Catherine O'Hara's 8 Funniest Movie & TV Performances Ranked, Including Home Alone

Catherine O'Hara was one of the funniest people to ever grace entertainment. She has an amazing ability to make even the weirdest characters feel like real people. Whether she was giving a ridiculous line or showing a depth of emotion that you wouldn’t expect behind her wacky characters, she always knew how to create some incredible comedy with subtlety. Often her acting would be very detailed, and audiences could get as much enjoyment out of the smallest of facial expressions or change in tone as from the script itself.

Over the course of more than five decades, O'Hara has been involved in many different forms of comedy, including sketch, indie films, blockbusters and TV. She has worked with some of the most unique comedians and had some incredibly successful long-term partnerships with Eugene Levy and Christopher Guest. Theses led to some incredible mockumentaries where her improvisational skills could truly flourish.

O'Hara's greatest comedic achievement was arguably her fearlessness. She could play characters who were desperately self-important, spectacularly oblivious or completely detached from reality without losing the humanity that made them so enjoyable.

8 For Your Consideration (2006)

Christopher Guest's Hollywood satire For Your Consideration is a particularly entertaining exploration of the absurdity surrounding movie awards. O’Hara plays Marilyn Hack, an actress starring in the independent period drama Home for Purim, whose prospects suddenly change when rumors circulate that she might receive an Academy Award nomination.

O'Hara expertly conveys Marilyn's increasingly desperate relationship with celebrity. Her performance captures the way an ordinary person can become almost unrecognizable when surrounded by agents, publicity campaigns and the possibility of professional validation.

The funniest moments are often when O'Hara exposes Marilyn's insecurity without making her entirely unsympathetic. Her increasingly affected behavior and awkward attempts to navigate Hollywood's publicity machinery make for excellent satire, particularly alongside Eugene Levy's similarly recognition-hungry character.

It's a wonderfully observed performance, although Marilyn's comic predicament doesn't quite offer the same memorable character work as O'Hara's strongest collaborations with Guest.

7 A Mighty Wind (2003)

(c) Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection

Christopher Guest's A Mighty Wind is an affectionate mockumentary about a reunion concert celebrating several influential 1960s folk groups. O’Hara plays Mickey Crabbe, formerly one half of the successful musical duo Mitch & Mickey, alongside Eugene Levy's Mitch Cohen.

Their complicated history provides the film's emotional center. After considerable professional success together, their romantic relationship ended painfully, leaving Mitch with unresolved feelings that become increasingly apparent as they prepare for their reunion performance.

O'Hara is particularly funny when Mickey discusses her musical career with an almost entirely straight-faced seriousness, especially when recalling the duo's unusual experiences and the peculiar circumstances surrounding their separation.

The highlight is undoubtedly the Oscar-nominated song "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow." O'Hara and Levy make the performance genuinely moving, allowing the characters' complicated feelings to emerge through their music. This emotional sincerity in A Mighty Wind is precisely what makes the comedy work so well.

6 Second City Television (SCTV) (1976–1984)

O'Hara's years on SCTV established the foundations of her distinctive comedic style. It allowed her to experiment with impressions, exaggerated personalities and recurring characters over several years. Having joined Toronto's Second City before becoming part of the television ensemble, she developed an impressive collection of comic creations that demonstrated her extraordinary versatility.

Among her most memorable characters was Lola Heatherton, an aggressively cheerful lounge singer whose confidence dramatically exceeded her actual talent. O'Hara's exaggerated smiles, theatrical gestures and increasingly desperate attempts to maintain her glamorous image made Lola an exceptionally funny parody of entertainment personalities.

O'Hara tackled celebrity impressions including Brooke Shields, Lucille Ball, Meryl Streep and Katharine Hepburn, frequently finding hilarity in their speech patterns and public personas rather than relying on superficial physical resemblance.

Although her later film and television characters became more widely recognized, Second City Television was where O'Hara proved just how inventive her comedy could be.

5 Waiting For Guffman (1996)

O'Hara's first major collaboration with Christopher Guest remains one of her funniest. In Waiting for Guffman, O’Hara plays Sheila Albertson, a travel agent in the fictional Missouri town of Blaine who dreams of becoming a successful theatrical performer.

Married to Ron (Fred Willard), Sheila considers herself part of an exceptionally talented entertainment partnership, despite the couple's rather limited abilities. Their audition for the town's anniversary musical, featuring a hilariously awkward rendition of "Midnight at the Oasis," is an absolute masterclass in playing complete artistic incompetence with absolute sincerity.

O'Hara's comic timing is particularly effective during the couple's interactions. She frequently anticipates Ron's dialogue, enthusiastically joining in before he has finished speaking.

The Chinese restaurant scene is another standout. As Sheila becomes increasingly intoxicated, O'Hara gradually shifts her delivery and physical mannerisms. Her ability to play drunkenness without losing Sheila's underlying personality makes the sequence especially memorable.

4 Home Alone (1990) & Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (1992)

Playing Kate McCallister in the first two Home Alone movies required O'Hara to balance broad family comedy with the increasingly frantic emotions of a mother who has accidentally left her youngest child behind. Considering how ridiculous the premise becomes, her performance is essential to making the situation believable.

In the original film, Kate's gradual realization that Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) is missing culminates in her unforgettable scream of his name. O'Hara makes the moment hilarious through its sheer desperation.

The sequel gives her another opportunity to explore that same panic. Her determination to get back to her son provides the emotional backbone to the movies, offering the ideal counterbalance to the increasingly elaborate slapstick surrounding him.

O'Hara brings genuine warmth to Kate's reunion with Kevin, particularly in the original film's final moments. Her ability to make the character simultaneously exasperated, loving, and completely overwhelmed is a major reason the Home Alone movies are still so enjoyable.

3 Best In Show (2000)

O'Hara reaches the peak of her mockumentary comedy in Best in Show. O’Hara plays Cookie Fleck, an enthusiastic dog owner preparing to enter a prestigious competition with her husband Gerry (Eugene Levy) and their Norwich Terrier, Winky.

Cookie's most entertaining characteristic is her extraordinary romantic history. Throughout the film, she repeatedly encounters former lovers who remember her rather fondly, much to Gerry's confusion. O'Hara plays these encounters with an almost infectious enthusiasm.

Her physical comedy is particularly effective, especially when Cookie attempts to deflect unwanted attention while simultaneously enjoying it. The character's relationship with Gerry is equally amusing, with O'Hara and Levy developing a wonderfully chaotic dynamic that feels completely natural.

O'Hara's infectious enthusiasm during the couple's song makes it genuinely charming despite being ridiculous, perfectly capturing the couple's devotion to their beloved pet. Cookie is an extraordinarily detailed creation, and O'Hara's performance deserves its place among the finest work from Guest's regular ensemble.

2 Beetlejuice (1988)

Tim Burton's Beetlejuice gave O'Hara one of her most distinctive film characters ever in Delia Deetz. Delia is an aspiring artist with pretentious sensibilities who moves into the home of a recently deceased couple, Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis).

Delia is determined to transform the property into a showcase for her avant-garde artistic vision. She is completely convinced of her own sophistication, even when her creative decisions are utterly bewildering to everyone around her.

Her interactions with Winona Ryder's Lydia are particularly enjoyable, as Delia repeatedly attempts to impose her artistic philosophy on a stepdaughter who has absolutely no interest in participating. Importantly, O'Hara gives Delia an exaggerated sense of self-importance without turning her into a conventional villain.

The unforgettable dinner-party sequence demonstrates her physical comedy at its finest. When the guests become possessed and begin singing Harry Belafonte's "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)," O'Hara delivers a brilliant performance through her facial expressions and precisely synchronized movements. Delia is wonderfully ridiculous, and O'Hara's commitment makes her one of Beetlejuice's standout elements.

1 Schitt's Creek (2015–2020)

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Moira Rose is O'Hara's definitive comedic creation, bringing together virtually every strength she developed throughout her career. In Schitt's Creek, she plays a former soap opera star whose wealthy family loses its fortune and is forced to relocate to a small town they purchased as a joke.

Moira's response to her circumstances is consistently hilarious. Her vocabulary, elaborate wardrobe, and seemingly endless collection of wigs make her look as though she has arrived from an entirely different television program. However, O'Hara's performance goes considerably further than making an extravagant character look ridiculous.

Her vocal delivery is extraordinary, particularly the deliberately unusual pronunciations that turn ordinary words into elaborate theatrical performances. Even something as simple as saying "bébé" becomes a memorable comic moment. Her attempt to advertise Herb Ertlinger's fruit wine produces one of the show's funniest sequences.

Moira's relationship with her children, David (Dan Levy) and Alexis (Annie Murphy), also gives O'Hara plenty of opportunities to demonstrate her emotional range. Beneath the vanity and theatrical self-absorption is a mother who genuinely loves her family, even if expressing that affection rarely comes naturally.

More importantly, Moira brings together Catherine O’Hara’s extraordinary vocal comedy, physical expressiveness, and ability to find humanity in even the most ridiculous personalities. It's a fitting showcase for one of comedy's most distinctive performers.