Home Uncategorized CATHERINE O’HARA’S ONSCREEN “KIDS” CAME TOGETHER AT THE 2026 EMMYS TO HONOR THE WOMAN WHO HAD BEEN THEIR TV MOM — BUT WHEN MACAULAY CULKIN BEGAN SPEAKING, THE EMOTION BECAME ALMOST TOO MUCH TO HOLD BACK One by one, the actors who had shared some of Catherine’s most beloved family roles reflected on the woman behind those unforgettable characters. But the most poignant moment came when Culkin — forever connected to O’Hara as her son in Home Alone — tried to put into words what she had meant to him. As he spoke, his voice and expression betrayed just how personal the tribute had become. For a few minutes, the Emmys stopped feeling like an awards show and became something much more intimate: a group of “children” saying goodbye to the woman millions had watched mother them on screen.

CATHERINE O’HARA’S ONSCREEN “KIDS” CAME TOGETHER AT THE 2026 EMMYS TO HONOR THE WOMAN WHO HAD BEEN THEIR TV MOM — BUT WHEN MACAULAY CULKIN BEGAN SPEAKING, THE EMOTION BECAME ALMOST TOO MUCH TO HOLD BACK One by one, the actors who had shared some of Catherine’s most beloved family roles reflected on the woman behind those unforgettable characters. But the most poignant moment came when Culkin — forever connected to O’Hara as her son in Home Alone — tried to put into words what she had meant to him. As he spoke, his voice and expression betrayed just how personal the tribute had become. For a few minutes, the Emmys stopped feeling like an awards show and became something much more intimate: a group of “children” saying goodbye to the woman millions had watched mother them on screen.

Uncategorized · 15/09/2026 · comments off

Three of Catherine O’Hara‘s friends and costars came together to pay tribute to the actress at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Dan Levy, Annie Murphy and Macaulay Culkin took the stage Monday night at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles to share memories of working with O’Hara, who died at the age of 71 after suffering a pulmonary embolism. At the time, rectal cancer was listed as the underlying cause of the embolism.

“We remember her as the forgetful mother, right? But I will never forget about her,” Culkin, 46, said on the broadcast, referencing his experiences on-screen with O’Hara in the Home Alone movies.

Macaulay Culkin, Annie Murphy and Daniel Levy;Catherine O'Hara
Macaulay Culkin, Annie Murphy and Dan Levy on Sept. 14, 2026; Catherin O’Hara on Sept. 15, 2024.Rich Polk/Variety via Getty; Amy Sussman/Getty

“There are all kinds of words I could use to describe Catherine. She was encouraging, she was warm, she was funny. But the word I think of is ‘mama,’ ” he added. “She wasn’t just a wife and mother to Bo and Matthew and Luke, she was my mom. And by extension, she’s all of our mama. By the way, call your mother tonight. For real. Give it up for the moms.”

Culkin continued, “Like a good mom, she always showed up when I asked her to. Because that was Catherine. That’s what she did. She showed up, and this is the best that we can do for her tonight. We’re showing up for her. She may have forgotten me — twice — but we will always remember her.”

Levy, 43, and Murphy, 39, costarred opposite O’Hara in the beloved sitcom Schitt’s Creek. “Catherine’s laugh was a perpetual ‘yes and,’ ” Murphy said, as she shared sweet moments she has exchanged with strangers and fans of O’Hara’s work. “It challenged anyone who heard it to join in and be as delighted as she was, and she spread that delight everywhere.”

“The greatest lesson I learned from Catherine both personally and professionally was to always say yes,” Levy added. “Say yes to her instincts, all of them, as radical as they may sometimes seem, she is miles ahead of you and you will learn to catch up.”

Alexis (Annie Murphy), Johnny (Eugene Levy), Moira (Catherine O'Hara), David (Dan Levy) in Schitt's Creek
‘Schitt’s Creek’ cast: Alexis (Annie Murphy), Johnny (Eugene Levy), Moira (Catherine O’Hara), David (Dan Levy).Pop TV

The in memoriam segment included Noah Kahan‘s performance of Simon & Garfunkel’s 1970 hit “Bridge Over Troubled Water” as the television industry paid tribute to O’Hara and other industry figures who died in the last year.

While Levy spoke about his relationship with O’Hara, he emphasized that it was important for him and Schitt’s Creek to “say yes to helping her build a TV character over the age of 60 that wears leather miniskirts and eight-inch heels and speaks in a strange, sometimes unintelligible transatlantic accent, and know that she will not scare an audience away,” to laughter from the audience.

“Say yes to that rewrite she sends you, sometimes the night before. ‘Dear Dan: some thoughts.’ It will always improve the story,” he added. “Say yes to the concept of a wig wall. Say yes to her asking to wear a wig as a hat. Say yes to her naming that wig. Say yes to giving her space to experiment and create. It will amaze you on a daily basis and it will change your life. Say yes to her dinner invites and her stories and her wisdom and her generosity. Those are the things you will hold on to the tightest. Always say yes to any opportunity to revel in the presence of greatness.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Levy and Murphy worked alongside O’Hara on all six seasons of Schitt’s Creek, in which she played Moira Rose. The Big Mistakes actor played her son, David Rose, on the show — and the two were also famously close off-screen, thanks to her friendship with his father, Eugene Levy.

Following her death, Dan shared a touching tribute on Instagram, noting that it was “a gift to have gotten to dance in the warm glow of Catherine O’Hara’s brilliance for all those years” and said that he would “cherish every funny memory I was fortunate enough to make with her.”

Catherine O'Hara and Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone (1990)
Catherine O’Hara and Macaulay Culkin in ‘Home Alone’.Don Smetzer/20th Century Fox

Culkin also shared a close bond with O’Hara. During a 2024 Q&A with The New York Times, he revealed that he always called the actress “mom” when they ran into each other, which she warmly welcomed, and would “open up her arms” and call him “son.”

In a post shared to Instagram in January, Culkin 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. I’ll see you later.”

O’Hara — whose body of work includes titles like Beetlejuice, Second City Television, The Studio, Best in Show and more — is survived by her two sons and husband Bo Welch.

Mariska Hargitay is hosting the 78th Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 14.

Related Posts

NOAH WYLE JUST TURNED ONE OF TELEVISION’S BIGGEST COMEBACKS INTO A SECOND EMMY — AND THIS WIN HITS DIFFERENT. 🏆 Years after first becoming one of TV’s most recognisable faces, Noah Wyle has found himself back at the very top. The Pitt star was named Best Actor in a Drama Series once again, turning an already remarkable chapter of his career into something even more significant. But this wasn’t simply another trophy. For Wyle, the role has become one of the defining performances of his career — proof that decades after his breakthrough, he can still command television’s biggest stage and deliver the kind of work that makes an entire industry take notice. When his name was called, it felt less like a repeat victory and more like the culmination of a journey that has stretched across generations of television. 👇 THE MOMENT NOAH WYLE REALISED HE HAD DONE IT AGAIN — AND WHY THIS EMMY MEANT SO MUCH — IS BELOW.

SHE BELIEVED THE DANCE WOULD BE A FINAL MEMORY OF LOVE BEFORE WAR TOOK HIM AWAY — BUT BY MORNING, HER FUTURE HAD BEEN SHATTERED. The Road Dance is a bleak and beautifully told Scottish period drama about first love, buried trauma and the unbearable cost of keeping a secret. Set on the Isle of Lewis in 1916, the film follows Kirsty, a young woman longing to escape the limits of her isolated crofting community and build a new life in America with Murdo, the man she loves. When Murdo is sent away to fight on the Western Front, Kirsty is left behind with far more than heartbreak. What happens around their farewell dance leaves her carrying a devastating truth she cannot safely reveal — and before long, she is also forced to conceal a pregnancy from the people around her. As whispers begin to spread and suspicion closes in, Kirsty finds herself trapped by fear, shame and the unforgiving judgment of a community where secrets rarely stay hidden for long. What once looked like a path toward freedom becomes a fight simply to survive the consequences of one night. WATCH BELOW 👇👇

🏆 AT 79, SALLY FIELD JUST MADE EMMY HISTORY — BUT WHAT SHE SAID AFTER THE WIN MAY BE THE PART PEOPLE REMEMBER MOST Field looked genuinely stunned when her name was called, becoming the oldest winner ever in her category. But the celebration quickly took an unexpected turn. After more than six decades in Hollywood, she used the moment to say something far bigger than “thank you” — and one carefully chosen line carried a message the industry could hardly ignore.

🏆 “I’M A HOLLYWOOD KID. I WAS RAISED ON TELEVISION.” — NOAH WYLE’S EMMY SPEECH TURNED INTO SOMETHING FAR MORE PERSONAL Standing onstage after another huge win for The Pitt, Noah Wyle could have talked about ratings, nominations or the show’s remarkable success. Instead, he went somewhere much more personal. One memory from growing up in Los Angeles revealed just how long he had dreamed of this exact moment — and why finally standing in that room meant more to him than another trophy ever could.

mai plinh