Catherine O’Hara’s Schitt’s Creek castmates pay tribute to the comedy legend
The inimitable actress died last week at 71
Since the death of the incredible Catherine O’Hara last Friday, fans and collaborators have taken to social media to pay tribute to the Toronto-born comedy legend, posting condolences and clips of their favourite of O’Hara’s sidesplitting characters.
From Macaulay Culkin, who played O’Hara’s son in Home Alone, to Seth Rogen, who acted alongside O’Hara in her final role on The Studio, her castmates have made it clear she was as beloved on-set as she was on our screens.
Related: Untold stories of the early years of Second City, the group that changed comedy
Though O’Hara’s career spanned over 50 years, younger fans may know her best as Moira Rose, the eccentric matriarch she played for six seasons on Schitt’s Creek. Here’s what O’Hara’s castmates from one of Canada’s most memorable sitcoms shared about her over the weekend.
“Words seem inadequate to express the loss I feel today,” said Eugene Levy, who starred alongside O’Hara in many films over the years, including Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman. The two began their careers together at Toronto’s Second City. “I cherished our working relationship, but most of all our friendship.”
Dan Levy, who played O’Hara’s son on Schitt’s Creek, wrote that “Catherine was extended family before she ever played my family. 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.”
“There aren’t enough words in the world to express just how much you meant to me—to all of us,” wrote Karen Robinson, who played Ronnie.
Annie Murphy, who played Alexis, shared a list of lessons she’d learned from O’Hara while portraying her daughter on the show: “When you find the people you love and who make you laugh, stick with your lovers and laughers,” she wrote.
Rizwan Manji, who played Ray, said “I was a big fan of Catherine O’Hara long before I ever had the chance to work with her. I was so nervous the first time I met her, and she was even nicer and funnier than one could imagine.”
Noah Reid, who fans know as Patrick, said that “Meeting Catherine was surreal, like meeting a painting or a hologram or a saint. Working with Catherine was an elevation, an understanding that there was collaboration in competition, that there were secret ways of knowing and doing that she was willing to share, and that there was humour and magic in everything. Knowing Catherine was a gift I still can’t believe I got to receive. The coolest, kindest, realest, funniest, most genuine. The best of us.”
Emily Hampshire, who played Stevie, wrote that O’Hara was “So pathologically kind and generous that it inevitably seeped into her characters. I think that’s why you can’t help but love Moira’s blind narcissism—it’s carried by something deeply human underneath.”
Jennifer Robertson, who played Jocelyn, wrote that “Being in Catherine O’Hara’s orbit was a beautiful and magical gift. She was an absolute star who never understood why people made such a fuss over her. Catherine was truly one of a kind. Her passing is a loss for everyone who knew and loved her, and a loss for Canada.”
And Sarah Levy, otherwise known as Twyla, said “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.”
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
