She was also awarded an honorary Oscar previous year.
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How do you remember Maureen O’Hara?
Best known for her roles in Miracle on 34th Street and the Quiet man tributes are being paid to her from across the globe.
Statements from O’Hara’s family and her manager say the Irish-American actress died in her sleep from natural causes.
Mr Nicoletti said Ms O’Hara died without ever revealing, even to her closest relatives, one of Hollywood’s most famous secrets: what she whispered in Wayne’s ear at the end of The Quiet Man to elicit the shocked reaction that director John Ford sought from the star. She channelled that through TV rather than films.
Her affiliation with David started when Ford paired them in three films – The Quiet Man Rio Grande Along with The Wings of Eagles.
According to a family biography, O’Hara had never forgotten her Irish roots. No matter who she kissed or killed onscreen, no matter how many convolutions attended her lengthy life, she hung on to the simple “Ave Maria” for direction. She was rejected by composer Richard Rodgers, who couldn’t see a pirate queen in the part and was replaced by Deborah Kerr, whose voice was dubbed. She testified against the magazine in a criminal libel trial and brought a lawsuit that was settled out of court. She often made statements that affirmed her faith. “She was proud of Ireland and Ireland is proud of her”.
Along with a number of of her siblings, she acquired coaching in drama and dance. When word reached London, she was offered a screen test, and a friend convinced her reluctant parents to allow it.
In 1968, she married her third husband, Brig.
Her movie career began when Charles Laughton signed her to a seven-year contract with his company, Mayflower Films. She also appeared opposite Laughton in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame. In her own words, “I acted, punched, swashbuckled, and shot my way through an absurdly masculine profession….” They kiss – then she tries to hit him.
O’Hara was identified for enjoying challenging, metal-willed females, which returned her life character that was real.
And she went back to motherhood – times two – in the 1961 film, “The Parent Trap”, with Hayley Mills playing BOTH of her twin daughters. The film was in regular circulation on 1950s television when I was a child, and while Laughton’s pitiable Quasimodo made a more lasting impression, O’Hara’s beauty and kindness also left their mark as the girl Quasimodo loves and rescues. Nicknamed “the baby elephant”, Miss O’ Hara was the second eldest in a musical family she described as “the Irish von Trapps”. In 1993 she was honoured by the British Film Institute for her contribution to “moving image culture”.
A tomboy, O’Hara told The Telegraph that it was seeing herself in “Jamaica Inn” that convinced her she was handsome. She added that “I adored him, and he loved me”.
Despite her accomplishments, what she strived for in life was much more traditional.
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O’Hara said of that marriage: “The marriage was a bad mistake, and we divorced in 1952”. They married in 1968. Blair died in a seaplane crash that was to prove controversial in 1978.
