Maureen O'Hara

Maureen FitzSimons (17 August 1920 - 24 Oct 15th, 2015) was an Irish actress, singer and actor who gained fame in Hollywood during the 1940s through 1960s. She was a natural redhead and was known for playing passionate yet sensible heroines in Westerns and adventure films. Charles Laughton, an actor who first noticed her potential as a star, introduced her to Hollywood. On numerous occasions she also worked with John Ford, longtime friend John Wayne and John Ford. O'Hara was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, in an Irish Catholic family. She wanted to become an actor from a very young age. O'Hara started her training at the Abbey Theatre and the Rathmines Theatre Company when she was 10. After the screen test, she was turned down. However, Charles Laughton recognized her potential and offered to have her as a star in Alfred Hitchcock's Jamaica Inn in 1939. RKO Pictures offered her a contract. The actress also moved to Hollywood in 1939 to appear with him in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She had a lengthy, highly successful career and was known as "the Queen of Technicolor". Her appearances in films include as How Green Was My Valley (1941) (her first collaboration with John Ford), The Black Swan with Tyrone Power (1942), The Spanish Main (1945), Sinbad the Sailor (1947) The Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947) with John Payne and Natalie Wood as well as Comanche Territory (1950). The first time she was seen was in Rio Grande (1950), together with John Wayne (the actor with whom she is most associated). The Quiet Man (1952) The Wings of Eagles(57), McLintock were the next films. (1963), Big Jake (1971). It was evident how well she bonded with Wayne that many assumed they were either married or engaged. O'Hara became more motherly as she got older, appearing in films like The Deadly Companions (1961), The Parent Trap(61) and The Rare Breed (1966). O'Hara quit the industry in 1971. She returned to the industry twenty years later, starring in John Candy (1991).