Maureen O’Hara, an actress whose career stretched beyond film and television to the world of business, has died at the age of 95.
O’Hara, born Maureen FitzSimons to Charles and Marguerite in Dublin in 1920, showed an aptitude for acting from a young age. She began training in drama, music and dance at the age of six, learning stage craft at the Abbey Theatre from 14. Her experience led to a screen test with a film studio in London, but despite a failure there, she was spotted by actor Charles Laughton, who saw star quality in her.
Laughton, along with business partner Erich Pommer, offered her a contract with their company Mayflower Pictures, resulting in her film debut in 1938 in two films, The Playboy and Little Miss Molly. But she scored her first big role (and a surname) change with Jamaica Inn, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Delighted with her performance in the film, Laughton cast her as Esmerelda alongside him in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame.
Following the outbreak of World War II, her contract was transferred to RKO in Hollywood, where she toiled in several low-budget films until John Ford cast her as Angharad in 1941’s How Green Is My Valley, which won the Oscar for Best Picture.
O’Hara’s career really took off from there, and she became known for several movies, including the original 1947 take on Miracle On 34th Street, Our Man In Havana, Tripoli and Sinbad, The Sailor. Considered one of the world’s most beautiful women, she found a welcome partnership with director John Ford, who cast her in five more of his films, Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, The Wings of Eagles, McLintock! and Big Jake, and developed memorable onscreen chemistry with John Wayne.
She largely retired from acting in the 1970s taking over from her late third husband as CEO of Antilles Air Boats, making her the first woman president of a scheduled airline in the United States. Returning to acting for a few roles in the 1990s, she never won an Academy Award directly, but received a well deserved Honorary Oscar in 2014.
"It is with a sad heart that we share the news that Maureen O'Hara passed away today in her sleep of natural causes," her family said in a statement to the Irish Times. "Maureen was our loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend. She passed peacefully surrounded by her loving family as they celebrated her life listening to music from her favorite movie, The Quiet Man.”
from Empire News
No comments:
Post a Comment