The late, great Catherine O’Hara received a posthumous award at the 2026 Actor Awards (previously known as the SAG Awards) on Sunday. The honour comes nearly a month after her death.
The comedy icon from Toronto won best female actor in a comedy series for her role as Patty Leigh in The Studio. Canadian Seth Rogen, who co-created The Studio, took to the stage to accept the award on her behalf — and the audience got to their feet for a standing ovation in O’Hara’s honour.
Rogen referred to O’Hara as a “genius,” “kind” and “gracious” in his speech, and he ended the speech by encouraging everyone to share her work with the people in their lives who might not know it.
The award marked another final, historic moment for the comedy legend’s career: O’Hara’s win marked the first time a female actor has won a posthumous Actor Award. It’s also only the third time in history that one has been awarded (Heath Ledger and Chadwick Boseman were both posthumously awarded for their work).
The entire cast of The Studio also won the award for best ensemble in a comedy series later Sunday night. The two awards bring O’Hara’s Actor Awards tally up to four — she won two in 2021 for her iconic performance as Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek, both outstanding actress in a comedy series and outstanding ensemble in a comedy series.
Many A-listers in the audience teared up as O’Hara was honoured on Sunday, including a few of her former co-stars from films like Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
O’Hara died on Jan. 30 from a pulmonary embolism, at age 71.
