Home Alone actress Catherine O’Hara told how she was planning on living into her 90s just over a year before the veteran star’s mystery death aged 71.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the Hollywood icon, whose shocking passing was announced on Friday, January 30, gave out advice to fans around the time she reached her 70s.
Catherine O’Hara’s Death Advice
O’Hara’s reps confirmed the actress died after a ‘brief’ illness but her cause of death has yet to be revealed.
She said: “When (you turn) 70 – this is advice (I read) for anybody turning any older age – imagine that you’re going to live a minimum of another 20 years.
“What are you going to do with those years? If you look at it that way, you look at it as a challenge. Like, instead of ‘Oh no, I’m going to downsize’ or ‘I’m going to slow down,’ imagine that you are going to live to 90.
“What are you going to do?”
The movie star added: “You look forward.”
How Did Catherine O’Hara Die?
The beloved actress gave advice to fellow 70-year-olds on ‘looking forward’ in life.
O’Hara’s sudden passing has been shrouded in mystery after death was confirmed on Friday.
Her reps confirmed she died after a brief illness, but the cause of death has yet to be revealed, and there have been no recent health issues made public.
The beloved actress was married to husband, production designer Bo Welch, and the pair shared two sons.
The Canadian was part of the SCTV ensemble that also helped launch the careers of John Candy, Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, and others.
But she was perhaps best known for playing Macaulay Culkin’s on-screen mom in the holiday classic Home Alone, and its follow-up sequel.
Her on-screen husband, John Heard, who played Peter McCallister, died in 2017 at the same age as O’Hara, 71.
‘I Thought We Had More Time’
O’Hara was married to set designer Bo Welch, whom she met on the set of ‘Beetlejuice.’
Culkin paid tribute to O’Hara within minutes of her death being announced by posting a touching message on Instagram alongside two shots of the pair, one from Home Alone, the other from 2023 when Culkin received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He wrote: “Mama. 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”
“I love you,” he added. “I’ll see you later.”
O’Hara delivered a speech at the podium while standing next to Culkin as he received his star.
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Culkin’s made a touching tribute to his on-screen mom following O’Hara’s death.
“Home Alone was, is, and always will be, a beloved global sensation … the reason families all over the world can’t let a year go by without watching and loving Home Alone together is because of Macaulay Culkin,” she told the audience at the time.
The actress told Culkin that his performance in the 1990 film was perfect.
“I know you worked really hard, I know you did, but you made acting look like the most natural thing in the world to do,” she said to him.
O’Hara went on to compliment Culkin for his charming and sadistic sense of humor that he had since childhood.
“It’s a sign of intelligence in a child and a key to survival at any age.
“Macaulay, congratulations. You so deserve your star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And thank you for including me, your fake mom who left you home alone not once but twice, to share in this happy occasion,” she said jokingly. “I’m so proud of you.”
When O’Hara finished her speech, Culkin wiped away the tears on his face and hugged her.
In the past decade, O’Hara won a new legion of fans courtesy of her role in the series Schitt’s Creek, which bagged her an Emmy.
