Eugene Lévy broke his silence on the death of his Schitt Creek costar and collaborator of 50 years, Catherine O’Hara.
The actor, 79, shared a statement with Us every week Friday, January 30, after news of O’Hara’s death at 71 years old.
“Words seem insufficient to express the loss I feel today. I had the honor of knowing and working with the great Catherine O’Hara for over fifty years,” Eugene said. “Since our beginnings on Second city on stage, on SCTV, on the films we made with Chris Guestto our six glorious years Shit StreamI cherished our working relationship, but especially our friendship.
He concluded: “And I will miss her. My heart goes out to Bo, Matthew, Lucand the entire O’Hara family.
Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy met in 1972 and immediately struck up a friendship that would last more than half a century. O’Hara, who died at age 71 in January 2026 after a “brief illness”, met Levy in 1972 while he was starring in Godspell. The pair later became close when she joined Second City. […]
Besides playing husband and wife in Schitt Creek, Eugene and O’Hara collaborated on numerous projects over the decades, including the films of Christopher Guest. Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best of Show (2000), A powerful wind (2003), and For your consideration (2006).
The couple first met in 1972 and during their appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2020, they even admitted that they briefly went out together for “one or two dates” early in their collaboration as castmates on Second city.
Talk to The Hollywood Reporter In 2015, O’Hara opened up about their working relationship, telling the outlet, “I think a lot of it is a very fortunate circumstance, in a way, that we ended up teaming up.”
In the same interview, Eugene said that portraying couples on screen was easy for them because of their natural chemistry.
“We’ve known each other for so long that it’s just a comfortable relationship,” Eugene explained. “And when you’re doing comedy, first and foremost, you want to work with the best people. It’s hard when you’re not working with the best people, so ultimately you want really good people who are very skilled at this particular type of comedy.”
Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy.
(Photo by Stuart Wilson/Getty Images)The actress died on Friday at home in Los Angeles following a brief illness, her manager confirmed to Us every week.
A Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson later confirmed Us every week that paramedics were called to the actress’ Brentwood home at 4:48 a.m. Friday morning for a call for medical help. O’Hara was taken to hospital in “serious condition.” The official cause of death has not yet been released.
Eugene’s son And, 42 years old and his daughter Sarah39, who both also worked on the Emmy Award-winning sitcom Schitt Creek, were also among those who paid tribute to O’Hara after his death.
“What a gift to have been able to dance under the warm glow of Catherine O’Hara’s genius for all these years,” And wrote via Instagram Friday. “After working with my father for over fifty years, Catherine was part of the extended family before she was my family. It’s hard to imagine a world without her. I will cherish all the fun memories I had the chance to create with her.”
He added: “My heart goes out to Bo, Matthew, Luke and everyone in his big, beautiful family.”
For his part, Sarah shared a heartfelt tribute on his own Instagram account.
“This one is profound. What an honor it has been to know, work with and love Catherine O’Hara,” Sarah wrote in the caption. “Cheers to all you have brought to this world – we will miss you so much. ❤️”
