Eugene Levy paid tribute to his friend and longtime co-star Catherine O’Hara following news of the actress’ death Friday.
“Words seem inadequate to express the loss I feel today. I had the honor of knowing and working with the great Catherine O’Hara for over fifty years,” Levy said in a statement to Rolling Stone.
“From our beginnings on the Second City stage, to SCTV, to the movies we did with Chris Guest, to our six glorious years on Schitt’s Creek, I cherished our working relationship, but most of all our friendship. And I will miss her. My heart goes out to Bo, Matthew, Luke, and the entire O’Hara family.”
As Levy noted in his statement, he had long shared the stage and screen with his fellow Canadian O’Hara, first as members of the venerable comedy troupe the Second City and its SCTV sketch show. Their collaboration continued for Christopher Guest mockumentaries like Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show (as a terrier-owning married couple), and A Mighty Wind, where O’Hara and Levy portrayed folk duo Mickey & Mitch.
Nearly a decade after their last Guest roles in 2006’s For Your Consideration, O’Hara and Levy reunited for the Canadian sitcom Schitt’s Creek, with the pair playing a down-on-their-luck couple, Moira and Johnny Rose; both O’Hara and Levy would win Golden Globes for their roles as the Roses.
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Levy’s son Dan — who portrayed the Roses’ son David on Schitt’s Creek — also remembered his TV mom: “What a gift to have gotten to dance in the warm glow of Catherine O’Hara’s brilliance for all those years.Having spent over fifty years collaborating with my Dad, Catherine was extended family before she ever played my family. It’s hard to imagine a world without her in it.”
The star of Home Alone and a comedic legend, O’Hara died Friday following “a brief illness.” An outpouring of remembrances from fans and celebrities across Hollywood were shared following news of O’Hara’s death. Macaulay Culkin, who famously played her son, Kevin McCallister, in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, was among the tributes. “Mama,” Culkin wrote on a social media post, sharing a photo of them in the 1990 Christmas classic. “I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say.”
