Emmys 2026: Catherine O’ Hara celebrated by reel children Macaulay Culkin, Annie Murphy, Dan Levy

When the In Memoriam segment began at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, Macaulay Culkin stepped to the mic and fought back tears. The on-screen son who once sprinted through an empty Chicago house talked about the woman who kept showing up for him long after the Home Alone movies wrapped — not just as a co-star, but as family.

“We remember her as a forgetful mother, right? But we will never forget about her.”

Culkin called Catherine O’Hara his “mama,” and remembered her as “encouraging,” “warm” and “funny.” He said their professional bond turned into a lifelong friendship, with O’Hara continuing to be present in his life years after Kevin McCallister stopped setting booby traps.

Annie Murphy followed with small, specific moments from the weeks after O’Hara’s death — a note slipped to her on an Air Canada flight, a hug from a gas station attendant, even a spontaneous O’Hara character mashup from a stranger while she was buying wine. To Murphy, that flood of affection said everything about how O’Hara’s work landed with people.

“She brought us joy.”

Dan Levy focused on O’Hara’s fearlessness and the lesson she drilled into him on Schitt’s Creek: “always say yes.” He remembered saying yes to her instinctive rewrites and to the gloriously weird Moira Rose ideas — from the famous wig wall to the way she used costumes and hair to build a character. Off set, he said, the right answer was yes to her dinner invitations, her stories and her generosity, the parts the cast will hold onto most.

Her legacy

O’Hara’s five-decade career started in sketch comedy and never stopped evolving. She broke out on SCTV as a writer and performer, picking up her first Emmy there, and became a linchpin of Christopher Guest’s ensemble comedies before headlining one of TV’s great late-career roles.

• SCTV — writer/performer; earned her first Emmy
• Christopher Guest mockumentaries — Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration
• Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York — Kate McCallister
• Beetlejuice — Delia Deetz
• Schitt’s Creek — Moira Rose; Emmy winner for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (2020)
• Later projects — The Last of Us, The Studio

From the cult classics to the blockbusters to Moira’s towering wig wall, O’Hara built characters that felt wholly her own. The Emmys tribute brought that down to a human scale — friends and “kids” remembering the person behind the performances.

O’Hara died in January 2026 at 71.