Fans flood social media with love after Catherine O’Hara’s passing | Find a Way

The internet pays tribute to Catherine O'Hara

Her work, from cult classics to Emmy-winning roles, helped define what heartfelt humor could look like.
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Credit: Photo by KC Armstrong/Deadline via Getty Images

Catherine O'Hara, whose career spanned from SCTV to her Emmy-winning role on Schitt's Creek, and included beloved turns in Home Alone and Beetlejuice, has died, People confirmed on Jan. 30. She was 71.

Following news of her death, tributes to O'Hara spread quickly across social media, with fans sharing clips, quotes, and memories from her decades-long career in comedy. Many revisited scenes from Schitt's Creek, where her portrayal of Moira Rose became one of television's most easily quoted and beloved characters.

Tributes also poured in from O'Hara's fellow actors. Pedro Pascal, who appeared alongside her in The Last of Us Season 2, shared a photo of the actress on social media, writing, "Genius to be near you... This lucky world that had you, will keep you, always." Justin Theroux, who co-starred with O'Hara in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, echoed the sentiment with his own post honoring the late star: "Oh Catherine. You will be so so missed."

Macaulay Culkin, who played her son Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, also penned a loving tribute to the late star.

The rest of the internet is remembering her for both her immense talent and singular onscreen presence.

Over a career spanning five decades, O'Hara built a body of work that bridged sketch comedy, Hollywood blockbusters, cult classics, and prestige television — all while maintaining a reputation as one of comedy’s most inventive performers.

She first rose to prominence in the 1970s as a core member of the Canadian sketch comedy series SCTV, where her ability to shapeshift into dozens of characters made her a standout. Her work on the show established her as a performer who could balance absurdity with emotional truth, a quality that would define her career. She won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series in 1982 for her work on the show.

In film, O'Hara became a staple of beloved comedies, memorably playing the frazzled mother in Home Alone and its sequel, and delivering a scene-stealing performance in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice. She voiced Sally in the holiday cult classic The Nightmare Before Christmas. And she frequently collaborated with filmmaker Christopher Guest, appearing in mockumentary classics such as Waiting for GuffmanBest in Show, and A Mighty Wind.

Her late-career renaissance came with Schitt's Creek, in which she portrayed the extravagant and endlessly quotable Moira Rose. The role earned her an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe, and introduced her to a new generation of fans, cementing her status as a pop culture icon and one of television's most unforgettable performers.

Topics Social Media Celebrities


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142 Comments

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  1. Always will be known as Kevin’s mom

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  2. Never heard of her

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  3. It feels deeply wrong that I can’t rewatch all of Schitt’s Creek without being subjected to the trailer for the Melania “documentary” over and over. Where are people finding it, other than there?

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  4. Goodbye to a great actress 😎

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  5. RIP sad times

    https://imgur.com/a/lSwEwBb

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  6. It's the season of perpetual Hope!!!

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  7. Legend, indeed. Rest in peace ❤️

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  8. https://imgur.com/a/aWGWqhF

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  9. The good ones always die way too young.

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  10. https://giphy.com/gifs/cbc-comedy-schittscreek-514-WrrRlXD53izPXRyi9i

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  11. https://giphy.com/gifs/freeform-31-nights-of-halloween-freeform-road-freeformhalloweenroad-eo43ChlcUBIYyNONcq

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  12. I actually gasped when I heard the news. Heartbreaking. May she rest in peace.

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  13. Moira. We all will miss you

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  14. I'm very sad. It seems true the best ones always leave first, she was such a gem in everything she played in and always seemed such a genuinely good person.

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  15. LOVED her! Will never forget Moira Rose!

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  16. Found out via Dan’s insta and my mind is still refusing to believe this is a fact.

    RIP Catherine, the legend that you are. My annual Schitt’s rewatch is starting a little bit early this year. 💔

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  17. I'm not into celebrities that much but damn this upset me so much I almost cried in my bathroom. RIP queen. I hope you fold in as much cheese as you can up there.

    https://tenor.com/view/radiant-catherine-o-hara-moira-moira-rose-ep313-gif-20258973

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  18. She was a special person. A true delight. The world has lost a great soul.

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  19. Legitimately trying so hard not to just break down sobbing. I have adored her for most of my life. Rest in Peace, pumpkin queen ❤️

    https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExenRlcmoxb3k5ems4b2MyZDVtazBiNGNibTFjNm9ha3p3MzR2cWVrdSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/6al4KiQHvcaeN9P0uN/giphy.gif

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  20. She was like another Jessica Walter to me when it came to women in comedy. I adored her. And the relationship she had with MC from Home Alone was so touching and wholesome. We lost a good human today abs that should be mourned.

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  21. RIP Catherine. There really was something incredible about her.

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  22. Not my Cookie Googleman Fleck! RIP, to a true queen.

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  23. https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExeG81emU4dXJ5YjFpOHMxN3ZmbDRzYnBtdnBxZmZnemh1bmtuNmU0ZSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/65zUxqnCUkZynv7G9U/giphy.gif

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  24. https://imgur.com/a/ZoYmaZc
    This broke me.

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  25. Rest in Peace. You don’t know me but I love you

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  26. I was at the Venetian in Vegas walking to the Sphere for Dead & Co in 2024. I looked and saw my friend hugging someone…I thought it was a friend’s Mom maybe? I got closer and realized it was Catherine. She was going to the show w/ her son. I told her I loved Canadian television and she said “thank you?!” 😂 I am so sad to hear this. I hope she’s laughing in Heaven with John Candy and Phil Hartman.

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  27. That is just…such a huge lost to us all. Catherine was both the funniest goof you’ll ever meet and still be the epitome of a gentle and classy Queen.

    Yup, this one hurts

    RIP to an absolute legend ❤️

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  28. Dam! She left Kevin behind again!

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  29. Struck down in her prime.

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  30. When she was on the last of us I thought, "she looks great! She's gonna live so long"

    This is so sad :(

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  31. Goodbye to a great actress 😎

    https://tenor.com/view/alexis-rose-gif-18478325

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  32. Fell to my knees and I don’t think I’m getting back up.

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  33. Did the Grim Reaper get the order to grab "That one actor from Home Alone 2" and get confused? Because there's that other one.

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  34. Oh my fucking god I feel nauseated. Going to be mourning like I knew her personally. 71 is too young to be passing. Jesus Christ, this feels like such an injustice, how much more light can the world lose?

    Rest in peace, love, harmony, and joy to the realest, no one did it better than you 🧡
    https://imgur.com/a/BI7YtUK

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  35. She brought a lot of happiness to all of us and that is what a good artist looks like. RIP Catherine.

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  36. Damn… that’s now both parents in Home Alone passed away 😢

    this is a bit random but it just made me think of how I saw something about her at an event a while back (wasn’t even that recent tbh) and then you just think now that person is no longer with us. Death is so crazy…

    This is sad.

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  37. What an amazing actress. Totally, totally, totally have loved her forever. She is great in her latest.”The Studio” with Seth Rogan

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  38. RIP. She was such an icon 💔
    https://tenor.com/bzkQu.gif

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  39. This one REALLY hurts. RIP to this queen.

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  40. Oh my god. The way I gasped when I saw this. She was my icon, back to when I was a child watching her on Home Alone, my love for her compounded as a teen drama kid seeing her in Waiting for Guffman. Shes been the best bits of every thing she’s in, the latest Beetlejuice being an unbelievable performance.

    I don’t know what to say other than I’m absolutely devastated.

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  41. So sad, what a great comedic actress

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  42. Massive loss. RIP.

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  43. Not my Delia Deetz... not my Mrs McCallister... Not my Ragdoll Sally. Oh no...

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  44. Everyone do yourself a favor nd go watch her eulogy at John Candy’s funeral. Have tissues ready.

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  45. Catherine's role in S2 of The Last of Us was THE only highlight of that shitshow, especially her scene with Pedro.

    RIP very talented lady.

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  46. Heart is broken. I've always thought she was a stunner. 71 is far too young.

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  47. im devastated and i dont know how to process this grief but to catharine my heart goes out to you. rip sally ❤️‍🩹

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  48. https://tenor.com/bzhb3.gif
    Goodbye to a great actress 😎

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  49. She is a Canadian icon. If anyone has missed SCTV, please give it a watch. What a profound loss for us all.

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  50. Rest in peace legend..the brilliance of you lives and shines forever 💔

    https://tenor.com/5xmI.gif

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  51. This has devastated me, I am halfway though my umpteenth watch of Schitts Creek and she was just so magnificent in it

    She really was an icon and will be so greatly missed

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  52. Robert Redford and Diane Keaton shocked and upset me to my core - this is on that level. Why that glorious woman and not....you know....

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  53. I loved her so much. One of those people you assume will always be there, and someone who seemed to keep getting funnier.

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  54. That’s so so young. My parents are her age, and if they died right now I would be devastated because they have so much more life left to live.

    Her poor family.

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  55. I am so sorry to hear this. She was so talented and hilarious.

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  56. This breaks my heart.

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  57. I'm shocked. Read it at work.

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  58. I know a lot of people think of Schitt’s Creek, Beetlejuice, and Home Alone; but I’ll always remember her from A Mighty Wind

    https://imgur.com/a/LQ6BfsL

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  59. I’m so fucking sad. My coworker texted me, because she knows I love Catherine O’Hara, while I was driving and I nearly needed to pull over. I was not expecting this one.

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  60. 2026 is already falling apart.

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  61. Noooooo. What the fuck happened??? 💔😭

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  62. https://tenor.com/FNH5.gif

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  63. At least once a day I tell myself Five Six Seven Eight, Patty. Five Six Seven Eight! Sometimes you just need that motivation. Best wishes, warmest regards Catherine.

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  64. Fuck this fucking year already

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  65. What happened? How? Why?

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  66. Macaulay Culkin’s tribute post to her is the saddest thing ever considering she was more of a mum to him to than his actual biological mum. </3

    Our world is so much worse off now that Catherine O’Hara is no longer in it.

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  67. Wow. This is one that made me actually gasp. RIP Catherine.

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  68. Wow, Heart breaking. Give John Candy a hug from all of us when you see him. We know you missed him as much as we all did. RIP

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  69. Rest in peace to such a beautiful person and an icon ❤️🕊️

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  70. https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExa2cxdTB3cTNrcnFpN3p4Ynd4NDZnZmRhMnZ2ZmV3MWRhNTljemxhcCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/3oKIPqf3f1dPlfrDry/giphy.gif
    Thanks for the memories Catherine, you’re going to be missed😭

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  71. GOODBYE TO A GREAT ACTRESS 😎

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  72. A true tragedy. She taught me how to fold in ingredients. XO

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  73. This one hurts bad. Everyone dies, I know that. And I didn’t know her but she is such an icon and I really am just in shock. One of the absolute greats 💔

    https://tenor.com/bzkOc.gif

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  74. RIP funny lady. Thanks for sharing your talent with us.

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  75. I am so upset about this. It's absolutely devastating.

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  76. Watching Catherine on Schitt’s Creek while I was suffering from depression was one of the few glimmers I had at that time. May she rest in peace. Thank you for bringing a light to my life during some of my darkest times.

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  77. I shall be making enchiladas paired with fruit wine 🍷

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  78. Has anyone checked on the Levy’s?! 😭 They must be absolutely stricken with grief. 💔

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    Replies
    1. I saw a statement from Dan Levy that was disappointingly dispassionate. Maybe he’s just in shock. But it was weird.

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  79. Such horrendously sad news, she seemed like a wonderful and kind person. And she was such a talented actress. She will be missed.

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  80. I was honestly expecting her to pull a Betty White and find some new, iconic era in her 80s and even her early 90s. Devastating loss.

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  81. Just watched a few episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm with her playing Bam Bam. She killed in everything she did.

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  82. Incredible actress and comedian. She will be dearly missed…

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  83. Nooooo …. She was such a terrific comedic actress .. 71 is too young

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  84. I had to find out because of a Buzzfeed email in my inbox. What a way to start the day. Well, it would've been that or this post...

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  85. RIP. Her roles gave me a lot of joy and laughter. Phenomenal woman.

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  86. Maureen does not like to be manhandled.

    Rip

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  87. Terrible news! I gasped when I read the news. 😢

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  88. Ah man, this is a gut punch like when Captain Holt died recently, RIP to a Canadian legend!

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  89. I actually said “woah” out loud for this one

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  90. I keep hoping for an announcement that it's a hoax.

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  91. Watched “the princess bride” a week before Rob Reiner’s death. Rewatched “best in Show” last week. I need to stop watching movies. I’ll miss Catherine O’Hara so very much. Canadian Queen!

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  92. I can not fucking deal right now. 😭😭😭 This is the worst hurt I've felt for a celebrity loss since Robin Williams.

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  93. This is devastating. I am crying.

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  94. https://tenor.com/bxiJ8.gif

    Absolutely not!

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  95. https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExOHM2MmdkNXg0YXBib2x3MXdkd3V0bXU2cnh1Z3lmbHhnaDRueG1vayZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/vo1aWvSTIHHgWwv6WM/giphy.gif
    this one actually hurts. RIP to a legend

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  96. This is gonna be a looooong year.

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  97. God damn it. One of the funniest people to ever live. She will be missed.

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  98. Delia!😭 Watching Schitts creek for the first time starting this weekend… already love Moira… thank you for being a part of my childhood, Sally. God, this is heartbreaking 😭

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  99. Very sad news. Rest well, my childhood mom. 😢

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  100. I’m watching “After Hours”, from 1985 by Martin Scorsese. I was too young to see it then. Read great reviews. Catherine O’Hara is supposed to be great in this movie. Excited.

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  101. The absolute best. This one hurts bad.

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  102. Noooooo Moira can’t die Moira Rose 💔🌹

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  103. She was a lovely person. Incredibly funny and talented. This is so sad. The wrong person from the home alone movie has been taken. I would have loved to see that one guy who made a cameo appearance die instead.

    My condolences to the family and friends

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  104. I just recently watched her in a series

    Oh RIP to one of the funniest actors ever

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  105. RIP, Thank you, Catherine, for all the enjoyment you have given me

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  106. CATHERINE! (Sits up in seat)

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  107. Incredibly sad loss. I’m hoping the media/press respects her families privacy at this time.

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  108. Who will be the Mom now? So sad 😭

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  109. I was 8 years when I saw Beetlejuice in the theater, and I remember thinking “wow that red-haired lady is really mean and awful”. And for most of my life every time I saw Catherine in a movie I couldn’t shake that impression because she was such a good actor, she could play any role big or small.

    Catherine brought joy to millions and I’m definitely sad because I wanted at least another decade of seeing her shine.

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  110. She was awesome in Best in Show.

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  111. Feeling this one like she was my own mother.

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  112. RIP, Catherine. You were truly wonderful and left a mark. In fact, you were more precious than a pot of gold!

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  113. I loved Schitts Creek. She was my favourite character. Sigh. Why is it always the good ones?

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  114. We watched Best in Show last night in her honour. Such a funny movie.

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  115. R.I.P. Edith Prickly.

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  116. Sad doesn’t even come close enough to how I feel.

    RIP to an absolute powerhouse!!

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  117. "If you don't let me gut out this house and make it my own, I will go insane and I will take you with me.”

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  118. So sad, she was amazing in everything she appeared in. RIP x

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  119. She really did hold everything together

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  120. I remember her from Home Alone. It's so sad that she's no longer with us; my heart is truly aching for her.

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  121. My husband and I are just heartbroken. She brought so much joy and laughter to our lives. Just incomparable. You will be missed, Queen!!

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  122. I'm so sad and upset at this news. She was so brilliant, beautiful, funny, talented, and by all accounts a lovely person. I'm heartbroken.

    Rest in peace, bebe.

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  123. Aw Schitt! She's my favorite female actor in Schitt's Creek.

    One time, my wife and I were watching Schitt's Creek, I startled her by my sudden outburst "DAY-O!" when Catherine showed on screen. I had to remind my wife about the Beetlejuice scene. Hehe

    I hope Catherine carries on her brilliance and entertainment in the next life!

    DAY-O!

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  124. Wow. Just finished watching The Studio last night and she was awesome in it! Crappy news...RIP

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  125. Netflix just removed shitts creek :(

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