Catherine O'Hara's Underlying Cause of Death Revealed

• Primary Subject: Catherine O'Hara's cause of death
• Key Update: Following her passing on January 30, Catherine O'Hara's death certificate has been released.
• Status: Confirmed (via Los Angeles County Department of Public Health)
• Last Verified: February 10, 2026
• Quick Answer: Catherine O'Hara died at 71 from a pulmonary embolism and rectal cancer, having privately received treatment for the disease since March 2025.

Actress, comedian, and screenwriter Catherine O'Hara died on January 30, 2026, at the age of 71 in her home in Los Angeles.

Her death took fans by surprise, especially when her representatives only said that she died "following a brief illness." Now, according to recent reports, O'Hara had been dealing with a long-term cancer battle.

Home Alone Star Catherine O'Hara's Cause of Death Was a Long Enduring Battle

Credit: Plan B Entertainment | Tim Burton Productions | Warner Bros. Pictures | Domain Entertainment | The Geffen Company

A Los Angeles County death certificate was obtained by Fox News Digital, where it was stated that the actress died from a pulmonary embolism, with rectal cancer as the underlying cause.

Pulmonary embolism occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery in the lungs, which was confirmed to be the immediate cause of the actor's death, while dealing with rectal cancer, which O'Hara had been receiving treatment for since March 2025.

The Los Angeles Fire Department previously confirmed to the outlet that first responders were dispatched to O'Hara's Brentwood home at approximately 5 AM on January 30, where she was transported to a local hospital in Santa Monica, California, listed in "serious condition." The beloved actress was declared dead several hours later.

The death certificate also showed that O'Hara was cremated, and her remains were given to her husband, Robert "Bo" Wench.

Catherine O'Hara Was Also Dealing with a Rare Medical Condition Before Her Death

O'Hara discovered she had dextrocardia situs inversus, a rare medical condition in which the organs are reversed, during a routine doctor visit with her husband, over 20 years before her death.

"He calls us into his office and says, 'You're the first one I've met!'" O'Hara recalled during an episode of Virtual Happy Hour with Kathryn Hall in 2020, "I don't even know the name, because I don't want to know the name. People are going to think I'm so ignorant not to know this, but I kind of don't want to know. Because I didn't know before that."

O'Hara added, "When the doctor told us that my heart was on the right side and my organs were flipped, my husband immediately said, 'No, her head's on backwards.' [Laughs] Cheers to health!"

Credit: Hughes Entertainment | 20th Century Fox | Warner Bros.

The beloved Canadian-born comic actor and SCTV alum starred as Macaulay Culkin's mother in two Home Alone movies and won an Emmy for her dramatically oblivious, wealthy matriarch portrayal of Moira Rose in Schitt's Creek. Recently, she earned an Emmy nomination for her work opposite Seth Rogen in the Apple TV+ series, The Studio.

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