Maureen O'Hara

Maureen FitzSimons (17 August 1920 - 24 Oct 15th, 2015) was an Irish actress, singer and actor who achieved fame in Hollywood from 1940s until the 1960s. Naturally redheaded, she was well-known for her role as a shrewd and empathetic heroine. She was often seen in Westerns or in adventure films. Charles Laughton, an actor who first noticed her talent as a star, took her to Hollywood. On numerous occasions she also worked with John Ford, longtime friend John Wayne and John Ford. O'Hara was born and was raised in Dublin, Ireland, in a Catholic family. She was aspired to become an actress from the age of a child. She began her education at the Abbey Theatre as well as the Rathmines Theatre Company when she was just 10 years old. After the screen test, she was disqualified. However, Charles Laughton recognized her potential and offered to have her star in Alfred Hitchcock’s Jamaica Inn in 1939. RKO Pictures gave her a contract. She went on to have a lengthy, highly successful career and was known as "the Queen of Technicolor". Her films include How Green Was My Valley (1941) which was her first collaboration with John Ford, The Black Swan (1942), The Spanish Main (1945), Sinbad the Sailor (47) The Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and Comanche Territory (1950). O'Hara made her debut film with John Wayne, the actor who is closely with in Rio Grande (1950). The film was followed by The Quiet Man (1952), The Wings of Eagles (1957), McLintock! (1963) and Big Jake (2001). Wayne was so good in her relationship with O'Hara, that many believed that they were married. In the 60s, O'Hara gradually changed roles to motherly ones as she got older, appearing in films such as The Deadly Companions (1961), The Parent Trap (1961) and The Rare Breed (1966). O'Hara resigned from the film industry in the year 1971. The actress returned to the business twenty years later, appearing in John Candy (1991).