Catherine O'Hara is getting the tribute she deserves at the 2026 Emmys.
Almost eight months after her death, the late actress was honored by her former "Schitt's Creek" costars Dan Levy and Annie Murphy, as well as her former "Home Alone" costar Macaulay Culkin, at the television awards ceremony on Monday, Sept. 14.
The three actors took the stage together for a standalone O'Hara tribute to begin the in memoriam segment.
"We remember her as the forgetful mother, right? But I will never forget about her," Culkin said.
"There are all kinds of words I could use to describe Catherine. She was encouraging, she was warm, she was funny. But the word that I think of is 'mama.' She wasn't just a wife and mother, to Bo and Matthew and Luke. She was my mom.
She was our mama. And by extension, she's all of our mama. By the way, call your mother tonight."
Culkin added that like any good mother, O'Hara "always showed up when you asked her to, because that was Catherine. That's what she did. She showed up. And this is the best that we can do for her tonight: We're showing up for her."
Referencing the events of the "Home Alone" films, he closed, "She may have forgotten me – twice! – but we will always remember her."
Murphy delivered her tribute next, recalling how the late actress' laugh "challenged anyone who heard it to join in and be as delighted as she was, and she spread that delight everywhere."
Her "Schitt's Creek" costar Levy also said that the "greatest lesson" he learned working with O'Hara was to "always say yes" to her instincts, and he remembered her "dinner invites, and her stories, and her wisdom and her generosity."
O'Hara died on Jan. 30 from a pulmonary embolism; another contributing cause was rectal cancer, according to her death certificate. She was 71.
For six seasons, O'Hara played matriarch Moira Rose on "Schitt's Creek," which centered on a wealthy family forced to move into a small town they bought as a joke after losing their fortune. The Canadian series dominated the Emmy Awards in 2020 with acting wins for Levy, Murphy, O'Hara and Eugene Levy, as well as for best comedy.
O'Hara was also beloved for her role as Kevin McCallister's mom Kate in "Home Alone," as well as for performances on "SCTV" and in "Beetlejuice."
O'Hara remained active up until her death and starred in the first season of the Apple TV comedy "The Studio," which won outstanding comedy series at the 2025 Emmys. O'Hara was a double Emmy nominee that year, earning nods both for her work on "The Studio" and for her guest role on "The Last of Us."
In March, O'Hara posthumously won best female actor in a comedy series for "The Studio" at the Actor Awards (formerly the SAG Awards), just weeks after her death. Seth Rogen, her costar on the show, gave an emotional speech accepting the award on her behalf.
"I obviously have been reflecting on the time I was fortunate enough to spend with her and working with her," Rogen said. "And something that I've just been marveling at over the last few weeks was really her ability to be generous and kind and gracious while never, ever minimizing her own talents and her own ability to contribute to the work that we were doing. She knew she could destroy and she wanted to destroy every day on set."
O'Hara was also honored during the in memoriam segment of the Academy Awards in March, with Rachel McAdams saying that the actress "made us laugh until we cried."
Contributing: Anthony Robledo and KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Macaulay Culkin emotionally honors Catherine O'Hara at 2026 Emmys
