Catherine O’Haraone of the funniest people to ever set foot on planet Earth, died Friday at the age of 71. TMZ announced the news.
THE legendary actress had done audiences laugh for decades on stage, screen and television. During this time, she appeared (and frequently stole all of her scenes) in some of the biggest and most famous films of all time. The cause of death has not yet been revealed.
O’Hara first appeared as part of the cult 1970s comedy series. SCTV, as well as many, many famous stars who would become frequent on-screen collaborators. People like John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, and Harold Ramis, just to name a few. Her growing television career quickly turned into a film career, with her appearance in the Martin Scorsese film. After hours, among others.
But O’Hara’s big foray into the mainstream came in Tim Burton’s 1988 classic, Beetle juice. Playing eccentric artist and mom Delia Deetz, O’Hara showed her uncanny ability to be loving but also incredibly strange and hilarious. A few years later, she appeared as Kevin’s mother in the hit comedy, Alone at home. It wasn’t a role in which she was overtly funny, but you could tell this person could do anything. She later reprized these roles in the sequels of each.
You can look through O’Hara’s resume and marvel at all the work she’s done over the years, much of it showcasing her multitude of talents. But things took it to another level in 1996 when she starred, along with several of her comic contemporaries, in Waiting for Guffman. Largely improvised, the film sent comedy in a whole new direction, and this team – O’Hara as well as Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy and others – continued that trend with equally astonishing, over-the-top, improvisation-driven films like Best of Show, A Powerful Wind, And For your consideration.
And while O’Hara was always loved, that really came to fruition with the series. Schitt Creek. The Canadian hit, created by Levy and her son Dan, allowed O’Hara to shine with one of the most incredible comedic performances of all time as Moira Rose. The character, a former soap opera star, gave O’Hara the chance to not only be extremely hilarious, but also use that comedy to melt your heart. The show and her performance were some of her best work ever, and she deservedly won an acting Emmy for it.
In fact, the world of popular culture is darker today with the loss of O’Hara. She was, to quote a famous Schitt Creek scene, simply the best.
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