Catherine O’Hara had two children, both sons: Matthew Welch, born in 1994, and Luke Welch, born in 1997. They are O’Hara’s children with production designer and director Bo Welch. Unlike their famous mother, Matthew and Luke have largely stayed out of the public spotlight. The limited information available indicates that both worked behind the scenes in film and television production rather than as on-camera performers.
Who are Catherine O’Hara’s sons?
Matthew Welch and Luke Welch are Catherine O’Hara’s only children and the sons of O’Hara and Bo Welch. Public biographical reporting identifies Matthew’s birth year as 1994 and Luke’s as 1997.
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Their exact birth dates, education, residences, relationships, social-media accounts and other personal details have not been consistently established by authoritative public sources. Because the family has generally protected its privacy, those details should not be treated as fact when they appear in unsourced online posts or celebrity-content listings.
Catherine O’Hara and Bo Welch’s family
O’Hara met Bo Welch while working on Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice. O’Hara played Delia Deetz in the 1988 film, while Welch worked in production design. The couple married on April 25, 1992, and had their two sons during the following years.
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Welch became one of Hollywood’s best-known production designers. His credits include Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, Men in Black, The Birdcage, A Little Princess, Thor and The Color Purple.
O’Hara and Welch rarely offered detailed interviews about their family. In a 2024 interview with People, O’Hara discussed the work required to sustain a long marriage, emphasizing commitment, respect, communication and humor. That interview provides context about the couple’s relationship, but it does not add verified personal information about Matthew or Luke.
Did Matthew and Luke Welch work on Schitt’s Creek?
Yes. O’Hara said in a 2020 Vanity Fair interview that her sons worked on Schitt’s Creek, the comedy series in which she played the flamboyant Moira Rose. According to the reporting, one son worked in set construction and the other worked as a set dresser.
The available reporting does not reliably establish which job belonged to Matthew and which belonged to Luke. It is therefore more accurate to say that one son worked in set construction and the other worked as a set dresser than to assign a particular role to either brother.
Rank #2
O’Hara also reportedly said during a 2024 appearance on Watch What Happens Live that one of her sons was working as a set dresser on HBO’s The Last of Us. Again, the public comments do not clearly identify which son held that position.
These details suggest that Matthew and Luke developed careers connected to production, but they do not establish that either son was an actor, director or public-facing television personality. Their reported work was behind the camera, particularly in the physical creation and dressing of sets.
What has O’Hara said about her sons?
O’Hara offered a light glimpse of the brothers’ personalities in a 2007 interview with the Toronto Star. She said the older boy performed old-fashioned Warner Bros. cartoon and vaudeville-style bits, while the younger one enjoyed wordplay. That was a personal anecdote from the boys’ childhood and should not be presented as a current description of two adult men.
In a 2019 interview with Time, O’Hara joked about having two sons in their twenties and wondering where they were. The remark gave readers a small sense of her experience as the mother of adult children, without turning the sons themselves into public figures.
Rank #3
During a widely circulated informal airport interview in 2024, O’Hara was asked which role she would most like to be remembered for. She answered, “mother of my children,” and, when the question was clarified to include her relationship with Welch, added “his wife.” Because the exchange was brief and informal, it is best understood as a snapshot of how O’Hara described her priorities rather than as a detailed family interview.
Are Matthew and Luke Welch actors?
There is no reliable evidence in the available reporting that Matthew or Luke became actors. Publicly reported information instead connects both men with behind-the-scenes production work. O’Hara’s comments about their work on Schitt’s Creek identify set construction and set dressing—not acting roles.
That distinction matters because Catherine O’Hara played the mother of famous child characters, including Kevin McCallister in Home Alone. Macaulay Culkin, who played Kevin, was her on-screen son; he is not O’Hara’s real-life child. Her biological sons are Matthew and Luke Welch.
What happened to Catherine O’Hara?
Catherine O’Hara died on January 30, 2026, at age 71. The Los Angeles Times reported that she died at a hospital in Santa Monica after becoming ill at her Los Angeles home. Her representatives initially described the cause as a brief illness.
The Los Angeles Times reported that O’Hara was survived by Bo Welch and their sons, Matthew and Luke. A later Associated Press report said that a Los Angeles County death certificate listed pulmonary embolism as the immediate cause of death and rectal cancer as the underlying cause.
The medical details are not necessary to identify O’Hara’s children, but they clarify the “late actress” wording in this article’s title. The central family fact remains that O’Hara and Welch had two adult sons who have maintained a largely private life.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where to revisit Catherine O’Hara’s work
There is no well-established public biography, memoir or other consumer product devoted specifically to Matthew or Luke Welch. For readers who want to explore O’Hara’s career, her films and television work are the more appropriate place to start.
These are related viewing suggestions, not sources of biographical information about O’Hara’s sons.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many children did Catherine O’Hara have?
Catherine O’Hara had two children, both sons: Matthew Welch, born in 1994, and Luke Welch, born in 1997.
Who is the father of Catherine O’Hara’s children?
Their father is Bo Welch, the production designer and director whom O’Hara met while working on Beetlejuice. They married in 1992.
What do Catherine O’Hara’s sons do?
Public comments by O’Hara indicate that both sons worked behind the scenes in entertainment production. One reportedly worked in set construction and the other as a set dresser on Schitt’s Creek; one son was also reported to have worked as a set dresser on The Last of Us. The available sources do not identify which son held each specific job.
Is Macaulay Culkin Catherine O’Hara’s son?
No. Macaulay Culkin played O’Hara’s on-screen son, Kevin McCallister, in Home Alone and Home Alone 2. O’Hara’s real-life sons are Matthew and Luke Welch.
The Bottom Line
Catherine O’Hara and Bo Welch had two sons, Matthew and Luke Welch. Both have kept their personal lives private, although O’Hara publicly connected them with behind-the-scenes production work on Schitt’s Creek and, in one case, The Last of Us. No reliable public source supports assigning those specific jobs to one brother or the other.
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