Catherine O'Hara's brother shares heartbreaking admission about actress days before her death at 71

Catherine O'Hara's brother has shared a heartwrenching admission about the late actress.

The beloved icon, best known for her roles in Home Alone and Schitt's Creek, passed away at the age of 71 on January 30.

Her death was caused by a pulmonary embolism, with rectal cancer listed as the underlying condition.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed these details in a death certificate obtained by PEOPLE on February 9. The document also revealed that O'Hara had been cremated following her passing.

O'Hara's Brother's Admission

On a recent episode of his Dreams of Our Loved Ones podcast, Michael P. O’Hara spoke about a dream he had in which he was visited by his sister "days or a few days before" her death.

"I always cherish the times I can meet with a loved one in the dream state. And I was hugging her, which was really beautiful. And I guess it was sort of a goodbye," he shared.

"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 any time,'" he added.

The dream served as their farewell because O'Hara "wasn't talking much in the end" before her untimely passing.

"She didn't really want to talk on the phone. And she didn't live close by, she's in Los Angeles," Michael explained.

Memories That Blurred Dream and Reality

The experience also reminded Michael of a real-life chapter they once shared, when his sister was part of the sketch comedy ensemble Second City Television.

"I was apprenticing at the Windsor Arms Hotel," he recounted. "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."

He concluded the podcast, telling his listeners that the bittersweetness of dream visitations was that it helped people stay connected with their "deceased loved ones".

Michael added: "The love, you know, continues no matter what. They’re always with us."

Since O'Hara's death, her peers have come forward to share several tributes to her memory.

"Words seem inadequate to express the loss I feel today. I had the honor of knowing and working with the great Catherine O’Hara for over fifty years," O'Hara's longtime friend and scene partner Eugene Levy said in a statement.

"From our beginnings on the Second City stage, to SCTV, to the movies we did with Chris Guest, to our six glorious years on Schitt’s Creek, I cherished our working relationship, but most of all our friendship," he added.

His son, Dan Levy, who co-created Schitt’s Creek and played the actress' son on the sitcom, also spoke about her passing during an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

"Listen, it’s like a collective loss, I think," the 42-year-old said. "She was the greatest. She’s irreplaceable. I think the great comfort for me has just been to see how loved she was. The outpouring… everyone felt like they kind of knew her.”

Macaulay Culkin, who starred alongside O'Hara in the Home Alone films, took to Instagram to share side-by-side images from their time together in the movie and a more recent photo of the two taken in 2023.

Reflecting on their onscreen mother-son bond, 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. I’ll see you later."

Featured image credit: Rodin Eckenroth / Getty