Catherine O’Hara got her start in the ’70s by appearing in several notable Canadian programs. These include the sketch show “SCTV” and various cartoons, such as “Please Don’t Eat the Planet” and “Easter Fever.” In 1988, the actor was given her chance to shine on the international stage by appearing in Tim Burton’s cult classic, “Beetlejuice.”
Stuffy and artistic, Delia Deetz isn’t crazy about moving to the middle of nowhere, into a home where Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis) once lived before their tragic deaths. However, this gruesome detail doesn’t deter her, and Delia is determined to make her new home as chic as the one in New York. From tearing down wallpaper to displaying her odd sculptures, she angers the Maitlands’ ghosts. Despite them trying to scare her family out — with a fun dance number at the dinner table — they are only enthralled by the fact that the house is haunted.
Though her stepdaughter, Lydia (Winona Ryder), would much rather leave the Maitlands in peace, Delia, her husband, Charles (Jeffrey Jones), and her friend, Otho (Glenn Shadix), exploit the ghosts for their gain. Things go awry when Adam and Barbara are nearly turned to dust, but Lydia enlists the help of bio-exorcist Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton).
After thwarting Beetlejuice’s forced marriage to Lydia, the Maitlands and the Deetzes live in the house together, showing that the dead and living can, indeed, get along.