Tributes are pouring in for Catherine O’Hara, the beloved Canadian actress and star of “Home Alone” and “Schitt’s Creek,” who died this week at the age of 71.

U.S. media reported on Friday that O’Hara died at her home in Los Angeles after a brief illness.

Born and raised in Toronto, O’Hara began her acting career in the 1970s at the Second City Improv Theater and later performed on the iconic Canadian comedy show SCTV.

She entered the film industry in 1980 with “Double Negative,” working with long-time collaborators Eugene Levy and John Candy.

But she became known to global audiences when she played Macaulay Culkin’s mother in 1990’s Home Alone.

“It’s a perfect movie, isn’t it?” she told People magazine in 2024. “You want to be a part of something good, that’s what you do.”

More recently, younger audiences have embraced O’Hara’s role because she plays the matriarch of a wealthy family that loses its fortune in the economic crisis. schitt’s creekshe once again starred alongside Levy and his son Dan.

Her role as Moira Rose won her the 2020 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

Here’s how actors, politicians and others are honoring O’Hara:

Macaulay Culkin

“Mom. I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in the chair next to you. I heard your voice. But I have so much more to say. I love you. See you later,” Culkin wrote on Instagram.

Eugene Levy

Levy began his career with O’Hara on Second City and SCTV, and he later starred with her in several projects, including Christopher Guest’s Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and Waiting for Guffman.

“Words seem inadequate to express the loss he feels after her death,” Levy said in a statement. “I had the privilege of knowing and working with the great Catherine O’Hara for more than fifty years,” he said.

“From our beginnings on the Second City stage, to SCTV, to our movies with Chris Guest, to our six glorious years on Schitt’s Creek, I cherished our working relationship, but most of all our friendship. I will miss her.

“My heart goes out to Beau, Matthew, Luke and the entire O’Hara family.”

Dan Levy

“What a gift it has been to dance under the warm light of Catherine O’Hara’s talent for so many years,” Levy, who plays O’Hara’s character’s son David Ross on “Schitt’s Creek,” wrote on Instagram.

“Catherine worked with my father for more than fifty years and was already part of my extended family before she played my part. It’s hard to imagine a world without her. I will cherish every fun memory I had the privilege to create with her.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney

Carney wrote on

“Canada has lost a legend. My thoughts are with her family, friends and all who loved her screen work. She will be deeply missed.”

Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Trudeau praised O’Hara as “a beloved Canadian icon with rare comedic talent and heart.”

“She made generations laugh and helped bring Canada’s story to the world in a way that only she could,” Trudeau wrote on

Seth Rogen

Rogen, who starred with O’Hara in the TV series “The Studio,” said that when he first met O’Hara, he told her that he thought “she was the funniest person[he]had ever had the pleasure of watching on screen.”

“Home Alone was the movie that made me want to make movies. It was a true honor to work with her,” Rogen wrote in an Instagram post.

“She was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous…she made me want to make our show good enough to deserve her presence. It was devastating. We are all lucky to live in a world with her in it.”