Catherine O’Hara appeared frail but radiant in her final public appearance, just three months before her tragic death at age 71.
And the photos have most people noticing — and saying — the exact same thing.
”Her face was almost gaunt”
The beloved Home Alone and Beetlejuice star attended the 2025 Angel Awards at the Proper Hotel Santa Monica in Los Angeles last October, smiling as she posed with guests and her husband, Bo Welch. She wore a chic green pinstriped pant suit layered over a black button-up shirt, carefully concealing her slender frame.
A guest at the ceremony told the Daily Mail, “She looked very slender. It was noticeable.” The insider added, “Her face was almost gaunt, but she still looked very pretty. She is a striking-looking woman — and she had a touch of glam going on. She hid her figure in a bulky green pinstriped suit.”
Despite her delicate appearance, O’Hara seemed upbeat and friendly.
“She seemed to be in great spirits, however, and was very friendly and upbeat and lovely,” the source continued.
The Angel Awards celebrate chefs in Los Angeles who help those “facing critical and life-threatening illnesses” by delivering meals, making it a cause close to O’Hara’s heart.
The beloved actress was seen interacting warmly with other attendees and even at a table holding auction paddles, demonstrating her energy and charm remained intact.
Catherine stood alongside her husband, Bo Welch, who wore a blue blazer and beige pants, while she posed on the red carpet with her three adult children. She smiled faintly in a grey cardigan, projecting grace and composure even as her health was fragile.
According to Fox News, O’Hara’s final months were shadowed by a brief illness.
Paramedics were called to her home early on a Friday morning after she experienced trouble breathing. She was transported to a hospital in serious condition and passed away later that day.
While her cause of death hasn’t been publicly revealed, she previously shared that she had dextrocardia with situs inversus, a rare congenital condition where the heart and organs are mirrored from their usual positions.
Reflecting on the condition in a 2020 virtual interview, O’Hara explained how she learned about it later in life.
“He calls us into his office and says, ‘You’re the first one I’ve met!’” she said, describing the doctor revealing her diagnosis. “I don’t even know the name, because I don’t want to know the name. Something cardio-inversus. And then dextrocardia and something-inversus. People are going to think I’m so ignorant not to know this, but I kind of don’t want to know. Because I didn’t know before that.”
She humorously recalled her husband’s reaction: “When the doctor told us that my heart was on the right side and my organs were flipped, my husband immediately said, ‘No, her head’s on backwards.’”
Even in her final months, O’Hara’s charm, wit, and warmth shone through. Her last public moments—poised on the red carpet, smiling amid a crowd—serve as a poignant reminder of the grace she carried throughout her life and career.
Catherine O’Hara is survived by her husband, Bo Welch, and their two children, Mathew, 31, and Luke, 29.
