Justin Theroux Mourns Death of Beetlejuice Costar Catherine O’Hara at 71

Catherine O’Hara‘S Beetlejuice Beetlejuice costar Justin Theroux spoke out after her death.

“🕊️Oh Catherine. You will be so missed,” Theroux, 54, wrote via Instagramsharing a photo of O’Hara’s director’s chair.

We weekly confirmed earlier on Friday that O’Hara died at the age of 71.

“Prolific, multi-award winning actress, writer and comedian Catherine O’Hara died today at her home in Los Angeles after a brief illness,” O’Hara’s agency, Creative Artists Agency, told Us in a statement. “A private celebration of life will be held by the family.”

O’Hara starred as Delia Deetz in 1988 Beetle juice and 2024 Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. In the first Tim Burton film, Charles Deetz (Jeffery Jones) and Delia Deetz (O’Hara) move with daughter Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder). Michael Keaton played the titular ghost, Beetlejuice.

O’Hara reprized her role Beetle juice Beetle juice, where Lydia’s teenage daughter, Astrid Deetz, (played by Jenna Ortega) discovered a portal to the afterlife before Keaton’s Beetlejuice is summoned again. Theroux played Lydia’s friend Rory in the sequel.

“[Tim Burton] told me that he wanted to get that feeling back from the set when he was still a new director, and that there weren’t as many expectations,” O’Hara recalled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in one Parade interview published in September 2024. “Then he asked, ‘If you have any ideas, let me know.’ I had no ideas, but then it all seemed to come together.”

She continued, “Tim says [the film is] about three generations of women. Now that I’ve seen the movie, I agree.

O’Hara also enjoyed making the sequel.

“It was fun! Tim was so excited and enthusiastic about it, and it was contagious,” O’Hara said Parade at the time. “Everyone jumped in and we just kept saying, ‘Do you believe we’re doing this?’ And to see Michael’s face for the first time as Beetlejuice. For example, his character doesn’t need to age because he was always dead!

According to O’Hara, “it was wonderful to think about where” the OG characters were in 2024.

“[The sequel] That turned out to be good timing because the people who watched it for the first time are now at an age of nostalgia,” she says. “If it had been done earlier, it wouldn’t have been the same. So I hope people are happy with what we did, because it was a fun experience, but let go of expectations. Pretend it’s your first time.”

Beetle juice was also the beginning of her love story with husband Bo, a production designer who worked on the original film.

“It’s a beautiful memory. My husband and I love to laugh,” she told the outlet. “We’d laugh fifty times a day if we could. Even when we’re arguing, we’ll say something somehow to make fun of the other person, so you just have to laugh at the ridiculousness of us.”

In addition to Welch, O’Hara is survived by sons Matthew and Luke, who inherited their parents’ sense of humor.

“Our kids are funny. They’re nice. They’re both in the art department. One of them does the construction and the actual construction with a contractor,” she said, referring to Matthew. “He’s in LA learning to build things that will stand the test of time, which is fun. [Luke] lives in Vancouver and is a dresser. There is a lot of work for him there.”