Maureen O'Hara

Maureen O'Hara (born Maureen FitzSimons; 17 August 1920 - - 24 October 2015) was an Irish actress and singer, who became successful in Hollywood from the 1940s until the  1960s. Her naturally redhead appearance was a draw to play strong, intelligent heroines in Westerns and adventure films. Charles Laughton was the first to recognize her star potential and brought her to Hollywood. She also worked many times alongside John Ford and John Wayne, a longtime friend and director. O'Hara was born in Dublin, Ireland by a Catholic family. She aspired to be an actor from an early age. She was trained by the Rathmines Theatre Company from the age of 10 and was at the Abbey Theatre as young as 14 years old. She was given a screen test that was not deemed satisfactory, but Charles Laughton saw potential, and set up for her to perform alongside him in Alfred Hitchcock's Jamaica Inn in 1939. She moved to Hollywood the following year to appear with him in the production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and was offered the opportunity to sign a contract with RKO Pictures. She had an impressive, long-running career, and was dubbed "the Queen of Technicolor". Her films comprise How Green Was My Valley (1941) and her first film 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 was 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). It was evident how well she bonded with Wayne that many assumed they were together. O'Hara was more motherly as she got older, appearing in films like 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 20 years later together with John Candy in Only the Lonely (1991).