Home Alone Just Lost Its Third Iconic Star in Under a Year and the Trump Connection is Scary

Home Alone fans said goodbye to Catherine O'Hara in January when a pulmonary embolism took her at 71.

One of the franchise's most beloved supporting cast passed away in July, and now it has happened again.

Another Home Alone icon is gone, and Tim Curry’s loss cuts even deeper as a scary connection to Trump might go beyond the President’s 1992 cameo.

Tim Curry Was the Third Home Alone Legend Lost This Year

Tim Curry, who played the fussy hotel concierge at the Plaza hotel – which Donald Trump of course owned on and off screen – trying to keep Kevin McCallister in line in 1992's Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

Curry died this week at 80, and as of this week his family has not released a cause of death.

He and Catherine O'Hara, who played Kevin's mother Kate McCallister across both Home Alone films, were both part of the cast that turned a goofy holiday sequel into a permanent fixture of Christmas television.

Losing them eight months apart means an entire generation is mourning two pieces of the same childhood memory in the same year.

And in between them came the death of Brenda Fricker, the Irish actress who portrayed the Central Park Bird Lady in the film.

Curry Told Fans Doctors Cracked His Skull Open to Save His Life

Curry's career went far beyond one hotel lobby scene, and so did the ordeal he survived to keep working at all.

In 2012, Curry suffered a massive stroke that left him partially paralyzed and largely out of the public eye for the rest of his life.

Years later, Curry finally described just how close that stroke came to killing him, telling interviewers that emergency surgeons had to cut into his skull to relieve pressure on his brain and save his life.

He never fully walked unassisted again, but he kept working anyway, doing voice roles from a wheelchair because his mind and his voice never lost a step.

This year, on the 50th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Curry made a surprise appearance that left longtime fans in tears.

Nobody watching that night knew it would be goodbye.

Susan Sarandon, his Rocky Horror co-star, posted the tribute that captured what fans were feeling: "What a funny, sexy, original he was. But what I loved about him most was his heart. Even wheelchair bound he continued to be so sweet and generous with his fans."

Carol Burnett, Rob Schneider, Michael McKean, and Rosie O'Donnell all posted their own tributes within hours of the news breaking, the kind of instant, genuine outpouring that only happens for performers people actually loved.

From Frank-N-Furter to Pennywise, Curry Defined Villains for Two Generations

He put on fishnets and a corset as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in 1975's The Rocky Horror Picture Show and turned a midnight-movie flop into a cult phenomenon that still packs theaters fifty years later.

He terrified an entire generation of children as Pennywise the clown in the 1990 miniseries IT, a performance so unsettling that networks still run it every October.

He voiced Nigel Thornberry, the Cardinal in South Park, and dozens of other roles that kept his voice on television long after his stroke took away his ability to perform physically.

But for millions of families, the concierge scrambling to track down a runaway kid at the Plaza Hotel is the role that plays on a loop every December, right alongside Catherine O'Hara searching every airport in America to get home to him.

One dark thought crept up on social media at the news.

The X account WhatIfIAmRight linked the recent deaths of Dolly Parton and Curr – both at age 80 – and O'Hara to President Trump, noting his age is 80 and his cameo in Home Alone 2 alongside O'Hara and Curry as the concierge.

Everyone who doesn’t have TDS might rest a little easier knowing O’Hara and Fricker break the pattern – O’Hara was 71 and Fricker 81.

Sources:

  • NPR, "Catherine O'Hara dies at 71. She starred in Schitt's Creek and Home Alone," NPR, 2026.
  • TMZ, "Catherine O'Hara Dead at 71," TMZ, 2026.
  • Deseret News, "Tim Curry, who made a career of kooky and menacing, dies at 80," Deseret News, 2026.
  • Today, "What Tim Curry Said About His Health and Stroke Recovery Before His Death at 80," Today, 2026.
  • Social News XYZ, "Susan Sarandon mourns Tim Curry's death: What a funny, sexy, original he was," Social News XYZ, 2026.

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