Profile Text
O’Hara in 2016, photo credit: PRPhotos.com
Birth Name: Catherine Anne O’Hara
Date of Birth: March 4, 1954
Place of Birth: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Date of Death: January 30, 2026
Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Ethnicity: Irish
Catherine O’Hara was a Canadian-American actress, voice actress, writer, and comedian. Her roles included the films Rock & Rule , After Hours , Heartburn , Beetlejuice , and its sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ; Dick Tracy (1990), Betsy’s Wedding , Home Alone , and its sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York ; The Nightmare Before Christmas , The Paper , Wyatt Earp (1994), Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill , Waiting for Guffman , Home Fries , The Life Before This , Bartok the Magnificent , Best in Show , Orange County , A Mighty Wind , Surviving Christmas , Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events , Chicken Little , Over the Hedge , Monster House , Penelope , For Your Consideration (2006), Away We Go , Where the Wild Things Are , Killers (2010), A Monster in Paris , Frankenweenie , When Marnie Was There , The Addams Family (2019), Extinct (2021), Elemental , Pain Hustlers , Argylle , and The Wild Robot ; and the shows SCTV , The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley , Committed , Glenn Martin, DDS ; Schitt’s Creek , Skylanders Academy , The Studio , and The Last of Us . She often collaborated with Christopher Guest , Eugene Levy , and Martin Short .
Her father, Marcus Charles O’Hara, worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Her mother, Margaret Ann (Meehan), was a real estate agent. She was the sister of singer, songwriter, actress, and composer Mary Margaret O’Hara. Catherine was raised Catholic.
She was married to American production designer, art director, director, and actor Bo Welch, until her death. The couple had two children. Catherine was a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S.
Catherine’s paternal grandfather was Thomas O’Hara (the son of John O’Hara and Catherine Kirley). Thomas was born in Cobourg, Northumberland County, Ontario, to Irish parents.
Catherine’s paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Julia Kelly (the daughter of John Kelly and Julia O’Neill). Elizabeth was born in Montréal, Québec, to Irish parents, her father from County Donegal and her mother from County Kerry.
Catherine’s maternal grandfather was John Joseph “Jack” Meehan (the son of John James Meehan and Mary Farrell). Catherine’s grandfather John was born in Toronto, Ontario. Catherine’s great-grandfather John was born in Streetsville, Peel, Ontario. Mary was born in Longueuil, Monteregie Region, Québec, to Irish parents, Daniel Farrell, from Koilbee, Listowel, County Kerry, and Catherine Boland, from County Clare.
Catherine’s maternal grandmother was Ellen Teresa Sharp (the daughter of Alexander Sharp and Catherine Hunter). Ellen was born in Limehouse, Halton, Ontario, to Irish parents.
Sources: https://nowtoronto.com https://www.theglobeandmail.com https://people.com
Genealogy of Catherine O’Hara – https://www.geni.com
Genealogies of Catherine’s parents – https://www.findagrave.com
Genealogy of Catherine’s mother – https://www.wikitree.com