The In Memoriam segment at the 78th Emmy Awards opened with a tribute to Catherine O’Hara from her movie and TV kids — Macaulay Culkin, Annie Murphy and Dan Levy.
“There are all kinds of words I could use to describe Catherine,” Culkin said as he took the stage with the “Schitt’s Creek” stars. “She was encouraging, she was warm, she was funny, but the word that I think of is ‘mama.’”
O’Hara, of course, played Culkin’s mother in “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2.”
“She wasn’t just a wife and mother to [husband] Bo and [sons] Matthew and Luke. She was my mom. She was our mama,” Culkin said, looking toward Murphy and Levy. “And by extension, she’s all of our mama…. She may have forgotten me twice, but we will always remember her.”
Murphy and Levy also shared personal anecdotes about their TV mom. Murphy spoke about O’Hara’s laugh, and the many interactions she’s had with fans “that remind [her] how profoundly Catherine has impacted the world … because she brought us joy.” Levy shared what it was like to work with O’Hara and how she taught him to “always say yes.”
Singer-songwriter Noah Kahan performed a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” as images of actors, writers, directors and other industry figures who died this year were projected onto the stage.
Among those honored in the segment were James Van Der Beek, Hayden Panettiere, Eric Dane, Vincent Pastore, Hal Williams, Tim Curry, Shelley Fabares, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Anthony Head, Diane Ladd, Sid Krofft, Ted Turner and Bob Mackie.
The segment closed with tributes to James Burrows and Rob Reiner from Jamie Lee Curtis.
“For over 1,000 episodes of television, the great James Burrows set a standard of comedy directing that will be cherished and studied for generations to come,” Curtis said. “And sadly, last year, we lost another cherished legend. Our beloved Meathead, Rob Reiner.”
Reiner won a posthumous Emmy for guest actor in a comedy series for his work on “The Bear” earlier this month. Curtis said Reiner broke the record set by his father, Carl Reiner, for the longest gap between acting Emmys.
“He was generous and kind and funny as hell and a friend to all,” Curtis said. “We all miss Rob and Michele [Singer] and all those we lost this year.”
The ceremony also featured a tribute to Dolly Parton earlier in the evening with Sally Field and Reba McEntire.
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