3 weeks ago
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February 10, 2026 — 10:02am
Schitt’s Creek star Catherine O’Hara died of a pulmonary embolism, US media reported on Monday (US time).
The death certificate was released Monday by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, published by US website TMZ, then picked up by other media.
A pulmonary embolism occurs when a blood clot gets stuck in a blood vessel in the lung.
The death certificate revealed the 71-year-old star’s underlying cause of death was rectal cancer.
The Canadian-born O’Hara’s death at her home in Los Angeles on Friday, January 30, “following a brief illness” was first revealed by her agency CAA, which did not provide any further information at the time.
O’Hara began her career with improvisational troupe The Second City in Toronto in the 1970s, where she first met her lifelong collaborator Eugene Levy, with whom she later starred in Schitt’s Creek.
The two were among the original cast of the sketch show SCTV, short for Second City Television, which spawned a legendary group of comedians including Martin Short, John Candy, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis and Joe Flaherty.
“I grew up in a different time than now. The internet didn’t exist, so from my experience we were very much influenced by comedy like Monty Python and comedies that came out of England, Ireland, Scotland, the UK, than by what came out of the US,” O’Hara told this masthead’s culture editor at large Michael Idato in 2020.
“We didn’t, in my experience, have such a strong sense of nationalism,” she added. “Our sense of humour was not only to be able to make fun of the rest of the world but to make fun of ourselves, which, I think, is the healthiest sense of humour you can have. It’s lovely. I hope we keep our proud Canadian modesty.”
Schitt’s Creek was created by Levy and his son Dan; its tale of a wealthy family forced to live in a tiny town would dominate the Emmys in its sixth and final season. It brought O’Hara, always a beloved figure, a new generation of fans and put her at the centre of cultural attention.
It also brought a career renaissance that led to a dramatic turn on HBO’s The Last of Us and a straitlaced role as a Hollywood producer in The Studio, both of which earned her Emmy nominations.
However, she told Idato that she actually passed on the Schitt’s Creek role – until Eugene and Dan Levy decided to give her one more call.
The reason she passed? O’Hara’s genesis as a sketch actor left her uncertain when it came to anything resembling a potentially long-running role.
“Thank god I did say yes,” O’Hara said. “I’ve done movies but that’s three months’ work at the most. I think it was more fear-based – the concept of committing to one character.”
O’Hara was also well known for roles as Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice, Kate McCallister in the Home Alone movies, Marilyn Hack in For Your Consideration and Cookie Fleck in Best in Show.
“I feel fortunate that anybody knows me as anything, that I’m in people’s lives somehow, their childhoods,” O’Hara told Idato ahead of the release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in 2024.
“That’s the best, to be part of holiday ritual of watching Home Alone or Nightmare Before Christmas, or I just feel honestly, really fortunate.”
She is survived by her husband, Bo Welch, and sons Matthew and Luke.
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