Catherine O’Hara, Emmy-winning Schitt’s Creek and Home Alone star, dies at 71

Catherine O’Hara, the Emmy-winning actor known for comedic roles across the decades, from Kevin’s beleaguered mother in Home Alone to Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek, has died aged 71.

Canadian-born O’Hara died at her home in Los Angeles “following a brief illness”, according to a statement from her agency, CAA. Further details were not immediately available.

O’Hara’s career was launched at the Second City in Toronto in the in 1970s. It was there that she first worked with Eugene Levy, who would become a lifelong collaborator — and her Schitt’s Creek co-star.

The two would be among the original cast of the sketch show SCTV, short for Second City Television, which spawned a legendary group of esoteric comedians including Martin Short, John Candy, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis and Joe Flaherty.

Schitt’s Creek would be a career-capping triumph and the perfect personification of her comic talents.

The small show created by Levy and his son Dan about a wealthy family forced to live in a tiny town would dominate the Emmys in its sixth and final season.

It brought O’Hara, always a beloved figure, a new generation of fans and put her at the centre of cultural attention.

It also brought a career renaissance that led to a dramatic turn on HBO’s The Last Of Us and a serious role as a Hollywood producer in The Studio, both of which earned her Emmy nominations.

She is survived by her husband, Bo Welch, and sons Matthew and Luke.