at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness.” Details about what happened have been scarce, but honestly, the how doesn’t change the fact that she’s gone.
She Gave Us Moira Rose
Catherine lived in Brentwood with her husband Bo Welch and their two sons, but West Hollywood claimed her anyway. That connection runs deep, mostly because of “Schitt’s Creek,” the Canadian sitcom that became appointment television for LGBTQ+ households from 2015 to 2020.
She played Moira Rose, a former soap opera actress stuck in a small town after her family loses everything. Moira had a wig collection that could fill a museum and spoke with an accent from nowhere anyone could identify. Her son David, played by series creator Dan Levy, was pansexual. The show treated his sexuality like it was just part of who he was. No drama. No “special episode.” Just love.
When Gay Times talked to Catherine in 2019, she didn’t mince words about why that mattered. “Daniel has created a world that he wants to live in, that I want to live in,” she said. “It’s ridiculous that we live in a world where we don’t know how to respect each other and let each other be.”
The Takes Where She Couldn’t Stop Crying
There was this one scene in “Schitt’s Creek” that broke Catherine every single time they filmed it. Patrick serenades David with Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best.” Moira’s supposed to be watching, maybe a little emotional, but mostly holding it together.
Catherine couldn’t do it.
“I cried every single time,” she admitted to Gay Times. “There are so many takes where I turn my back to the camera—I had Kleenex behind me, trying to get my face back in order. To see him be loved by this good good man was just killer to me.”
That wasn’t Moira crying. That was Catherine.
“They’re the Best Kind of People”
Gay audiences didn’t just watch Moira Rose. They adopted her. Every Halloween brought hundreds of Moira costumes—the wigs, the dramatic black-and-white outfits, the whole thing. Drag performers studied her timing, her delivery, that way she could make “bébé” sound like a complete sentence.
When someone asked Catherine why LGBTQ+ fans connected so intensely with Moira, she smiled and said, “Well, they’re the best kind of people.”
The theatrical costumes, the camp, the refusal to turn down her volume for anyone—people saw the drag in Moira, and Catherine embraced it. She understood what made the character work. A woman absolutely convinced the world needed to see her brilliance, and refusing to apologize for taking up space.
Before Moira, There Was Everything Else
Catherine’s career didn’t start with “Schitt’s Creek.” Not even close.
Born March 4, 1954, in Toronto, she joined The Second City comedy troupe in 1974, understudying for Gilda Radner. When Radner left for “Saturday Night Live,” Catherine stepped into bigger roles.
“SCTV” made her a household name in the late ’70s and early ’80s. She won an Emmy for writing in 1982, creating characters that showed off her gift for physical comedy and that lightning-fast improvisational brain.
Tim Burton put her in “Beetlejuice” in 1988 as Delia Deetz, the pretentious artist who became an accidental goth fashion icon. She met Bo Welch on that set—he was the production designer. Burton actually encouraged him to ask her out. They got married in 1992 and stayed together for the rest of her life.
Then came “Home Alone.” Catherine played the frantic mom who accidentally leaves her kid behind and tears across the country trying to get back to him. It’s probably her most universally recognized role, and she nailed it. She came back for the sequel in 1992.
Christopher Guest cast her in all his mockumentaries—”Waiting for Guffman,” “Best in Show,” “A Mighty Wind.” She also voiced Sally in “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” singing “Sally’s Song” with this haunting sadness that made a rag doll one of the film’s most heartbreaking characters.
She Never Stopped Working
Even after “Schitt’s Creek” ended, Catherine kept going. Last year she appeared in “The Last of Us” Season 2 and Seth Rogen’s “The Studio,” earning double Emmy nominations for both. She showed up at Emmy parties in West Hollywood just four months ago.
Over her career, she collected two Primetime Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and six Canadian Screen Awards. Canada made her an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2018. Brentwood named her honorary mayor in 2021—the same year Eugene Levy got the same title for Pacific Palisades. Two old “SCTV” friends, still making people smile.
What We’re Left With
In 2020, Catherine finally won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for “Schitt’s Creek” after two previous nominations. That same night, the show swept all seven major comedy categories. Made television history.
But the awards aren’t what people will remember. They’ll remember the laugh. The wigs. The way she could make you cry and crack up in the same scene. The way she showed up for the queer community when it mattered.
She’s survived by her husband Bo Welch and their sons Matthew and Luke.
And the rest of us? We’re left with the work. The characters. The reminder that being fully yourself—weird, theatrical, unapologetic—is never a waste of time.
So here’s to Catherine O’Hara. Thanks for showing us what “one of a kind” actually looks like.
She was happiness in an increasingly hostile and violent world. Why is it always the good ones that pass to soon? Godspeed, Catherine.
We lost a comedy legend. I used to run into her at St. Victor’s Church in West Hollywood in the late 80s. Rest in Peace.