Michael Keaton Reflects on Friendship with Catherine OHara

 reflected on his longtime friendship with his late costar Catherine O'Hara at an event on Friday - just one week after her death.

Keaton, 74, spoke of O'Hara's legacy as a comedy icon as well as their close connection as friends while attending Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals 2026 Man of the Year celebration.

O'Hara, who got her start on Second City Television in the mid-1970s before becoming a household name, died at the age of 71 on January 30. 

Keaton, who famously worked with O'Hara on Tim Burton's 1988 classic Beetlejuice, was among when the news of her death emerged.

While speaking to the crowd at Harvard University, Keaton recalled the early days of his and O'Hara's friendship, which they formed years before ever starring in Beetlejuice together.

The actor admitted he was 'he biggest SCTV fan' and that he remembered spending time with O'Hara while he 'was doing a movie in Toronto' one summer, according to People.

'I remember we must have met or known each other a little bit, because like myself, she has a big family. She's one of seven, and I'm one of seven.

'And so somehow we got to be friends,' Keaton said.

'I remember a night in Toronto where she had a summer [with her] brothers and sisters, and we were all shooting pool in some bar somewhere,' he continued. 

'But I think I had known her before, kind of having a hard time remembering it.' 

'I don't remember what the first time was when I met her, but we got to be friends in addition to just working together as well,' he told the crowd; Keaton and O'Hara seen in 2024