what was catherine o'hara’s cause of death

Catherine O’Hara’s officially reported cause of death was a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lungs), with rectal cancer listed as the underlying cause on her death certificate.

Quick Scoop: What happened?

• Catherine O’Hara died at age 71 on January 30, 2026.

• The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office lists pulmonary embolism as the immediate cause of death.

• Rectal cancer is documented as the underlying condition that led to the embolism.

• She was reportedly rushed from her Brentwood home to a nearby hospital in serious condition after having trouble breathing and died within hours.

In plain terms: she had rectal cancer, and a resulting blood clot traveled to her lungs, causing the medical emergency that led to her death.

A bit of context (short)

• Early reports only mentioned a “brief illness,” which led to a lot of online speculation until the medical examiner’s details became public.

• Once the death certificate information was shared with major outlets, the cause of death was clarified and consistent across multiple reputable reports.

TL;DR: Catherine O’Hara died from a pulmonary embolism caused by rectal cancer, according to her official death certificate.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.