Catherine O’Hara's Cause Of Death Revealed

LOS ANGELES, CA — Comedian Catherine O’Hara's cause of death has been revealed.

O'Hara died at age 71 on Jan. 30 at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, according to her death certificate.

She died of a pulmonary embolism with rectal cancer listed as a secondary factor, according to the document.

It's unclear how long O'Hara had been battling cancer: She had not spoken publicly about any diagnosis. In a statement on the day of her death, her agency only said O'Hara had died "following a brief illness."

Paramedics were sent to O'Hara's Brentwood home shortly before 5 a.m. on the day of her death after the actress experienced difficulty breathing. She died a short time later at the medical center.

Born in Toronto on March 4, 1954, O'Hara got her start on Canada's late-1970s series “Second City Television," which would cement her as a legend of improv comedy.

She earned an Emmy Award for her writing on the sketch comedy show before earning acclaim in the 1980s and 1990s for her roles in films such as "Beetlejuice" and "Home Alone."

O'Hara had a fruitful collaborative relationship with British filmmaker Christopher Guest. She appeared in six of his mocumentary-style projects, often alongside Eugene Levy.

Nearly a decade after "For Your Consideration," her last collaboration with Guest and Levy, O'Hara embarked on what would turn into a major career resurgence with the 2015 premiere of "Schitt's Creek."

O'Hara earned wide acclaim for her role as the show's matriarch, Moira Rose, an eccentric wig-wearing former soap opera star with an arcane vocabulary and bizarre manner of speaking reminiscent of an affected Tranatlantic accent.

Last year, O'Hara appeared in the acclaimed Apple TV+ comedy series "The Studio" — for which she earned her ninth and tenth Emmy notations — and the HBO post-apocalyptic drama "The Last of Us."

• Read more about O'Hara's life and career

City News Service contributed to this report.