No one could play a bizarre on-screen mom quite like Catherine O’Hara

By Dan Heching, CNN

(CNN) — Catherine O’Hara’s Delia Deetz in 1988’s “Beetlejuice” is a devilishly delicious pop culture mom in a class all her own – weird, wired and wholly captivating.

No one played a mold-breaking mother like O’Hara, who died on Friday after a brief illness, according to her agency. She portrayed many of them on the big or small screen as part of her eclectic body of work.

As fans and appreciators of the Canadian comedic legend look back on her memorable roles, here’s a look at some other titles in which the beloved late actress was able to flex her madcap maternal instincts:

Kate McCallister in ‘Home Alone’ (1990)

Never has a one-word movie line become so iconic as when O’Hara, as the frazzled mom of five in this classic Christmas movie, uttered “KEVIN!” after realizing she left one of her brood at home during their holiday trip to France. The movie hinges on her quest to be reunited with Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) and is ultimately quite heartwarming, but O’Hara still got to fly a bit of her unique flag in certain moments, like when irritably pleading with the staff at the airport to move mountains to get her home (fat chance).

On Friday, Culkin paid tribute to O’Hara on social media, addressing her as “mama.” “I thought we had time,” he wrote. “I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you but I had so much more to say. I love you.”

“Home Alone” director Chris Columbus also honored the late actress, heralding her performance as having brought “profound emotional depth” to the movie.

“What most people don’t realize is that Catherine carries the weight of 50% of that film. The movie simply would not work without her extraordinary performance,” he told CNN in a statement.

Moira Rose in ‘Schitt’s Creek’ (2015-2020)

O’Hara gained many new fans and admirers thanks to her performance as Moira Rose, a role that netted her an Emmy in 2020. A wayward posh actress who finds herself stuck in a deeply rural place, Moira is at her most amusing – and cringeworthy – when trying to mother her disillusioned children Alexis (Annie Murphy) and David (Dan Levy).

Ultimately, though, her awkward and stilted efforts prove to be endearing, with the star of “The Crows Have Eyes III: The Crowening” occupying a position adjacent to Delia Deetz in the pantheon of timeless and bizarre onscreen moms.

On Friday evening, Dan Levy, who co-created the show with his father Eugene Levy, shared an emotional tribute to O’Hara on Instagram, writing that it was “a gift to have gotten to dance in the warm glow” of his late costar for the years they were making the series.

“Having spent over fifty years collaborating with my Dad, Catherine was extended family before she ever played my family,” he said, referencing the pair who got to know each other while doing improv in Toronto and later co-starred in the Canadian sketch comedy show, SCTV (Second City Television). “It’s hard to imagine a world without her in it. I will cherish every funny memory I was fortunate enough to make with her.”

Cookie Fleck in ‘Best In Show’ (2000)

O’Hara’s hilarious role as formerly promiscuous dog mom Cookie Fleck in “Best In Show” is ironclad proof that if the one joke in a one-joke gag is good, you can keep coming back to it over and over again. As Cookie and her bumbling husband Gerry (Eugene Levy) compete for Best in Show with their little canine Winkie, they keep crossing paths with Cookie’s past flings… to maddening effect.

Christopher Guest, the director of “Best in Show,” told CNN in a statement that he was “devastated” by O’Hara’s death. “We have lost one of the comic giants of our age,” he wrote.

Beatrice Lever in ‘Home Fries’ (1998)

This odd darkish comedy is made all the odder by O’Hara’s meddling and kinda homicidal mother character Beatrice, who puts her sons up to scaring (and ultimately killing) her two-timing husband. From there, she tries to convince the pair of young men to hunt down the other woman, an unassuming and adorable fast food worker played by Drew Barrymore. O’Hara’s insecure histrionics play like a slow-motion car wreck in the movie, giving it one of its brighter spots.

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