Catherine O’Hara’s cause of death has been determined.
The actress, who died Friday, Jan. 30 at the age of 71, died from a pulmonary embolism, according to The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, as reported by TMZ. Rectal cancer was listed as the underlying cause of death.
The death certificate says she was cremated and her remains were given to her husband, Robert “Bo” Welch.
The comedic actress and two-time Emmy winner died at her home in Los Angeles after a brief illness, her reps at CAA confirmed. No further details of her illness were given at the time.
O’Hara, best known for playing Kevin’s (Macaulay Culkin) mother, Kate, in the Home Alone movies and Delia Deetz in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice, had a career renaissance in the past 10 years with Schitt’s Creek. She won an Emmy for her role opposite old friend Eugene Levy and for Apple TV’s The Studio.
During last year’s Emmys, O’Hara was a double nominee for her guest spot in HBO’s The Last of Us along with her comedic turn in The Studio which turned out to be O’Hara’s final series role. She had been set to continue her role in the show’s second season, which began filming in mid-January.
Following her death, many stars in Hollywood paid tribute to the icon including Culkin, Home Alone director Chris Columbus, her Studio co-stars, Seth Rogen and Ike Barinholtz and Eugene Levy.
Eugene Levy issued a statement to THR, “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 50 years. 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.”
Culkin, who played her son in the Home Alone films, shared a touching post, “Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you but I had so much more to say,” he wrote. “I love you. I’ll see you later.”
O’Hara is survived by her husband Welch, sons Matthew and Luke, along with siblings Michael O’Hara, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Maureen Jolley, Marcus O‘Hara, Tom O’Hara and Patricia Wallice.
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