We were all shocked to hear of the passing of Catherine O’Hara earlier this morning. She was a hilarious and truly talented Canadian icon, so it’s no surprise that so many have come out to pay tribute to the actress, including her on-screen son, Macaulay Culkin.
Culkin, Keaton, Burton & More Pay Tribute to Catherine O’Hara
O’Hara played the mother of Culkin’s character in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and the pair shared a special bond that continued over the years. She was even in attendance when Culkin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023 and gave a moving speech.
“Mama. I thought we had time,” Culkin wrote on Instagram. “I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you but I had so much more to say,” he wrote. “I love you. I’ll see you later.“
Home Alone director Chris Columbus also paid tribute to O’Hara with a statement to THR. “Today we lost Catherine O’Hara. I’m stunned and heartbroken, along with the rest of the world. I was an obsessive fan of Catherine’s brilliant comedic work on SCTV and was thrilled when she agreed to play Kevin’s mom in Home Alone,” he said. “What most people don’t realize is that Catherine carries the weight of 50 percent of that film. The movie simply would not work without her extraordinary performance. Catherine grounds the picture with a profound emotional depth. I will miss her greatly. Yet there is a small sense of comfort, realizing that two of the finest human beings I’ve ever known, Catherine and John Candy, are together again, brilliantly improvising, making each other laugh.“
O’Hara’s Beetlejuice family also shared tributes, with director Tim Burton posting a photo from the set of the sequel. “Catherine, I love you,” he wrote. “This picture shows how much light you gave to all of us. You were a special part of my life and after life.“
Beetlejuice himself, Michael Keaton, added, “We go back before the first Beetlejuice. She’s been my pretend wife, my pretend nemesis and my real life, true friend,” he wrote. “This one hurts. Man am I gonna miss her. Thinking about Beau as well.“
Seth Rogen, who starred alongside O’Hara in HBO’s The Studio, said, “Really don’t know what to say … I told O’Hara when I first met her I thought she was the funniest person I’d ever had the pleasure of watching on screen. Home Alone was the movie that made me want to make movies. Getting to work with her was a true honor. She was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous … she made me want to make our show good enough to be worthy of her presence in it. This is just devastating. We’re all lucky we got to live in a world with her in it.“
Mike Myers added, “It is a very sad day for comedy and for Canada. She was one of the greatest comedy artists in history, an inspiration for millions and above all a very elegant lady. Sending much love and condolences to her family.“
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