Catherine O’Hara, the comic actor known for “Schitt’s Creek” and “Home Alone,” died of a pulmonary embolism, according to her death certificate released by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office and shared by TMZ on Monday.
The death certificate also listed rectal cancer as an underlying cause and noted she was cremated.
While pulmonary embolism was the immediate cause of the death, according to the Los Angeles County death certificate, Rectal cancer was the long-term cause.
What is pulmonary embolism?
Pulmonary embolism occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery in the lungs. In most cases, the blood clot starts in a deep vein in the leg and travels to the lung, Mayo Clinic explained.
Rarely, the clot forms in a vein in another part of the body. When a blood clot forms in one or more of the deep veins in the body, it's called a deep vein thrombosis (DVT), it added.
Some of the Pulmonary embolism symptoms include shortness of breath, chest pain and fainting.
O’Hara dies
Catherine O’Hara, 71, died on January 30, drawing tributes led by co‑star Macaulay Culkin and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The oncologist who signed off on the certificate indicated that he had been treating O’Hara since March of last year, and last saw her on Jan. 27. She died at a hospital in Santa Monica, California, AP reported.
The document said she was cremated. It lists her profession as “actress” and her business as movies. It said she practised her trade for 50 years.
In 2020, she won the Emmy for best comedy actress portraying Moira Rose in "Schitt's Creek." She played the mother to Culkin's character in the 1990 movie "Home Alone" and Delia Deetz in two "Beetlejuice" films.
O'Hara joined the cast of Seth Rogen's 2025 Hollywood satire series "The Studio" as Patty Leigh, the fired head of a Hollywood film studio.
