Celebrity Nooz: Maureen OHara

Maureen O'Hara (Actress) as Mary - The Quiet Man

Updated: 9/4/2006

Name: Maureen O'Hara

Born: August 17, 1920 in Ranelagh County, Dublin, Ireland

Nickname: Maureen FitzSimons

Claim To Fame: This was a tough one. I enlisted the help of my mom for this. I asked her, when you hear the name of Maureen O'Hara what comes to mind. She immediately said 'The Quiet Man.' Then she told me that you have to think of John Wayne too.

For me I think of the movie 'McClintock', then 'The Quiet Man.' And wouldn't you know it, John Wayne was in both of them. So mom was right

Family Life: General Charles F. Blair (March 1968 - September
1978 because he died)

Will Price (December 1941 - August 1953) (divorced) 1 child
Daughter: Bronwyn Brigid

George H. Brown (June 1939 - September 1941) (annulled)

Sister of TV/film producer Charles B. Fitzsimons.

Sister of actress Margot Fitzsimons

Info: Maureen loved playing rough athletic games as a child and excelled in sports. She combined this interest with an equally natural gift for performing. This was demonstrated by her winning pretty much every Feis award for drama and theatrical performing her country offered. By age 14, she was accepted at the prestigious Abbey Theater and pursued her dream of classical theater and operatic singing. This course was to be altered, however, when Charles Laughton, after seeing a screen test of Maureen, became mesmerized by her hauntingly beautiful eyes. Before casting her to star in Jamaica Inn (1939), Laughton and his partner, Erich Pommer, changed her name from Maureen FitzSimons to "Maureen O'Hara" - a bit shorter last name for the marquee.

Trivia: Crack typist who typed some of her own scripts and rewrites.

Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1993.

Did many of her own stunts in her films.

Brought to Hollywood by actor Charles Laughton.

Starred with John Wayne in five movies.

Was the first choice to play "Anna" in the film version of "The King and I", but Richard Rodgers did not want the role played by a "pirate queen".

Was having lunch with actress Lucille Ball the moment Lucy first saw Cuban musician Desi Arnaz whom she later married.

Is the only credited cast member of Miracle on 34th Street (1947) that is still alive.

Born in Churchtown, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland.

Where Are They Now: The long-retired Hollywood legend, lives in the Irish village of Glengariff, keeps the paparazzi on a short leash at the many charity galas she attends. "She'll tell them at which angle to take her picture and wants approval
of what's released. She's sweet and savvy about it, but very firm," a spy in County Cork says. "Amazingly, she's just as feisty today as she was when she tamed John Wayne in 'The Quiet Man.' "

In 2003 she was living in in St Croix, US Virgin Islands.

In 2004 she wrote and published her autobiography, "'Tis Herself."

Though her home is in St. Croix in the Virgin Islands, she also spends time throughout the year in New York, Los Angeles and Ireland.

Maureen O'Hara is still absolutely stunning, with that trademark red hair, dazzling smile and those huge, expressive eyes.

Write To Maureen O'Hara:
Maureen O'Hara
P.O. Box 27428
Tempe, AZ 85282

Official Website: www.moharamagazine.com/

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