Emmy-winning comic actor Catherine O’Hara is among the notable and influential people who died in the first month of this year.
Her career was launched with the comedy group Second City in Toronto. But O’Hara is best known for her roles as Macaulay Culkin’s mother in the first two “Home Alone” films and as the dramatically ditzy matriarch Moira Rose in the television series “Schitt’s Creek.”
January also saw the death of notorious CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames, whose betrayal of Western intelligence assets to the Soviet Union and Russia is considered among the most damaging intelligence breaches in US history. The secrets he revealed were blamed for the executions of Western agents and were a major blow to the CIA during the Cold War.
Others who died in January include South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki, Grateful Dead band member Bob Weir, “Dilbert” comic book creator Scott Adams and Italian designer Valentino Garavani.
Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died this year (cause of death is quoted, if available):
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JANUARY ___
Diane Crump, 77. In 1969, she became the first woman to ride professionally in a horse race and a year later she became the first female jockey in the Kentucky Derby. January 1st.
Ahn Sung-ki, 74. He was one of South Korea’s biggest movie stars whose prolific 60-year career and positive, kind public image earned him the nickname “The Nation’s Actor.” January 5th.
Aldrich Ames, 84. The CIA turncoat who betrayed Western intelligence assets to the Soviet Union and Russia in one of the most damaging intelligence breaches in US history has died in prison. January 5th.
Béla Tarr, 70. The celebrated Hungarian filmmaker directed works such as “Sátántangó” and “The Turin Horse” and was the recipient of numerous awards for his long and often darkly comic films. January 6th.
Glenn Hall, 94. Nicknamed “Mr. Goalie,” he was a Hockey Hall of Famer whose ironman streak of 502 starts as a goaltender remains an NHL record. January 7th.
Bob Weir, 78. The guitarist and singer was an essential member of the Grateful Dead who helped found the San Francisco counterculture sound of the 1960s and kept it alive through decades of endless tours and marathon jams. January 10th.
Scott Adams, 68. His popular comic strip “Dilbert” captured the frustration of beleaguered white-collar cubicle workers and satirized the ridiculousness of modern office culture until it was abruptly pulled from syndication in 2023 for racist remarks. January 13th.
John Forté, 50. The Grammy-nominated musician was known for his work with the Fugees and the Refugee Camp All-Stars among others. January 12th.
Claudette Colvin, 86. Her arrest in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus helped spark the modern civil rights movement. At 15, she was arrested nine months before Rosa Parks gained international fame for also refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus. January 13th.
Valentino Garavani, 93. He was the jet-set Italian designer whose high-glamour gowns – often in his trademark shade of “Valentino red” – were staples of the fashion show for nearly half a century. January 19th.
Ota Zaremba, 68. He won a weightlifting gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics before admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs under a secret program run by the totalitarian regime in the former Czechoslovakia. January 23rd.
William Foege, 89. As a physician, he was a leader in one of humanity’s greatest public health victories — the global eradication of smallpox. January 24th.
Catherine O’Hara, 71. The Canadian-born comic actor and “SCTV” alum starred as Macaulay Culkin’s concerned mother in two “Home Alone” movies and won an Emmy as the dramatically rich matriarch Moira Rose in “Schitt’s Creek.” January 30th.
Demond Wilson, 79. He found fame in the 1970s playing Lamont on “Sanford and Son” and went on to become a minister. January 30th.