Among the highlights at the 2026 Emmy Awards was a sweet tribute to the late, great Catherine O’Hara, who passed away in January at the age of 71.
During the ceremony, co-stars from two of her most memorable screen projects took to the stage of the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles to pay tribute to the legendary actress, nine months after her passing.
Her ‘Home Alone’ Son
In addition to being a real-life mother to two sons, Matthew and Luke, O’Hara played a mom onscreen on several occasions.
Most memorably, she played the forgetful mom of Macaulay Culkin‘s Kevin McCallister in 1990’s “Home Alone,” and wig-obsessed Moira Rose in “Schitt’s Creek,” mother to David (Dan Levy) and Alexis (Annie Murphy).
All three actors appeared onstage at the Emmys to share a sweet tribute to their onscreen mom.
“We remember her as the forgetful mother, right? But I will never forget about her,” Culkin said of O’Hara, whose character remained in his suburban Chicago home when the rest of the family forgot to bring him on a European vacation.
“There are all kinds of words I could use to describe Catherine. She was encouraging, she was warm, she was funny. But the word I think of is ‘mama,’ ” Culkin added. “She wasn’t just a wife and mother to [husband] Bo and [sons] Matthew and Luke, she was my mom. And by extension, she’s all of our mama. By the way, call your mother tonight. For real. Give it up for the moms.”
Culkin continued, “Like a good mom, she always showed up when I asked her to. Because that was Catherine. That’s what she did. She showed up, and this is the best that we can do for her tonight. We’re showing up for her. She may have forgotten me — twice — but we will always remember her.”
Her ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Kids
While Culkin was just nine years old when he first worked with O’Hara, Levy and Murphy were adults when they played her kids in “Schitt’s Creek,” which gave them a different perspective.
“Catherine’s laugh was a perpetual ‘yes and,’ ” Murphy said, referencing the improv rule O’Hara took with her from her Second City days in Toronto.
“It challenged anyone who heard it to join in and be as delighted as she was, and she spread that delight everywhere,” Murphy shared.
“The greatest lesson I learned from Catherine both personally and professionally was to always say yes,” Levy added. “Say yes to her instincts, all of them, as radical as they may sometimes seem, she is miles ahead of you and you will learn to catch up.”
Continuing in that vein, Levy — who was also co-creator, producer and director on “Schitt’s Creek” — observed that she encouraged him to “say yes to helping her build a TV character over the age of 60 that wears leather miniskirts and eight-inch heels and speaks in a strange, sometimes unintelligible transatlantic accent, and know that she will not scare an audience away.”
Levy also paid tribute to O’Hara’s keen comedy instincts. “Say yes to that rewrite she sends you, sometimes the night before. ‘Dear Dan: some thoughts.’ It will always improve the story,” he added.
“Say yes to the concept of a wig wall,” he continued. “Say yes to her asking to wear a wig as a hat. Say yes to her naming that wig. Say yes to giving her space to experiment and create. It will amaze you on a daily basis and it will change your life. Say yes to her dinner invites and her stories and her wisdom and her generosity. Those are the things you will hold on to the tightest. Always say yes to any opportunity to revel in the presence of greatness.”
