The 2026 Emmys turned into a family reunion Monday night when Macaulay Culkin, Annie Murphy, and Dan Levy took the stage to honor Catherine O’Hara, the woman who played their mom on screen and, by all accounts, was a lot like a mom to them in real life too.
Culkin, who played Kevin McCallister opposite O’Hara’s Kate in the Home Alone films, got visibly emotional as he called her his“mama”and praised her for always showing up when he asked her to. He even slipped in a joke about her forgetting him twice, a callback to the movies that started it all. Murphy remembered how O’Hara“spread light,”and Levy, who wore a black rose on his lapel in her honor, shared the lesson she taught him:“always say yes.”
O’Hara died Jan. 30 at 71 from a pulmonary embolism, and was laid to rest at a private LA memorial in February. She earned a posthumous SAG-AFTRA award for The Studio, becoming the first woman to receive one. Her former co-stars have kept her memory close ever since, from Culkin’s Instagram tribute to Levy’s red carpet gesture.
Which Catherine O’Hara performance lives rent-free in your head? Home Alone, Schitt’s Creek, or something else? Let us know in the comments.
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Local Lawton
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