Catherine O’Hara Looked Noticeably ‘Gaunt’ in Final Appearance Before Her Death—Inside Her Health
When someone passes away unexpectedly, there’s always a lot of looking back at the last public appearances they made. This has been especially true of someone as beloved as Catherine O’Hara, who died at 71 after what has been described as a short illness.
O’Hara’s last public appearance was last October, at the 2025 Angel Awards, Upward Bound House’s signature Gala. At the even O’Hara was seen smiling yet looking very thin in a green striped pant suit. She attended with her husband, Bo Welch.
A guest at the event told the Daily Mail that O’Hara “looked very slender,” adding, “It was noticeable.”
“Her face was almost gaunt, but she still looked very pretty,” they added. “She is a striking-looking woman — and she had a touch of glam going on. She hid her figure in a bulky green pinstriped suit.”
“She seemed to be in great spirits, however, and was very friendly and upbeat and lovely,” the source also said about O’Hara’s presence at the awards, which celebrated chefs and community leaders who support the organization’s mission to end family homelessness.
Reports by Page Six indicate that the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a call at O’Hara’s home last Friday, after she experienced “breathing difficulty.” She was transported to the hospital in serious condition and reportedly passed away at the hospital not long after. Her official cause of death has not yet been revealed. O’Hara is survived by her husband, production designer Bo Welch, and her two children: sons Luke and Matthew Welch.
One thing that is known is that O’Hara had dextrocardia with situs inversus, a rare birth defect that causes the organs in your chest and abdomen to be positioned in a mirror image of normal human anatomy.
The Emmy-winning actress, who starred in legendary films like Beetlejuice and Home Alone, only to then become well known to an entirely different generation due to her role as Moira in Schitt’s Creek, had recently appeared in Season 1 of the Apple TV+ show The Studio. She was set to star in Season 2 of the show, but reports indicate she had recently pulled out of appearing in the second season of the show.
O’Hara also recently appeared in the second season of the HBO show The Last of Us.
Seth Rogen, The Studio’s co-creator, producer, and co-director, shared a tribute to O’Hara on Instagram on Friday.
“Really don’t know what to say… I told O’Hara when I first met her I thought she was the funniest person I’d ever had the pleasure of watching on screen,” he reflected. “Home Alone was the movie that made me want to make movies. Getting to work with her was a true honour. She was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous… she made me want to make our show good enough to be worthy of her presence in it. This is just devastating. We’re all lucky we got to live in a world with her in it.”
