Macaulay Culkin took the stage at the 2026 Emmys on September 14 to honor Catherine O’Hara, the actress who played his mother in the Home Alone films.
Culkin opened the tribute by referencing her role in the film, “You remember her as the forgetful mother, right? But I will never forget about her.” He told the audience that O’Hara was “encouraging,” “warm” and “funny,” but that the word he associated with her most was “mama.”
Culkin added that she “wasn’t just a wife” to her husband, production designer Bo Welch, and a mother to their sons Matthew and Luke, saying she had become a mother figure to him as well.
“She was our mama, and by extension, she’s all of her mama,” Culkin said, adding, “But like a good mama, she always showed up when I 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.”
“So, she may have forgotten me twice, but we will always remember her,” he continued.
Annie Murphy recalled how the actress has impacted the world
Two more of O’Hara’s on-screen children joined in as Annie Murphy and Dan Levy, who played Alexis and David Rose on Schitt’s Creek, continued the tribute.
Murphy said, “Catherine’s laugh was a perpetual ‘yes and.’ It challenged anyone who heard it to join in and be as delighted as she was, and she spread that delight everywhere.
She added that in several moments she is reminded of “how profoundly Catherine has impacted the world, and it’s because she brought us joy.”
Dan Levy’s tribute
“The greatest lesson I learned from Catherine, both professionally and personally, was to always say yes,” Levy said, adding, “Say yes to her instincts, all of them, as radical as they may sometimes seem. She is miles ahead of you, and you will learn to catch up.”
He then went on to describe her role as Moira Rose on the show, saying he helped her “build a TV character over the age of 60 that wears leather miniskirts and 8-inch heels and speaks in a strange, sometimes unintelligible transatlantic accent, and know that she will not scare an audience away.”
“Say yes to giving her space to experiment and create. It will amaze you on a daily basis, and it will change your life. Say yes to her dinner invites and her stories and her wisdom and her generosity. Those are the things you will hold on to the tightest,” he said.
Noah Kahan opened the broader memorial segment
The trio’s tribute was the launch point for the ceremony’s full In Memoriam segment, which featured singer Noah Kahan performing a cover of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” as photos of other industry figures who died over the past year appeared on screen.
The segment included dedications to Dolly Parton, Rob Reiner, Tim Curry, Hayden Panettiere and Bob Mackie.
O’Hara’s legacy
O’Hara’s career started in Canadian sketch comedy. She was an original cast member of SCTV, the sketch series that ran from 1976 to 1979, and won her first Emmy in 1982 for writing on its follow-up, SCTV Network.
She returned to series television in 2015 as matriarch Moira Rose on Schitt’s Creek, a role that earned her the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2020.
She continued working in television in the years that followed, earning a nomination last year for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on The Studio.