Catherine O'Hara's Health Problems Over the Years Explained — Including a Rare Genetic Condition

Catherine O'Hara battled health issues before her death at the age of 71.

The Beetlejuice actress, who died on January 30, first spoke about being diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called situs inversus during a 2020 interview with Kathryn Hall. She reportedly learned about the health issue more than two decades ago when she visited a doctor with her husband, Bo Welch.

"I'm a freak," she said. "I love Western medicine, I just don't want to be a part of it. But I had to get a TB test when our youngest was in co-op nursery school and I went to my husband's doctor and he said let's do some baseline tests, and one of them was an EKG."

After the doctor used two different EKG machines, he ordered a chest x-ray that confirmed O'Hara's condition.

"We're driving home and I think, 'I wonder about my other siblings if they know where their hearts are!'" she recalled. "When the doctor told us that my heart was on the right side and my organs were flipped, my husband immediately said 'No, her head's on backwards.' Cheers to health!"

According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders, situs inversus occurs when there is a "complete right-to-left reversal" of the positions of the major thoracic and abdominal organs. There are two main types of situs inversus: dextrocardia — O'Hara's condition — and levocardia.

It affects about one in every 10,000 people, Cleveland Clinic estimates.

Two years before her death, O'Hara expressed how "lucky" she was to be alive.

"I'm lucky [I get] to keep doing things like this at my age — I can't believe it," she told ELLE Canada in August 2024. "Over the past few years, when I've gotten scared or nervous, or if I start grousing about something, I've tried to really practice turning it around and being grateful. Like, 'How lucky are you right now to be alive? And then to have this opportunity right here in this moment?'"

The Nightmare Before Christmas star did not disclose any other health concerns at the time.

However, she did confirm she contracted COVID-19 while shooting Seth Rogen's comedy at The Sphere.

"That's all I could see watching that one. I can see my posture is just [droops her body]," she shared. "I didn't test because we were trying to finish shooting, and we were leaving town in a day or two, so we had to shoot all those scenes."

O'Hara added, "I just kept my distance. At one point, I had a water bottle down on the floor, and Evan [Goldberg] came over and he said, 'Oh, do you want your water?' 'No, don't pick it up!' I just knew, like, 'Don't touch anything!' Thank God I didn't give it to anyone."

O'Hara was not widely known to be facing any significant health issues in recent years. However, she sparked concerns when she missed the start of filming for The Studio Season 2 days before her passing.

"She was scheduled to film, but they reworked the schedule to focus on scenes without her character," said a production insider, adding, "I don't believe she ever filmed anything for season two."

The source continued, per a news outlet, "Her death comes as a total shock to everyone on the show. She was the most beloved person on the set. This is a huge loss not just for The Studio, but for the world in general. She's a legend."

Then, at 4:48 p.m. on January 30, the Los Angeles Fire Department received a call for an "approximately 70-year-old" unnamed female, who was presumed to be O'Hara. The woman was transported to a nearby hospital in "serious condition."

A 911 dispatch audio revealed the patient was having "difficulty breathing."

While the O'Hara's exact cause of death was not disclosed, her agency and manager confirmed the Home Alone actress died following a "brief illness."