Maureen O’Hara

Maureen O'Hara

Maureen O’Hara was an Irish actress and singer. She was known for playing passionate, but sensible heroines in westerns and adventure films. She retired from the industry in 1971 but returned 20 years later to appear with John Candy in Only the Lonely. In 2020, she was ranked number 1 on The Irish Times list of Ireland’s greatest film actors.

About Maureen O’Hara in brief

Summary Maureen O'HaraMaureen O’Hara was an Irish actress and singer. She was a famous redhead who was known for playing passionate, but sensible heroines, often in westerns and adventure films. On numerous occasions, she worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne. She retired from the industry in 1971 but returned 20 years later to appear with John Candy in Only the Lonely. In 2020, she was ranked number 1 on The Irish Times list of Ireland’s greatest film actors. Her autobiography, ‘Tis Herself, was published in 2004 and became a New York Times Bestseller. In November 2014 she was presented with an Honorary Academy Award with the inscription \”To Maureen O’Hara, one of Hollywood’s brightest stars, whose inspiring performances glowed with passion, warmth and strength\”. She was married three times, and had one daughter, Bronwyn, with her second husband. She died in Dublin, Ireland, on November 25, 2013. She is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, alongside her husband Charles F. Blair, Jr.’s flying business in Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands, and edited a magazine, but later sold them to spend more time in Glengarriff in Ireland. She had a daughter with her third husband, who was also an actor, and a son with her fourth husband, John. She has three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She also has a great-great-granddaughter, who lives in the U.S. with her husband John Wayne and their son John Wayne, and has a step-daughter with John Wayne’s daughter, Jennifer Wayne.

O’ Hara was the second oldest of six children of Charles and Marguerite FitzSimons, and the only red-headed child in the family. She inherited her singing voice from her mother, a former operatic contralto and successful women’s clothier who in her younger years was widely considered to have been one ofIreland’s most beautiful women. She began dancing at the age of 5, a gypsy gypsy, and she would boast to friends that she would become rich and famous, and they would boast back that they would not get into trouble. She enjoyed fishing in the River Dodder, riding horses, swimming and soccer, and would play boys’ games. She became so keen on soccer that at one point she pressed her father to find a women’s team, and Glenmalure Park, home of Shamrock Rovers F.C., became a second home. She earned the nickname ‘Baby Elephant’ for being a pudgy infant. She attended the John Street Girls’ School near John Thomas Street in Dublin’s Liberties Area. As a teenager, she enjoyed judo fighting, and trained and trained in judo. She later admitted that she was jealous of boys who could steal apples and that they could steal from apples orchards from her garden. She went on to enjoy a long and highly successful career, and acquired the nickname \”The Queen of Technicolor\”.