Maureen O'Hara (1920–2015) was an Irish singer and actress from Dublin, who worked primarily in American film and television. She was born into a close-knit and artistically talented family; her mother was a contralto vocalist, and her three sisters and two brothers were budding actors and musical performers.[1] O'Hara received music and dance lessons at the Ena Burke School of Elocution and Drama, becoming a member of the Rathmines Theatre Company when she was 10 years old.[2] While still a teenager, she won several Radio Éireann Players contests to perform with them. She also won the Dublin Feis Award, for her performance as Portia in The Merchant of Venice. O’Hara was a member of the Abbey Theatre School, and a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music.[3]
O'Hara's entry into films was the result of her and her parents meeting actor Harry Richman, who offered her a one-line part in the British comedy film Kicking the Moon Around (1938).[4] Within the next year she had made a screen test, following which, actor Charles Laughton cast her in the role of Esmeralda in the first sound version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) for RKO Pictures.[5] Laughton and O'Hara would work together again in Jamaica Inn (1939) for the British-based Mayflower Productions,[6] and again at RKO for This Land Is Mine (1943).[7]
Following Jamaica Inn, O'Hara's career floundered at RKO Pictures. Her agent Lew Wasserman got her the role of Angharad Morgan in the 20th Century Fox film adaptation of How Green Was My Valley (1941), directed by John Ford. The film won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Black-and-White Cinematography, Best Black-and-White Art Direction, and Best Supporting Actor Donald Cook.[8] The effect it had on O'Hara's career was to jumpstart her in a new direction.
From that point forward, O'Hara became an audience favorite, working with some of the most successful actors in the industry. She and John Payne co-starred in To the Shores of Tripoli (1942), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Tripoli (1950) and Sentimental Journey (1958). Tyrone Power and she teamed up for The Black Swan (1942) and The Long Gray Line (1955). Anthony Quinn first appeared as a non-lead actor in her films The Black Swan (1942), Buffalo Bill (1944), Sinbad the Sailor (1947) and Against All Flags (1952). Quinn soon began to rise in his own career, and he and O'Hara were on equal co-star billing in The Magnificent Matador (1955).[9] Her last film with him was Only the Lonely (1991). She also worked twice with Henry Fonda in Immortal Sergeant (1943) and Spencer's Mountain (1963). O'Hara and Brian Keith co-starred in The Deadly Companions (1961), and The Rare Breed (1966). Their film The Parent Trap (1961) grossed $29,650,385 (equivalent to $278,439,923 in 2023) worldwide, more than any of her other films.[10]
Her association with Ford ultimately led to her collaborations with John Wayne, the co-star who was most linked to her in the public's perception. Together they made Rio Grande (1950), The Quiet Man (1952), The Wings of Eagles (1957), McLintock! (1963) and Big Jake (1971). The Quiet Man was her personal favorite of her entire career, and one she often referred to as "lightning in a bottle".[11] Both the public and Wayne's children saw an on-screen rapport between them that existed with no other co-stars for either of them.[12] The two became so identified with each other that some of the public came to mistakenly believe she and Wayne were actually married in real life.[12] In 1976, she was a participant in the Variety Clubs International All-Star Tribute to John Wayne.[13] On May 21, 1979, O'Hara was summoned by United States Senator Barry Goldwater to speak before a congressional committee in advance of the Congressional Gold Medal being bestowed on Wayne, who was less than a month away from his death from cancer.[14]
With the growing television market in the 1950s and 1960s, O'Hara appeared as a guest star on numerous shows, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960.[15] O'Hara never won an Academy Award for any individual performance, and was not even nominated as such. She was finally given an Honorary Oscar in 2014, when she was 94 years old.[16]
She attained US citizenship in 1946.[17] O'Hara gradually left show business after her 1968 marriage to Charles F. Blair Jr., retired US Air Force brigadier general, former chief pilot at Pan Am and founder of the United States Virgin Islands airline Antilles Air Boats. They are buried together in Arlington National Cemetery.[18]
Film
editTitle | Year | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kicking the Moon Around | 1938 | Secretary | Vogue Film Productions | [4] |
My Irish Molly | 1938 | Eileen O'Shea | John Argyle Productions | [4] |
Jamaica Inn | 1939 | Mary Yellen | Mayflower Pictures Corp. | [6] |
The Hunchback of Notre Dame | 1939 | Esmeralda | RKO Pictures | [19] |
A Bill of Divorcement | 1940 | Sydney Fairfield | RKO Pictures | [20] |
Dance, Girl, Dance | 1940 | Judy O'Brien | RKO Pictures | [21] |
They Met in Argentina | 1941 | Lolita O'Shea | RKO Pictures | [22] |
How Green Was My Valley | 1941 | Angharad |
20th Century Fox Preserved at the UCLA Film & Television Archive |
[23] |
To the Shores of Tripoli | 1942 | Mary Carter | 20th Century Fox | [24] |
Ten Gentlemen from West Point | 1942 | Carolyn Bainbridge | 20th Century Fox | [25] |
The Black Swan | 1942 | Lady Margaret Denby | 20th Century Fox | [26] |
Immortal Sergeant | 1943 | Valentine Lee | 20th Century Fox | [27] |
This Land Is Mine | 1943 | Louise Martin | RKO Pictures | [7] |
The Fallen Sparrow | 1943 | Toni Donne | RKO Pictures | [28] |
Buffalo Bill | 1944 | Louisa Frederici Cody | 20th Century Fox | [29] |
The Spanish Main | 1945 | Contessa Francesca | RKO Pictures | [30] |
Sentimental Journey | 1946 | Julie Beck / Weatherly | 20th Century Fox | [31] |
Do You Love Me | 1946 | Katherine "Kitten" Hilliard | 20th Century Fox | [32] |
Sinbad the Sailor | 1947 | Shireen | RKO Pictures | [33] |
The Homestretch | 1947 | Leslie Hale | 20th Century Fox | [34] |
Miracle on 34th Street | 1947 | Doris Walker | 20th Century Fox | [35] |
The Foxes of Harrow | 1947 | Odalie "Lilli" D'Arceneaux | 20th Century Fox | [36] |
Sitting Pretty | 1948 | Tacey King | 20th Century Fox | [37] |
A Woman's Secret | 1949 | Marian Washburn | RKO Pictures | [38] |
The Forbidden Street | 1949 | Adelaide "Addie" Culver | 20th Century Fox | [39] |
Father Was a Fullback | 1949 | Elizabeth Cooper | 20th Century Fox | [40] |
Bagdad | 1949 | Princess Marjan | Universal Pictures | [41] |
Comanche Territory | 1950 | Katie Howard | Universal Pictures | [42] |
Rio Grande | 1950 | Mrs. Kathleen Yorke | Argosy Pictures Preserved at the UCLA Film & Television Archive |
[43] |
Tripoli | 1950 | Countess D'Arneau | Pine-Thomas Productions | [44] |
Flame of Araby | 1951 | Princess Tanya | Universal Pictures | [45] |
At Sword's Point | 1952 | Claire | RKO Pictures | [46] |
Kangaroo | 1952 | Dell McGuire | 20th Century Fox | [47] |
The Quiet Man | 1952 | Mary Kate Danaher | Republic Pictures Preserved at the UCLA Film & Television Archive |
[48] |
Against All Flags | 1952 | Prudence "Spitfire" Stevens | Universal Pictures | [49] |
The Redhead from Wyoming | 1953 | Kate Maxwell | Universal Pictures | [50] |
War Arrow | 1953 | Elaine Corwin | Universal Pictures | [51] |
Malaga | 1954 | Joanna Dane | Alternative title: Fire Over Africa Film Locations Ltd. |
[52] |
The Long Gray Line | 1955 | Mary O'Donnell | Columbia Pictures | [53] |
The Magnificent Matador | 1955 | Karen Harrison | 20th Century Fox | [54] |
Lady Godiva of Coventry | 1955 | Lady Godiva | Universal Pictures | [55] |
Lisbon | 1956 | Sylvia Merrill | Republic Pictures | [56] |
Everything but the Truth | 1956 | Joan Madison | Universal Pictures | [57] |
The Wings of Eagles | 1957 | Min Wead | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | [58] |
Our Man in Havana | 1959 | Beatrice Severn | Kingsmead Productions | [59] |
The Deadly Companions | 1961 | Kit Tilden | Carousel Productions | [60] |
The Parent Trap | 1961 | Margaret "Maggie" McKendrick | Walt Disney Productions | [61] |
Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation | 1962 | Peggy Hobbs | Jerry Wald Productions | [62] |
Spencer's Mountain | 1963 | Olivia Spencer | Warner Bros. | [63] |
McLintock! | 1963 | Katherine Gilhooley McLintock | Batjac Productions | [64] |
The Battle of the Villa Fiorita | 1965 | Moira | Warner Bros. | [65] |
The Rare Breed | 1966 | Martha Price | Universal Pictures | [66] |
How Do I Love Thee? | 1970 | Elsie Waltz | ABC Pictures Freeman-Enders |
[67] |
Big Jake | 1971 | Martha McCandles | Batjac Productions | [68] |
Only the Lonely | 1991 | Rose Muldoon | 20th Century Fox | [69] |
A Century of Cinema | 1994 | Herself | British Film Institute | [70] |
Television
editTitle | Year | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Ed Sullivan Show | 1961–1962 | Herself | [71] | |
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show | 1957, 1961 | Herself | [72] | |
This Is Your Life | 1957 | Herself | [73] | |
The George Gobel Show | 1958 | Herself | [74] | |
The Perry Como Show | 1958–1959 | Herself | [75] | |
The Garry Moore Show | 1958 | Herself | [76] | |
The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom | 1959 | Herself | [77] | |
The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show | 1959 | Herself | [78] | |
What's My Line? | 1959 | Herself | [79] | |
DuPont Show of the Month | 1960 | Lady Marguerite Blakeney | The Scarlet Pimpernel on CBS | [80] |
The Bell Telephone Hour | 1962 | Herself | [81] | |
Hallmark Hall of Fame | 1963 | Susanna Cibber | "A Cry of Angels" | [82] |
The Andy Williams Show | 1962–1966 | Herself | [83] | |
Hollywood Talent Scouts | 1966 | Herself as a presenter | [84] | |
The Fabulous Fordies | 1972 | Herself | Hosted by Tennessee Ernie Ford | [85] |
The American Film Institute Salute to John Ford | 1973 | Herself | [86] | |
The Red Pony | 1973 | Ruth Tiflin | With Henry Fonda. | [87] |
An All-Star Tribute to John Wayne | 1976 | Herself | Variety Clubs International | [13] |
Natalie: A Tribute to a Very Special Lady | 1982 | Herself | KCOP-TV | [88] |
The Hollywood Greats | 1984 | Herself | Episode: John Wayne | [89] |
Hollywood Stars | 1991 | Herself | [90] | |
John Ford | 1993 | Herself | TV movie documentary | [91] |
A Century of Cinema | 1994 | Herself | TV movie documentary | [92] |
The Christmas Box | 1995 | Mary Parkin | Television movie | [93] |
Cab to Canada | 1998 | Katherine Eure | Television movie | [94] |
The Last Dance | 2000 | Helen Parker | Television movie | [95] |
The Quiet Man: The Joy of Ireland | 2002 | Herself/Mary Kate Danaher | Video documentary short | [96] |
The Parent Trap: Caught in the Act | 2002 | Herself/Margaret "Maggie" McKendrick | Video documentary short Bonus material sold with the DVD of the original film |
[97] |
9th Screen Actors Guild Awards | 2003 | Herself | [98] | |
Dreaming the Quiet Man | 2010 | Herself/Mary Kate Danaher | Documentary | [99] |
Bibliography
edit- Cronin, Jan S. (2019). The Making of ... Adaptation and the Cultural Imaginary. Cham, Switzerland. ISBN 978-3-030-28349-0.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Malone, Aubrey (2013). Maureen O'Hara : the biography. Lexington : University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-4238-8.
- McFarlane, Brian (2016). "Oo". The Encyclopedia of British Film (4th ed.). Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526111975. OCLC 989751901. (subscription required)
References
edit- ^ Malone 2013, pp. 7–8.
- ^ Malone 2013, p. 9.
- ^ Malone 2013, p. 11.
- ^ a b c McFarlane 2016, p. 568.
- ^ (1939)"The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ a b "Jamaica Inn". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ a b "This Land Is Mine". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The 14th Academy Awards | 1942". Oscars.org. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ Malone 2013, pp. 125–128.
- ^ "Maureen O'Hara – Box Office". The Numbers. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ Malone 2013, p. 109.
- ^ a b Malone 2013, pp. 172–173.
- ^ a b "An All-Star Tribute to John Wayne". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ Malone 2013, pp. 182–183.
- ^ "Maureen O'Hara". Hollywood Walk of Fame. 25 October 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ Byrd, Craig (November 5, 2014). "Curtain Call: Actress Maureen O'Hara Finally Has an Oscar". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ Moncrieff, Chris (October 26, 2015). "Maureen O'Hara's on-screen legacy 'will endure for many years to come'". Irish Examiner. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "A final farewell: Maureen O'Hara laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery (PHOTOS)". IrishCentral.com. 10 November 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "A Bill of Divorcement". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Dance Girl, Dance". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "They Met in Argentina". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "How Green Was My Valley". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "To the Shores of Tripoli". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Ten Gentlemen from West Point". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Black Swan". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Immortal Sergeant". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Fallen Sparrow". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Buffalo Bill". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Spanish Main". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Sentimental Journey". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Do You Love Me". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Sinbad the Sailor". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Homestretch". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Miracle on 34th Street". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Foxes of Harrow". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Sitting Pretty". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "A Woman's Secret". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Forbidden Street". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Father Was a Fullback". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Bagdad". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Comanche Territory". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Rio Grande". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Tripoli". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Flame of Araby". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "At Sword's Point". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Kangaroo". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Quiet Man". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Against All Flags". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Redhead from Wyoming". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "War Arrow". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Fire Over Africa". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Long Gray Line". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Magnificent Matador". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Lady Godiva of Coventry". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Lisbon". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Everything but the Truth". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Wings of Eagles". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Our Man in Havana". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Deadly Companions". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Parent Trap". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Spencer's Mountain". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "McLintock". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Battle of the Villa Fiorita". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Rare Breed". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "How Do I Love Thee?". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Big Jake". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Only the Lonely". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "A Century Of Cinema". Turner Classic Movies, Inc. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Ed Sullivan Show: October 8, 1961: From Berlin – Louis Armstrong, Connie Francis, Maureen O'Hara". TV.com. Retrieved December 12, 2020.; "The Ed Sullivan Show: March 11, 1962: Henry Fonda and Olivia de Havilland, Maureen O'Hara, Rosemary Clooney, Bobby Rydell". TV.com. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "This Is Your Life". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The George Gobel Show: December 30, 1958". TV.com. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Perry Como Show 1958-03-15". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.; "The Perry Como Show 1958-09-13". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.; "The Perry Como Show 1959-04-04". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.; "Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall 1959-12-30". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Garry Moore Show". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Pat Boone Chevy Showroom: March 12, 1959". TV.com. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Ford Show". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "What's My Line?". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The DuPont Show Of The Month". TV.com. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Bell Telephone hour. Gala performance". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Hallmark Hall of Fame: Cry of angels". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Andy Williams Show (1962)". TV.com. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Hollywood Talent Scouts". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Fabulous Fordies". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The American Film Institute salute to John Ford". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Red Pony". Turner Classic Movies, Inc. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Natalie: A Tribute to a Very Special Lady". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Hollywood Greats in Early Westerns". www.amazon.com. 4 March 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Hollywood stars". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "John Ford (documentary)". Turner Classic Movies, Inc. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "A Century Of Cinema". Turner Classic Movies, Inc. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Christmas Box". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Cab to Canada". Turner Classic Movies, Inc. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Last Dance". Turner Classic Movies, Inc. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The DVD Journal | Quick Reviews: The Quiet Man: Collector's Edition". www.dvdjournal.com. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The Parent Trap (1961)". www.dvdmg.com. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "The 9th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Turner Classic Movies, Inc. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ Cronin 2019, p. 25.