Maureen O'Hara

Maureen FitzSimons (17 August 1920 to 24 October 2015) was an Irish actor, singer and actor who gained fame in Hollywood from 1940s until the 1960s. Her redhead-like nature has made her a favorite choice for strong but smart heroines in Westerns and adventure films. Charles Laughton was the first to recognize her star potential and introduced her to Hollywood. She also worked many times alongside John Ford and John Wayne as a frequent friend and director. O'Hara was raised in Dublin, Ireland by a Catholic family. She aspired to become an actor at the age of 10. From the age 10 she studied at the Rathmines Theatre Company and the Abbey Theatre. She was given a screen trial that was rejected as unsatisfactory but Charles Laughton saw potential, and offered her the opportunity to be a co-star in Alfred Hitchcock's Jamaica Inn in 1939. RKO Pictures offered her a contract. She also moved to Hollywood in the year 1939 to co-star with Laughton in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. From there, she went on to have a long and highly successful career, which earned her the moniker "the Queen of Technicolor". Her films 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) The Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and Comanche Territory (1950). O'Hara appeared in Rio Grande (1950) as O'Hara along with John Wayne, her most close friend. The Quiet Man (1952), The Wings of Eagles(57), McLintock were the subsequent films. (1963), as well as Big Jake (2001). Her chemistry was so strong with Wayne that many assumed that they were engaged. O'Hara became more maternal as she grew older appearing in films like The Deadly Companions (1961) as well as The Parent Trap(61) and The Rare Breed (1966). O'Hara resigned from the film industry in 1971, only to return 20 years later together with John Candy in Only the Lonely (1991).