Catherine O’Hara It is reported that he experienced respiratory problems before his death at the age of 71.
According to 911 dispatch audio obtained by Page Six on Friday, January 30, O’Hara suffered “difficulty breathing” before being taken to hospital.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed this Us Weekly on the Friday that the paramedics called to O’Hara’s home in Brentwood at 4:48 a.m. that morning to receive a call for medical assistance. O’Hara was then taken to hospital in “serious condition”.
The Creative Arts Agency, which represented O’Hara, confirmed on Friday that the actress he died at his home in Los Angeles “after a brief illness.”
Catherine O’Hara stepped out at the 2025 Emmy Awards less than five months before her death at age 71. O’Hara stunned in a long-sleeve black Christian Dior gown at the Sept. 14, 2025, awards ceremony held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, where she won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series (A Supporting Actress).
O’Hara is survived by her husband, Good Welchand his two sons, Matthew and Luke. The official cause of death has not yet been released.
The actress was best known for her iconic roles in Home Alone, Beetlejuice, Schitt’s Creek and more He recently starred in the AppleTV series the studywhich was recently renewed for a second season.
Several of O’Hara’s friends and former co-stars paid tribute to the Emmy-winning actress after her death.
“Mom, I thought we had time,” Macaulay Culkinwho played O’Hara’s son in the alone at home franchise, he wrote via Instagram on Friday alongside a photo of the couple. “I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you but I had so much more to say. I love you. See you later.”
Catherine O’Hara
Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesMichael Keaton, who starred as the main character Beetlejuice alongside O’Hara, he also paid tribute to his former co-star.
“We go way back before the first Beetlejuice,” Keaton wrote via Instagram. “She’s been my pretend wife, my pretend nemesis, and my real, true friend. This one hurts. Man, I’m going to miss her.”
Keaton, 74, expressed his condolences to Welch, who worked on the Tim Burton cinema as a production designer.
“Thinking about Beau too,” she added in the post.
Before his death, O’Hara spoke about how lucky he felt for being alive and continuing to act when she was approaching 70 years old.
“I’m lucky (to be) still doing things like this at my age, I can’t believe it,” O’Hara said. Elle Canada in August 2024, promoting his appearance in that year’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. “Over the last few years, when I get scared or nervous or if I start complaining about something, I’ve tried to really practice turning it around and being grateful. Like, ‘How lucky are you to be alive? And to have this opportunity here at this moment?'”
O’Hara also reflected on how she deals with aging.
“I think about age, but otherwise, I rarely look in the mirror,” she continued. “I think now, stories about people my age usually have to do with death, divorce and illness. So I’m very fortunate (to) have people around me who respect the elderly and give me new experiences. I’d like to think that the kind of roles I’m going to play now are roles that people play in life.”