LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� , a gifted Canadian-born comic actor and 鈥淪CTV鈥� alum who starred as Macaulay Culkin鈥檚 harried mother in two 鈥淗ome Alone鈥� movies and won an Emmy as the dramatically ditzy wealthy matriarch Moira Rose in 鈥淪chitt鈥檚 Creek,鈥� died Friday. She was 71.
O鈥橦ara died at her home in Los Angeles 鈥渇ollowing a brief illness,鈥� according to a statement from her representatives at Creative Artists Agency. Further details were not immediately available.
O鈥橦ara鈥檚 career was launched with the Second City comedy group in Toronto in the 1970s. It was there that she first worked with Eugene Levy, who would become a lifelong collaborator 鈥� and her 鈥淪chitt鈥檚 Creek鈥� costar. The two would be among the original cast of the sketch show 鈥淪CTV,鈥� short for 鈥淪econd City Television.鈥� The series, which began on Canadian TV in the 1970s and aired on NBC in the U.S., spawned a legendary group of esoteric comedians that O鈥橦ara would work with often, including Martin Short, John Candy, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis and Joe Flaherty.
O’Hara would win her first Emmy for her writing on the show.
Her second, for best actress in a comedy series, came four decades later, for 鈥淪chitt’s Creek,鈥� a career-capping triumph and the perfect personification of her comic talents. The small CBC series 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鈥橦ara, always a beloved figure, a new generation of fans and put her at the center of cultural attention.
She that she pictured Moira, a former soap opera star, as someone who had married rich and wanted to 鈥渞emind everyone that (she was) special, too.鈥� With an exaggerated Mid-Atlantic accent and obscure vocabulary, Moira spoke unlike anyone else, using words like 鈥渇rippet,鈥� 鈥減ettifogging鈥� and 鈥渦nasinous,鈥� to show her desire to be different, O鈥橦ara said. To perfect Moira鈥檚 voice, O鈥橦ara would pore through old vocabulary books, 鈥淢oira-izing鈥� the dialogue even further than what was already written.
O’Hara also won a Golden Globe and two SAG Awards for the role.
At first, Hollywood didn’t entirely know what to do with O’Hara and her scattershot style. She played oddball supporting characters in Martin Scorsese’s 1985 鈥淎fter Hours鈥� and Tim Burton’s 1988 鈥淏eetlejuice鈥� 鈥� a role she would reprise in the 2024 sequel.
She played it mostly straight as a horrified mother who accidentally abandoned her child in the two 鈥淗ome Alone鈥� movies. The films were among the biggest box office earners of the early 1990s and their Christmas setting made them TV perennials. They allowed her moments of unironic warmth that she didn’t get often.
Her co-star Culkin was among those Friday.
鈥淢ama, I thought we had time,鈥� alongside an image from 鈥淗ome Alone鈥� and a recent recreation of the same pose. 鈥淚 wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say. I love you.鈥�
Meryl Streep, who worked with O’Hara in 鈥淗eartburn,鈥� said in a statement that she 鈥渂rought love and light to our world, through whipsmart compassion for the collection of eccentrics she portrayed.鈥�
Roles in big Hollywood films didn’t follow 鈥淗ome Alone,鈥� but O’Hara would find her groove with the crew of improv pros brought together by Christopher Guest for a series of mockumentaries that began with 1996’s 鈥淲aiting for Guffman鈥� and continued with 2000’s 鈥淏est in Show,鈥� 2003’s 鈥淎 Mighty Wind鈥� and 2006’s 鈥淔or Your Consideration.鈥�
鈥淏est in Show鈥� was the biggest hit and best-remembered film of the series. She and Levy play married couple Gerry and Cookie Fleck, who take their Norwich terrier to a dog show and constantly run into Cookie’s former lovers along the way.
鈥淚 am devastated,鈥� Guest said in a statement to the AP. 鈥淲e have lost one of the comic giants of our age.鈥�
Born and raised in Toronto, O鈥橦ara was the sixth of seven children in a Catholic family of Irish descent. She graduated from Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute, an alternative high school. She joined Second City in her early 20s, as an understudy to Gilda Radner before Radner left for 鈥淪aturday Night Live.鈥� (O鈥橦ara would briefly be hired for 鈥淪NL鈥� but quit before appearing on air.)
Nearly 50 years later, her final roles would be as Seth Rogen鈥檚 reluctant executive mentor and freelance fixer on and a dramatic turn as therapist to Pedro Pascal and other dystopia survivors on HBO’s 鈥淭he Last of Us.鈥� Both earned her Emmy nominations. She would get 10 in her career.
鈥淥h, genius to be near you,鈥� Pascal said on Instagram. 鈥淓ternally grateful. There is less light in my world.鈥�
Earlier this month, Rogen shared a photo on Instagram of him and O’Hara shooting the second season of 鈥淭he Studio.鈥�
O’Hara is survived by her husband, Bo Welch, sons Matthew and Luke, and siblings Michael O鈥橦ara, Mary Margaret O鈥橦ara, Maureen Jolley, Marcus O鈥楬ara, Tom O鈥橦ara and Patricia Wallice.
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Noveck reported from New York. AP Writers Lindsey Bahr, R.J. Rico and Leanne Italie contributed.
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