“Man am I gonna miss her,” the “Spotlight” star wrote.

Michael Keaton mourns late Beetlejuice costar Catherine O’Hara after her death at 71: ‘This one hurts’

"Man am I gonna miss her," the "Spotlight" star wrote.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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on January 30, 2026 6:03 p.m. ET

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Catherine O'Hara and Michael Keaton in London on Aug. 29, 2024. Credit:

Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty

- Michael Keaton posted a tribute to his *Beetlejuice* costar Catherine O'Hara following her death at 71.

- "She's been my pretend wife, my pretend nemesis and my real life, true friend. This one hurts. Man am I gonna miss her," he wrote.

- Keaton and O'Hara also costarred in *The Paper*, *Game 6*, and *Beetlejuice Beetlejuice*.

Michael Keaton is paying tribute to Catherine O'Hara following her death at 71.

The *Spotlight* star posted a photo of himself with his late *Beetlejuice *costar promoting their 2024 sequel *Beetlejuice Beetlejuice* on Friday.

"We go back before the first* Beetlejuice*," Keaton wrote on Instagram. "She's been my pretend wife, my pretend nemesis and my real life, true friend. This one hurts. Man am I gonna miss her."

Keaton added, "Thinking about Beau as well," presumably in reference to O'Hara's husband, Bo Welch, who served as the production designer on *Beetlejuice* and as a visual consultant on the recent sequel.

Keaton and O'Hara don't share much screen time in the two *Beetlejuice* films, but they collaborated multiple times outside of the fantasy franchise. In 1994, they costarred in Ron Howard's journalism film *The Paper*, and in 2005, they played husband and wife in Michael Hoffman's dramedy *Game 6*.

Michael Keaton and Catherine O'Hara in 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice'.

O'Hara died on Friday following a brief illness, her manager confirmed to **.

1988's *Beetlejuice* cast O'Hara as Delia Deetz, a self-absorbed artist who moves into a haunted house with her husband (Jeffrey Jones) and stepdaughter (Winona Ryder). Keaton played the chaotic, impish spirit Betelgeuse whose name inspired the title of the film.

O'Hara recalled filming the movie's iconic "Banana Boat (Day-O)" scene in a 2024 video interview with EW.

"That would be just great fun looking around the table and seeing everybody do the moves, putting their asses up at the air towards each other," she remembered. "I think we shot it for a couple of days, all day long. And we all added moves. We had a choreographer, but we all got to add our stupid moves. When you're shooting it, you could sort of tell, but you can't tell. I mean, we were having our own fun, but you don't know if that translates to the movie."

The actress said she was thrilled to see the scene receive a glowing reception from audiences. "I remember seeing a screening with a regular crowd of people and they applauded at the end of that," she said. "The editing of it was...The idea was great and the song is so great, but then just the way it was put together, I had no idea it was going to be that fun and powerful and memorable."

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*Beetlejuice* marked the first time that both O'Hara and Keaton worked with filmmaker Tim Burton. Both actors reunited with the director several times in subsequent years.

O'Hara provided the voices of Sally and Shock in 1993's *The Nightmare Before Christmas*, which Burton conceived and produced, and also lent her voice to several characters in 2012's *Frankenweenie*, which Burton directed. Meanwhile, Keaton played Bruce Wayne/Batman in 1989's *Batman* and its 1992 sequel *Batman Returns*, and also appeared as the greedy amusement park owner V.A. Vandevere in the filmmaker's 2019 remake of *Dumbo*.

O'Hara, Keaton, and Burton all reunited for 2024's *Beetlejuice Beetlejuice*, which also starred Jenna Ortega.

Jenna Ortega and Catherine O'Hara in 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice'.

Warner Bros. Pictures

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Burton shared his own tribute to O'Hara on Friday afternoon. "Catherine, I love you," he wrote alongside a photo of himself, O'Hara, Keaton, Ryder, and Ortega grinning on the set of *Beetlejuice Beetlejuice*. "This picture shows how much light you gave to all of us. You were a special part of my life and after life."

Justin Theroux, who also starred in the fantasy-comedy sequel, also*** ***posted a tribute to O'Hara on Friday. "Oh Catherine. You will be so so missed," he wrote alongside a photo of a production chair bearing O'Hara's last name.

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