Steve Martin and Martin Short honored Catherine O’Hara during a live appearance shortly after her passing. The duo, dressed in suits, paid homage onstage at the Bass Concert Hall in Austin, Texas, on Friday, as seen in a circulating TikTok video.
Martin Short, 75, recalled meeting O’Hara when she was 18, calling her “the greatest, most brilliant, kindest, sweetest angel” they had worked with. He and Steve Martin, 80, raised champagne glasses to the applauding audience while a portrait of O’Hara appeared on a screen behind them.
Fans online echoed the sentiment, with comments praising O’Hara as “a queen” and reflecting on the enduring friendships she shared with fellow actors.
O’Hara, an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress, died at 71 on Friday at her Los Angeles home following a brief illness, according to her agency, CAA. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to an early morning emergency call at her Brentwood residence, transporting her to the hospital in serious condition due to reported breathing difficulties. Her exact cause of death remains undisclosed, and sources noted some friends were surprised by her passing, unaware of her illness. She is survived by her husband, Bo Welch, and their two sons.
Celebrities including Seth Rogen, Macaulay Culkin, Tim Burton, Alec Baldwin, and Eugene Levy also mourned O’Hara, celebrating her legacy in projects like Home Alone, Beetlejuice, and Schitt’s Creek. Levy highlighted their cherished friendship, while Baldwin described her as “one of the greatest.”