Catherine O’Hara Dead at 71: Life, Legacy in Pictures

Catherine O’Hara’s career was anything but boring, lethargic or dripping with ennui.

Nearly three weeks before the actress died at age 71, she earned a nomination for Best Supporting Female Actor on Television for The Studio at the 2026 Golden Globes. 

Although Catherine wasn’t in attendance at the Jan. 11 ceremony, her eccentric turnas former studio head Patty Leigh in the Seth Rogen-created TV show was unforgettable. But to sign on, she needed some convincing from Seth and needed some convincing Evan Goldberg.

“They made it sound like it was going to be so good and so fun and so informative,” she told Forbes in March 2025. “They describe great characters. Then, the scripts came in and they were great—really funny. I’ve never played, I don’t think, someone like this in this kind of power position, who loses it right away.”

Patty may have felt out of her wheelhouse, but the Home Alone actress has always been up for a challenge. Since making her onscreen debut in 1975’s Wayne and Shuster, Catherine starred in more than 120 projects, like Beetlejuice, Best in Show and Home Alone.