Eugene Levy holds back tears as he pays tribute to onscreen wife Catherine O'Hara: 'Simply the best'

Eugene Levy fought back tears as he delivered a moving tribute to his on-screen wife and longtime friend Catherine O'Hara four months after her shock death. 

Speaking at the 14th Canadian Screen Awards on Sunday, Levy, 79, praised O'Hara's long career and reminisced on their 50-year friendship. 

O'Hara died on January 30 after a private battle with cancer. She made her final public appearance in October 2025. 

'My friendship with Catherine O'Hara spanned 50 years and then some, and it was a friendship I will cherish for the rest of my days,' Levy said onstage the Canadian Broadcasting Centre.

'I first worked with Catherine in 1974 at the Second City Theater here in Toronto, and there was no denying she was an extraordinarily gifted young woman when it came to comedy.'

The pair subsequently starred on the Canadian sketch comedy series SCTV [Second City Television] together beginning in 1976. 

'Getting laughs for her was second nature. She made it look easy,' Levy stated. 'And that comedic gift was the gift that kept on giving on SCTV. How incredible was her work on SCTV?' 

Levy and O'Hara famously portrayed married couple Johnny and Moira Rose in the critically-acclaimed sitcom Schitt's Creek, which aired for six 'glorious' seasons on Pop TV spanning 2015-2020.

'[It] gave all of us on the show the unique opportunity to witness up close the sheer brilliance of her Moira Rose, a creation that will go down as one of the most iconic characters in the history of television comedy,' Levy said on Sunday.

He added: 'And it was Moira Rose along with her star turns in hit films like Beetlejuice and Home Alone that helped make her one of this country's greatest exports.'

O'Hara - who was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2017 - 'made us proud to be Canadian', Levy added. 

'You couldn't pry her away from her cottage in Muskoka with a crowbar,' he went on. 

'Her body of work alone has earned her legendary status in the entertainment industry. But it was who she was as a person that endeared her to millions. 

'For me, she was the one person I spent the most time working with over our 50-year careers. And that is something I take great pride in being able to say. 

'Catherine O'Hara was simply the best.'

Levy and the beloved comic actress also memorably acted together in Christopher Guest's mockumentaries Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003) and For Your Consideration (2006).

O'Hara made her final public appearance looking frail at the Angel Awards in Santa Monica on October 16 before dying three months later from a pulmonary embolism after privately battling rectal cancer. 

The two-time Emmy winner's private celebration of life was held on Valentine's Day at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Los Angeles, California.

O'Hara is survived by her husband - four-time Oscar-nominated art director Bo Welch - whom she met in 1987 on the set of Beetlejuice as well as their sons Matthew, 31, and Luke, 28.

The Golden Globe winner - whose films have grossed over $4.3 billion worldwide  -made a posthumous appearance in Lawrence Kasdan's documentary Marty, Life Is Short which started streaming May 12 on Netflix.

The Studio creator-star Seth Rogen had planned on including O'Hara's former studio head Patty Leigh character in the second season of his hit Apple TV+ series before her shock passing.

'We wrote it for her to be there. We had it all set, and the shock waves permeate throughout the entire new season. It's been difficult,' Rogen told The Times in April.

'While we try to not dwell too much on heavy themes in this show, they will be there in this second season. We are not ignoring it.'