Macaulay Culkin’s bond with late Home Alone costar Catherine O’Hara endured for more than 30 years prior to her death at age 71 in January 2026.
“Mama. I thought we had time,” Culkin wrote via Instagram when news of her death broke on January 30, 2026.
A spokesperson for the actress confirmed to Us Weekly that she’d died following a “brief illness” but an exact cause of death remains unclear. Per a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson, paramedics transported O’Hara to a local hospital in “serious condition” after receiving a medical aid call to her Brentwood home.
O’Hara leaves behind an indelible comedic legacy. Culkin was only 9 years old when he first worked with O’Hara on 1990’s Home Alone, where he played a precocious child accidentally abandoned by his parents (O’Hara and John Heard) over the holidays. (Home Alone was such a massive hit that the duo reunited for the 1992 sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.)
More than 30 years later, O’Hara proudly told Us in 2024 that Culkin had grown up to be “a lovely young man.”
“I just care about him. I care for him. I care about him,” the mother of two told Us at the time. “I’m so happy that he’s doing so well.”
Keep scrolling for more about Culkin and O’Hara’s bond over the years.
People Thought Catherine O’Hara Was Macaulay Culkin’s Actual Mother
The lines between fact and fiction were apparently blurred for some Home Alone viewers because of the genuine affection between Catherine O’Hara and Macaulay Culkin onscreen. O’Hara’s Home Alone character Kate McCallister stopped at nothing to get her family back home after accidentally leaving her son Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) alone in the clutches of the Wet Bandits (Joe Pesci and Joe Pesci).
Home Alone proved so successful — it made $476 million worldwide in 1990 and received two Oscars nominations — that O’Hara and Culkin reunited in 1992’s Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. The second time around, Kevin was accidentally abandoned in New York City while Kate and their family headed off to Miami for Christmas.
“A child came up to me, like, a little 8-year-old, in a mall,” O’Hara revealed to Today in 2024. “’Are you Kevin’s mom?’ I said, ‘Well, yeah, I played Kevin’s mom in a movie, yes.’ ‘Why did you leave him?’ ‘Sorry. It was in the script!’”
Catherine O’Hara and Macaulay Culkin in “Home Alone.” Courtesy Everett Collection; 20th Century Fox Film Corp
O’Hara relayed that the boy still couldn’t conceive of how Kate could lose Kevin in New York City two years after accidentally leaving him at home alone.
“[He said,] ‘You left him twice,’” she remembered. “’I know. I’m sorry.’ Yeah, it’s called a sequel, and it was — it was good. Come on. ‘Isn’t that called abandonment?’ I swear, he was 8 or 9 years old at the most. ‘Isn’t that called abandon – .’ ‘Yes, I’m sorry.’”
Catherine O’Hara Had a Motherly Bond With Macaulay Culkin Onscreen and Off
Macaulay Culkin and Catherine O’Hara remained close after wrapping Home Alone 2: Lost in New York in 1992. During a 2015 appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, O’Hara mentioned a sweet family reunion that recently occurred at an art opening.
“He was coming out and he went, ‘Mommy!’ And I said, ‘Baby,’” she told host Andy Cohen.
O’Hara offered an update on what her onscreen son was up to at the time, telling Cohen, “He was living in Paris at the time and he looked lovely and he was doing really well. I was happy to see him. … Love him.”
The former Home Alone costars continued to celebrate their onscreen familial bonds every time they met over the years. Culkin confirmed to The New York Times in 2024 that he still called O’Hara “mom” every time he saw her.
“She opens up her arms — she goes, ‘Son,” he reported.
Catherine O’Hara Spoke at Macaulay Culkin’s Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony
Catherine O’Hara was among Macaulay Culkin’s friends and family in attendance when he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in December 2023. O’Hara looked back on how far Culkin had come since Home Alone made him a worldwide megastar at age 10.
“It’s a sign of intelligence in a child and a key to survival at any age,” she told him during the ceremony. “Macaulay, congratulations. You so deserve your star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.”
Catherine O’Hara and Macaulay Culkin in December 2023. Amy Sussman/Getty Images
She then joked, “Thank you for including me, your fake mom who left you home alone not once but twice, to share in this happy occasion. I’m so proud of you.”
Catherine O’Hara Took Pride in Macaulay Culkin’s Parenthood Journey
Macaulay Culkin and his wife, Brenda Song, share two sons: Dakota Song Culkin, born in 2021, and Carson Song Culkin, born in 2022.
Catherine O’Hara chatted exclusively to Us Weekly in 2024 about how excited she was over Culkin becoming a dad.
“He’s got a lovely family, his own little family that he’s starting,” O’Hara told Us. “He is a sweet young man.”
Catherine O’Hara stepped out at the 2025 Emmy Awards less than five months before her death at 71. O’Hara wowed in a black, long-sleeved Christian Dior gown at the September 14, 2025, awards ceremony, held at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater, where she won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series for her […]
O’Hara admitted that she sometimes struggled to comprehend that Culkin was now a grown man with a family of his own.
“He’s still got the same face up close,” O’Hara shared with Us. “It’s like, ‘Oh, my God. I’m still looking at that little 8-year-old.”
She added, “He is funny. Always was. I just love [him]. I’m just really happy for him.’
Macaulay Culkin Paid Tribute to Catherine O’Hara After Her Death
News broke on January 30, 2026, that Catherine O’Hara had died at age 71 following a “brief illness.” Us Weekly reported that the cause of death was not immediately clear, but O’Hara had been transported from her home to a nearby hospital in “serious condition” earlier that day.
As one of many of O’Hara’s friends and costars to pay tribute following her death, Macaulay Culkin once again referenced the real familial bond he felt with his late Home Alone costar.
“Mama. I thought we had time,” Culkin wrote via Instagram on Friday, January 30. “I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you but I had so much more to say. I love you. I’ll see you later.”
