Maureen O'Hara

Maureen FitzSimons, born 17 August 1920 and passed away on the 24th of October, 2015), was an Irish actress. She was a popular actress in Hollywood from the 1940s to the 1960s. She was a natural redhead and was well-known as sensual and passionate heroines. Her roles were often in Westerns or adventure films. Charles Laughton was the first to realize her star-making potential and brought her to Hollywood. She also worked many times with John Ford and John Wayne as a frequent friend and director. O'Hara was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, in an Irish Catholic family. She wanted to become an actress from an early age. She was trained by the Rathmines Theatre Company from the age of 10 and at the Abbey Theatre from the age of 14. Screen tests were given to her, but it was not a success. Charles Laughton, however recognized the potential in her and set up arrangements to be a part of his production Alfred Hitchcock's Jamaica Inn (1939). She relocated to Hollywood the following year to be a part of his in the film The Hunchback of Notre Dame and was offered a contract by RKO Pictures. Following that, she had an extensive and lucrative career. She was often referred to as "the Queen of Technicolor". Her movies include How Green Was My Valley (1941), her first collaboration with John Ford, The Black Swan (1942), The Spanish Main (1945), Sinbad the Sailor (47) and the Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947), and Comanche Territory (1950). O'Hara starred in Rio Grande (1950) as O'Hara with John Wayne, her most close friend. The Quiet Man (1952), The Wings of Eagles (57) and McLintock was followed by McLintock. (1963) as well as Big Jake (1971). Many assumed that Wayne and O'Hara had an affair or were married due to their close chemistry. O'Hara was more motherly as she aged, appearing in films such as The Deadly Companions (1961) and The Parent Trap(61) and The Rare Breed (1966). O'Hara resigned from the film industry in 1971, but returned twenty years later to make an appearance alongside John Candy in Only the Lonely (1991).