LOS ANGELES
The cause of death for beloved comic actor Catherine O’Hara has been determined to be a pulmonary embolism, with cancer listed as the underlying cause.
A Los Angeles County death certificate issued Monday names the pulmonary embolism—a blockage in an artery of the lungs—as the immediate cause of the “Schitt’s Creek” and “Home Alone” star’s death on Jan. 30 at age 71.
It lists rectal cancer as the long-term cause.
The oncologist who signed the certificate indicated 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.
The Canadian-born actor, an alum of the landmark sketch show “SCTV,” was best known for her roles as Macaulay Culkin’s mother in two “Home Alone” movies and as the melodramatic matriarch Moira Rose on “Schitt’s Creek,” for which she won an Emmy.
Her death came as a surprise to the public, and an initial statement from her representatives said only that she died “following a brief illness.”
Collaborators including Culkin, Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, and Pedro Pascal paid tribute to her following her passing.
The document states she was cremated, listed her profession as “actress,” and noted she had worked in the business for 50 years.
By James Kisoo
