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Catherine O’Hara’s final days are coming into focus through her brother’s memories.
During a recent episode of his podcast, “Dreams of Our Loved Ones,” Michael P. O’Hara reflected on what communication with his sister looked like in the days leading up to her death.
“She wasn’t talking much at the end … She didn’t really want to talk on the phone,” he revealed. “She didn’t live close by; she’s in Los Angeles.”
Michael described his sister’s death as “very unexpected and very, very sad,” but said that despite the physical distance between them, he experienced something meaningful shortly before her passing — a vivid dream that now feels like a final goodbye.
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Michael O’Hara said vivid dreams of his sister Catherine O’Hara before and after her death have brought comfort amid grief over her sudden passing. (Kate Green/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures)
“I always cherish the times I can meet with a loved one in the dream state … Oddly, I had a dream… a few days before she died, my sister… and I was hugging her, which was really beautiful,” Michael shared. “I guess it was a sort of goodbye.”
In the days since her death, he said those dream encounters have continued, offering him a sense of comfort as he grieved.
“Since then, I’ve had a lovely dream where I was visiting her, and she was in a new house, and it was being renovated, and she was really busy choosing furniture and couches. And she said, ‘You can sleep here anytime, Michael. You can come over and stay anytime,’” he said.
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Catherine O’Hara’s brother recalls vivid dream encounters with the late actress, calling her unexpected death at 71 very sad but finding solace. (Stefanie Keenan/WireImage for Vanity Fair)
The moment, he added, stirred up memories from earlier in their lives.
“It reminded me of when she was in ‘SCTV,’ and I was apprenticing at the Windsor Arms Hotel. I would go over and sleep over at her place some nights because she had an extra bedroom. Yeah, pretty cool. But yeah, it was beautiful. She was just so happy and very busy in the other world that she’s now in, but yeah, it’s beautiful,” Michael recounted.
Michael closed out the episode with a reflection on what he called the emotional duality of dream encounters and said they offer a way for people to maintain a bond with their “.”
“We’re all interconnected,” he said. “And the love, you know, continues no matter what. They’re always with us.”
Catherine O’Hara and Macaulay Culkin are seen at the star ceremony in which he was honored with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star on December 1, 2023. (Anna Webber/Variety)
The “Home Alone” star died on Jan. 30. She was 71.
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“Prolific, multi-award-winning actress, writer, and comedian Catherine O’Hara died today at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness,” her representatives confirmed to Fox News Digital at the time.
Catherine O’Hara’s brother Michael said he had a vivid dream of hugging his sister shortly before her death, which he now considers a final goodbye. (Unique Nicole/WireImage)
The Los Angeles Fire Department also confirmed to Fox News Digital that first responders were dispatched to Catherine’s Brentwood home at approximately 5 a.m. She was transported to a local hospital in serious condition and was pronounced dead several hours later.
Born and raised in Toronto, Catherine rose to prominence through sketch and improvisational comedy, becoming a key figure in “SCTV” before transitioning into film and television roles that would cement her legacy.
She became a household name with her portrayal of the frazzled yet loving mother in the blockbuster “Home Alone” films and later captivated audiences as the eccentric Moira Rose in the hit series “Schitt’s Creek.”
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Her career continued well into recent years. Catherine reprised her role as Delia Deetz in “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” appeared in season two of HBO Max’s “The Last of Us” and starred in the Apple TV+ comedy “The Studio.”
Catherine is survived by her husband, production designer Bo Welch, and their sons, Matthew and Luke, along with her siblings Michael, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Maureen Jolley, Marcus O’Hara, Tom O’Hara and Patricia Wallice.