Veteran Canadian actress Catherine O’Hara has developed several memorable performances in award-winning movies and TV shows. With her screen debut in 1975, O’Hara’s acting career spans half a century. Throughout her career, she has received multiple Primetime Emmy Award nominations as a writer and actor.
Although she’s yet to clinch an Oscar nomination, Catherine O’Hara is one of Hollywood’s most successful Canadian actresses. Known for her infectious smile, O’Hara is known to different generations of TV and film audiences. In honor of her contribution to the industry, here’s a look at Catherine O’Hara’s 6 most memorable performances in movies and TV shows throughout her career.
1. SCTV
Catherine O’Hara made her acting debut in 1975 as a guest in a few TV shows. Her first major project, which led to her breakthrough, was SCTV. It was a sketch comedy show that aired between 1976 and 1984. SCTV was changed to SCTV Network in 1981 and SCTV Channel in 1983. SCTV wasn’t only a career milestone for Catherine O’Hara but also one of the few Canadian shows that successfully transitioned to American television.
With SCTV being an offshoot of Toronto’s Second City troupe, Catherine O’Hara and other troupe members formed the show’s cast. It was also the first screen credit Catherine O’Hara shared with fellow Canadian actor Eugene Levy. SCTV also starred notable names such as John Candy, Harold Ramis, Martin Short, Joe Flaherty, Andrea Martin, and Robin Duke. In SCTV, Catherine O’Hara played various characters but reprised certain characters, including Lola Heatherton. She also made an excellent impersonation of actress Katharine Hepburn. O’Hara also wrote for the show.
2. Beetlejuice
SCTV might have put Catherine O’Hara in front of an American audience, but Tim Burton’s 1988 Beetlejuice solidified her career as an actress. Beetlejuice quickly became O’Hara’s highest-grossing movie, grossing $84.5 million against a $15 million budget. O’Hara was cast as Delia Deetz, the matriarch of the Deetz family, whose recently bought Winter River, Connecticut, home is haunted by the ghosts of its previous owners, Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis). Then-16-year-old Winona Ryder played O’Hara’s daughter, Lydia Deetz. Michael Keaton, who played the malevolent ghost Betelgeuse, helped ride the movie to success. Catherine O’Hara reprised the role of Delia Deetz in the 36-year-old 2024 sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Watch Beetlejuice on Apple TV+
3. Home Alone
Catherine O’Hara followed her 1988 Beetlejuice fame with the classic Christmas comedy Home Alone (1990). O’Hara played the gentle, ever-loving Kate McCallister, the mother of Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin). The mother-son on-screen chemistry between O’Hara and Culkin translated to real life, as they have stayed close since 1990.
Catherine O’Hara mentioned Macaulay Culkin still refers to her as “mom” to date. The 1990 Home Alone was an instant success, grossing $476.7 million against its $18 million production budget. The movie became the second-highest-grossing film of 1990, second only to Jerry Zucker’s Ghost. Home Alone also starred Joe Pesci, John Heard, and Daniel Stern. Catherine O’Hara reprised the Kate McCallister character in the 1992 Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
4. Best in Show
In Christopher Guest’s 2000 mockumentary comedy Best in Show, Catherine O’Hara, cast as Cookie Fleck, co-starred with Eugene Levy, who played her screen husband, Gerry Fleck. Best in Show is one of O’Hara’s memorable roles of the 2000s, especially for comedy audiences. In the movie, O’Hara and Levy joined an ensemble, portraying five couples competing with their dog in the Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show. Best in Show was a critical and commercial success.
Watch Best in Show on Apple TV+
5. A Mighty Wind
Another of Catherine O’Hara’s memorable performances was the 2003 mockumentary comedy A Mighty Wind. O’Hara co-starred alongside Eugene Levy, who co-wrote the screenplay again with Christopher Guest. In A Mighty Wind, Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy played a divorced couple and bandmates Mickey Crabbe and Mitch Cohen, respectively. Mitch and Mickey are reunited to perform after the death of fictional folk music producer Irving Steinbloom (Stuart Luce). Steinbloom’s children honored their father with a memorial concert featuring three of his favorite bands.
Watch A Mighty Wind on Apple TV+
6. Schitt’s Creek
Although Catherine O’Hara continued working on television, Schitt’s Creek was her biggest project since the late 1970s SCTV show. Eugene Levy and his real-life son, Dan Levy, created Schitt’s Creek as a Canadian sitcom. Catherine O’Hara played Moira Rose, the matriarch of the Rose family, alongside Eugene Levy as her husband, Johnny Rose. Dan Levy and Annie Murphy played their children, David and Alexis Rose.
Schitt’s Creek is centered around the Rose family, who, having lost their wealth and income, are forced to move to a remote town (Schitt’s Creek), which Johnny bought as a joke for his son, David. Schitt’s Creek received 19 Primetime Emmy Awards during its run, winning nine. Besides starring in the 2023 Pain Hustlers and Argyle (2024) in supporting roles, Schitt’s Creek has been Catherine O’Hara’s most memorable performance in recent years.
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