Delia Deetz is a supporting character from Tim Burton's 1988 horror comedy film Beetlejuice and its 2024 sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. She is Charles Deetz's wife and the step mother of Lydia Deetz.
She is portrayed by Catherine O'Hara.
Background[]
Personality[]
Delia is portrayed as an overdramatic artist as well as a perfectionist. She is constantly criticizing her husband Charles and criticizes her step-daughter Lydia for being a Goth and for constantly complaining. Delia is very self-centered and puts her own interests before her husband and step-daughter. She has no respect for the dead, proving as much when assuming the Maitlands hanged themselves and lauging at a remark about suicidal people spending the afterlife as civil servants. She seems blasé to the idea of turning her home into a glorified haunted house, even welcoming the idea as a means of gaining exposure for her art, until Otho uses the Maitland's handbook to cause the Maitlands to appear with the intent of exorcising them, though no one knows what that really means. When Delia sees Barbara and Adam, dressed in their wedding clothes and clearly in distress, she begins to have second thoughts. Trying to help, Lydia summons Beetlejuice, who causes two of Delia's sculptures to come to life, trapping herself and Charles who watch in horror as Lydia is forced to marry Beetlejuice. When the Maitlands succeed in banishing Beetlejuice, Delia and Charles are grateful to them for saving Lydia. Following this incident, Delia becomes accepting of the Maitlands and more of a mother figure to Lydia. Delia then becomes more adept at sculpting, even managing to make a replica of Beetlejuice's snake form.
Physical Appearance[]
Delia is a redhead with medium length hair, blueish green eyes, and bright red lipstick.
Appearances[]
Beetlejuice[]
Beetlejuice (TV series)[]
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice[]
Delia returns in the sequel as Lydia's step mother, the step grandmother of Astrid Deetz, and the widow of Charles Deetz. For most of the movie, Delia is grieving Charles' death in her own way. Such as screaming dramatically while taking pictures of it to 'capture the scream in purest form' and honoring him with (what she thought) were defanged snakes.
It seems that her and Lydia are getting along better than in the first movie. With Lydia coming to her to tell her about Beetlejuice coming back and talking to her about Astrid. She is also seen to be close to Astrid, with them talking to each other in multiple scenes.
Near the end of the movie, while trying to honor Charles with the snakes, Delia is bitten by them both and dies. She ends up in the afterlife. There, she panics and screams saying she isn't supposed to be dead and to call her husband, to which she is ignored. Eventually she calls on Beetlejuice and he takes her back to the world of the living. Right to Lydia and Rory's wedding (later Lydia and Beetlejuice's.) During this time Beetlejuice makes her, Astrid, Rory, Lydia, and the pastor of the church perform what he calls a 'Dream sequence'. (The song being MacArthur Park by Richard Harris.) Eventually Lydia and her daughter defeat Beetlejuice once again and Delia has to go back to the Neitherworld. She exchanges some banter with Lydia and Astrid before she is dragged off by Wolf Jackson. In the Neitherworld, she once again meets her beloved husband Charles and they board the Soul Train.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Anjelica Huston was very nearly Delia Deetz. She, however, had to decline because of an illness.
- Actress Catherine O’Hara initially declined Burton’s offer for the part, but accepted after Burton flew out to meet with her and personally convince her to take it.
External Links[]
- Delia Deetz at the Beetlejuice Wiki