Tragic new details emerge surrounding death of Catherine O’Hara at 71

New details have emerged surrounding the death of Catherine O’Hara after she passed away aged 71 on Friday, January 30.

The Schitt’s Creek actress, whose co-stars issued touching tributes to her on Friday, was rushed to the hospital after first responders were called to her Brentwood, Los Angeles, home around 5 a.m.

According to 911 dispatch audio obtained by Page Six, Catherine was having “difficulty breathing” before she was transported to a nearby hospital in a “serious condition.”

“At 4:48 am we responded to a request for medical aid to that address and transported an approximately 70-year-old female in serious condition,” the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement.

Catherine passed away hours later. While her cause of death has not yet been revealed, her manager confirmed to HELLO! that she died following a “brief illness.”

“Prolific multi-award-winning actress, writer, and comedian Catherine O’Hara died today (Friday, January 30) at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness,” the statement read. 

A private celebration of life will be held by the family, including her husband, production designer Bo Welch, and their two sons: Matthew (b. 1994) and Luke (b. 1997).

Catherine was last seen in public in September, when she stepped out to attend the 2025 Emmy Awards in Los Angeles alongside her husband. 

Catherine and Bo looked as in love as ever as they posed for photos on the red carpet, with Bo wrapping his arm around the star’s waist. 

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The actress, whose Apple TV show, The Studio, won 13 awards, looked stylish dressed in a statement black dress, while Bo looked smart in a tuxedo. 

Catherine’s career spanned over 50 decades and she had a huge fan base around the world. It all began in the seventies in the sketch and improvisational comedy series Second City Television.

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In the 1980s she broke through in comedies, After Hours (1985), Heartburn (1986), Beetlejuice (1988), Home Alone (1990) and the 1992 sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, playing the long-suffering mother of Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin. Macaulay and Catherine maintained a close friendship in the decades after the films, and he would call her “mom.”

The actor took to Instagram following the news of her death to pay tribute, writing: “Mama. I thought we had time. 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. I’ll see you later.”

Her career saw a resurgence in her 60s when she joined the CBC sitcom Schitt’s Creek (2015–2020), earning an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the iconic character of Moira Rose opposite Eugene and Dan Levy, and Annie Murphy.

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She also appeared in the Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017–2018), the Apple TV+ comedy series The Studio (2025), which is currently filming its second season, and the HBO post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us (2025). She aso reprised her role as Delia Deetz in the Beetlejuice sequel.

She has won two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.