Actors from Beetlejuice and its 2024 sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, are sharing tributes to late costar Catherine O’Hara after her death at 71.
Us Weekly confirmed on Friday, January 30, that the Emmy winner had died.
“Prolific multi-award-winning actress, writer and comedian Catherine O’Hara died today at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness,” O’Hara’s agency, Creative Artists Agency, said in a statement shared with Us. “A private celebration of life will be held by the family.”
O’Hara notably played Delia Deetz in 1988’s Beetlejuice, which was directed by Tim Burton. In the movie, Charles Deetz (Jeffrey Jones) and Delia Deetz (O’Hara) move into a haunted house with daughter Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) and cross paths with a troublesome spirit named Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton).
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“I was living in Toronto. I remember this guy named David Geffen kept calling me about it,” O’Hara recalled to Parade in September 2024 of landing the role. “I agreed to go meet Tim Burton, who I didn’t know at the time, and flew to L.A. and rented a car. I think he was at Warner Bros. and it’s on Warner Boulevard. I went to some other Warners in Orange County. I finally stopped at a payphone and called my agent. He said, ‘No, you’re supposed to be on Warner Boulevard.’”
By the time O’Hara arrived at the proper location, she was too late to catch the director.
“I finally got there, and there was a note outside the door saying ‘I’m so sorry. I couldn’t wait any longer. Tim Burton.’ But I got the job,” she said. “So, it’s a good thing I never met him or auditioned.”
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O’Hara reprised her role in 2024’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, in which Lydia is all grown up and the mother of teenager Astrid Deetz (Jenna Ortega).
“Tim was just so excited and enthusiastic about doing it, and that was infectious,” she told Parade of joining the sequel “Everybody jumped in, and we kept saying, ‘Do you believe we’re doing this?’ And to see Michael’s face for the first time as Beetlejuice! Like, his character doesn’t have to age because he was always dead.”
According to O’Hara, it was also “scary” to play Delia again.
“It’s 35 years later, I’m probably the oldest cast member, and I let myself age naturally,” she explained. “So I’m going on camera playing the same person, but that was also the lovely part. It was lovely to think about where these characters are now.”
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O’Hara is survived by her husband, Bo Welch, whom she met while filming the original Beetlejuice.
“He’s a production designer. It’s a lovely memory,” the actress, who shared two sons with Welch, told Parade. “My husband and I love to laugh. We’d laugh 50 times a day if we could. Even when we have a fight, we’ll somehow say something to make fun of the other person, so you just have to laugh at the ridiculousness of us.”
Keep scrolling to see tributes to O’Hara from the cast of both Beetlejuice movies:
Michael Keaton
Michael Keaton, who played the titular character, honored O’Hara via Instagram. “We go back before the first Beetlejuice,” he wrote. “She’s been my pretend wife, my pretend nemesis and my real life, true friend. This one hurts. Man am I gonna miss her. Thinking about [Bo] as well.”
Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin, who played recently deceased Adam Maitland in the first Beetlejuice, shared a statement with Page Six on Friday. “Catherine O’Hara was one of the greatest comic talents in the movie business,” he told the outlet “She had a quality that was all her own and my sympathy goes out to Bo and their family.”
Justin Theroux
Justin Theroux joined the franchise in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, playing Lydia’s boyfriend, Rory. He issued a poignant tribute following O’Hara’s death.
“🕊️Oh Catherine. You will be so so missed,” he wrote via Instagram, alongside a pic of her director’s chair from set.
Jenna Ortega
“Catherine is one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever had the honor of getting to work with and know,” Jenna Ortega wrote via Instagram of her Beetlejuice Beetlejuice costar. “I’ll forever cherish the time we shared together, and everything she taught me.
A giant and inspiration in many ways. One of the greats. Thank you so much for it all.”
Tim Burton
Beetlejuice director Tim Burton also shared a social media tribute to O’Hara after her death.
“Catherine, I love you,” he wrote via Instagram, sharing a behind-the-scenes pic from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. “You were a special part of my life and after life.”
