A blood clot in a lung artery caused Catherine O’Hara’s death, which has been confirmed as a pulmonary embolism. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office said that rectal cancer was the cause of death on her death certificate.

On January 30, 2026, O’Hara, who was 71 years old, died at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. Paramedics had come to her Brentwood home because she was having trouble breathing. Her oncologist had been treating her since March 2025 and saw her a few days before she died in a California hospital. Her agency, CAA, first said she was sick for a “brief” time.

The Canadian comedy legend was great in SCTV sketches with Eugene Levy, stole scenes in Beetlejuice and Home Alone, and won Emmys for her role as Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek. Co-stars like Dan Levy sent in tributes praising her brilliance. Hollywood was shocked when she died after 50 years in the business.