Hearts all over the world are broken in the wake of Catherine O’Hara’s death. The beloved actress has died at the age of 71, her family confirmed on January 30. Known for her dynamic, collaborative, and deliciously eccentric performances, O’Hara leaves behind a legacy of comedic roles and larger-than-life characters across both film and television.
Of course, Gen X’ers and millennials (such as this writer) will agree O’Hara was a bona fide pop culture staple growing up. The Canadian-American star graced our screens generously in the ‘80s and ‘90s, making us double over with laughter in iconic films such as Home Alone and Beetlejuice. (The haunted dinner performance scene from the latter is forever seared into my brain, as is her increasingly relatable line delivery of, “If I can’t gut this house and make it my own, I will go insane and I will take you with me!” It would appear this former Lydia has slowly transformed into a Delia with age.)
The Emmy-winning comedy legend teamed up with Tim Burton a number of times over the course of her career, on films such as the aforementioned Beetlejuice as well as its sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Frankenweenie. She lent her voice to countless other animated films, too, including Monster House, The Addams Family, and The Wild Robot, imbuing her characters with a graceful sense of empathy.
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O’Hara was also a frequent collaborator with her pal Eugene Levy. The pair worked together on Best in Show, For Your Consideration, and A Mighty Wind, among others, as well as their hit series Schitt’s Creek. Speaking of which, she was certainly no stranger to television, appearing in shows like 30 Rock, Modern Family, and most recently The Last of Us. Perhaps poetically, her final on-screen appearance was as herself in the 2025 documentary John Candy: I Like Me, which celebrated her late friend and SCTV co-star.
While O’Hara dazzled on screen for decades, delivering some of the entertainment industry’s most memorable characters, I believe she’ll best be remembered for her palpable warmth and levity. Below, discover five Catherine O’Hara films considered essential viewing, available to watch at home right now.
Beetlejuice
Many folks’ first memorable encounter with O’Hara on screen came in 1988, when the then-34-year-old appeared as artsy yuppie Delia Deetz, stepmother of Winona Ryder’s angst-ridden teen Lydia, in Tim Burton’s iconic horror-comedy Beetlejuice. In a film absolutely stacked with larger-than-life performances, O’Hara holds her own — even against Michael Keaton’s scenery-chewing ghoul — stealing each scene she is in with all the drama of a narcissistic artist trapped in suburban hell. O’Hara embraces the self-absorbed, avant-garde sculptor without judgment, infusing a character that could have easily been reduced to a caricature with a natural, albeit high-strung charm, resulting in a lasting (and, to some, aspirational) fan-favorite.
Beetlejuice is available to stream via VOD on Amazon Prime Video. Its sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, is streaming on HBO Max.
Waiting for Guffman
Sheila Albertson, the Missouri travel agent with Hollywood dreams despite a clear lack of talent, is undoubtedly the standout character from 1996’s mockumentary Waiting for Guffman, which follows a group of smalltown would-be thespians as they put on a musical at their community theater. O’Hara plays the deluded Sheila with believably desperate ambition and hilariously cringeworthy cornball energy. Her unhinged chemistry with Fred Willard, who plays Sheila’s equally deluded husband Ron, only adds to an already excellent performance. Their comedy as a couple whipped up by delusions of small-town stardom is largely improvised, and the scene in which the married pair perform “Midnight at the Oasis” is breathtakingly, tear-inducingly funny. O’Hara gives it her all from start to finish, and she makes no apologies for it.
Waiting for Guffman is available to stream via VOD on Amazon Prime Video.
Home Alone
Home Alone is Macaulay Culkin’s movie, no doubt, but O’Hara is certainly an essential ingredient to the film’s generational impact. As Kevin McCallister’s mom Kate, O’Hara injects what could have been a necessary but unremarkable role with emotional weight, unexpected levity, and familiar warmth. Though Kevin feels dismissed and unheard in the chaos of his large family, his bond with Kate is the heart of the 1990 film, and Kate’s mom-guilt is heartbreakingly palpable when she realizes they’ve left Kevin behind. She’s a force to be reckoned with as a mother desperate to reunite with her child, and when she tells the airport gate agent she’s going to get back to her son even “if I have to sell my soul to the devil himself,” we firmly believe her. Plus, her brief interactions with John Candy are comedy gold; for a brief moment, their chemistry takes center stage.
Home Alone is available to stream via subscription on Disney+.
Best in Show
O’Hara delivers one of her more outrageous character performances as middle-class dog show trainer Cookie Fleck in the cult 2000 mockumentary Best in Show. Alongside Eugene Levy, who plays her husband Gerry, O’Hara leans into the absurdity of the competitive dog show world. As if the premise weren’t funny enough, her character is defined by uncomfortable humor. Cookie is constantly and bluntly oversharing about her life, especially when it comes to her wildly promiscuous past and many former lovers, much to Gerry’s quiet horror. (A running gag throughout the film is Cookie’s near-constant encounters with a string of enthusiastic, flirty past flings.) Cookie is eccentric, chatty, high-strung, socially-awkward, and earnest, which the actress plays effortlessly, but O’Hara’s at her very best when she and Levy are bouncing off each other as the strangely compatible Florida couple wholly devoted to their dog, Winky.
Best in Show is available to stream via VOD on Amazon Prime Video.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
O’Hara lent her voice to countless animated characters during her five decades in film, but no vocal performance is more memorable than her role as Sally in 1993’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. O’Hara’s tender, lilting performance imbues the restless rag doll with a sense of gentle strength and complex melancholy perceptible to even the youngest viewers. Slightly breathy and melodic, Sally’s voice mirrors her fragile yet resilient nature, and her heartbreak is painfully tangible when she sings “Sally’s Song.” But O’Hara’s Sally is never reduced to the sum of her stitched-together parts; she’s also mischievous and spirited, such as when she brazenly drugs Dr. Finkelstein’s soup, as well as courageous and clever, like when she attempts to rescue Santa Claus using her feminine wiles.
The Nightmare Before Christmas is available to stream via subscription on Disney+.
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