Photo: Getty Images
Catherine O'Hara's on-screen children shared a loving tribute to the late actress at the 2026 Emmy Awards.
Macaulay Culkin, Dany Levy and Annie Murphy honored O'Hara in a heartfelt in memoriam segment during the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday (September 14), paying tribute to the iconic actress who passed away earlier this year at the age of 71, per People.
Culkin, who starred in the Home Alone movies with O'Hara when he was a child, shared a sentiment to his on-screen mother, acknowledging that she was a mom to many others growing up.
"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 said. "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."
He 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."
Photo: Getty Images
Murphy, who starred in the sitcom Schitt's Creek with O'Hara and Levy, spoke about the late actress's talent and the way she inspired others.
"Catherine's laugh was a perpetual 'yes and,'" Murphy said. "It challenged anyone who heard it to join in and be as delighted as she was, and she spread that delight everywhere."
Levy explained how that philosophy influenced his own craft and how he learned to trust O'Hara's instincts, like learning 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."
"The greatest lesson I learned from Catherine both personally and professionally was to always say yes," he said. "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."
He added, "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."
O'Hara passed away January 30 at 71 following a brief illness, with her cause of death later being determined as pulmonary embolism. Following her death, she was honored by many of her colleagues and friends, including Culkin and Levy.