Catherine O’Hara’s “Schitt’s Creek” co-stars are heartbroken over the Hollywood icon’s sudden death at age 71.
“What a gift to have gotten to dance in the warm glow of Catherine O’Hara’s brilliance for all those years,” Dan Levy, who created the show and played O’Hara’s son David, wrote on Instagram Friday alongside two photos of himself with the actress.
“Having spent over fifty years collaborating with my Dad, Catherine was extended family before she ever played my family,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine a world without her in it. I will cherish every funny memory I was fortunate enough to make with her.”
He added that his heart went out to O’Hara’s husband of 33 years, Bo Welch, sons, Matthew, 31, and Luke, 29, and the rest of her family.
Dan’s dad and O’Hara’s “Schitt’s Creek” husband, Eugene Levy, provided a statement to Page Six, writing, “Words seem inadequate to express the loss I feel today. I had the honor of knowing and working with the great Catherine O’Hara for over fifty years.”
He continued, “From our beginnings on the Second City stage, to SCTV, to the movies we did with Chris Guest, to our six glorious years on Schitt’s Creek, I cherished our working relationship, but most of all our friendship. And I will miss her. My heart goes out to Bo, Matthew, Luke, and the entire O’Hara family.”
Jennifer Robertson, who played Jocelyn Schitt on the sitcom, also told Page Six, “I am deeply saddened to hear we have lost Catherine. Being in Catherine O’Hara’s orbit was a beautiful, magical gift. She was an absolute star who never understood why people made such a fuss about her. Her passing is a loss for everyone who knew and loved her. My deepest condolences to Bo, her sons and the O’Hara family.”
Dan’s sister Sarah Levy, who played the Café Tropical waitress in the show, posted a photo of O’Hara in character via Instagram, and captioned it with the following: “This one cuts deep. What an honour it has been to know and work with and love Catherine O’Hara. Cheers to all that you brought to this world – you will be so, so missed.”
Co-stars from the actress’ other legendary works like “Beetlejuice” and “Home Alone” also mourned the loss of O’Hara in the time since her passing.
O’Hara starred in “Schitt’s Creek” for all six seasons from 2015 to 2020. The sitcom followed a wealthy couple, Johnny (Eugene Levy) and Moira (O’Hara), and their two kids, Alexis (Annie Murphy) and David (Dan), who lose all their money and are forced to live out of a motel in a small town.
In 2020, the beloved project swept the Emmys and in 2021, all of the cast once again went home winners at the Golden Globes.
Over the years there have been rumblings of a “Schitt’s Creek” movie or reboot happening.
O’Hara was asked about the possibility of having the Roses reunite on screen in 2024, to which she told People, “I would love to [do it]. We did a bit of a tour after we finished the show, and it was so much fun.”
“I’d love to just be with them all again,” she added. “Doing a movie would be wonderful. Yeah, I hope it happens.”
Dan previously spoke about getting the gang back together in 2022.
“My hope is that one day we can all get together. I see these people all the time. We’re in constant contact with each other,” he told People at the time.
“So the love is there. The desire to work together is there, and the desire to tell more stories is there.”
CAA confirmed O’Hara’s death on Friday, sharing a statement to Page Six that read, “Prolific multi-award-winning actress, writer, and comedian Catherine O’Hara died today at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness.”
The Los Angeles Fire Department exclusively told us that they responded to a call at the “Home Alone” star’s house at 4:48 a.m. local time before transporting her to the hospital in “serious” condition.
A cause of death has yet to be disclosed, though she was experiencing “breathing difficulty” in her final hours, according to 911 dispatch audio obtained by Page Six.
She also struggled with situs inversus, a rare condition in which the arrangement of the internal organs is a mirror image of normal anatomy, before her untimely passing.
