Born: August 17, 1920, Ranelagh, Republic of Ireland
Died: October 24, 2015, Boise, Idaho, United States
Early on in her Hollywood career didn't get much notice, She was very beautiful with a dazzling smile and talented.
Maureen O'Hara received an honorary doctorate from University College in Galway in 1988.
She earned a degree at the Guild School of Music in London and became part of the Abbey Theater in Dublin when she was 14, winning the all-Ireland Cup at 16 for her portrayal of Portia in "The Merchant of Venice," by Shakespeare.
O'Hara had a wonderful lyric soprano voice, but she could use her inherent athletic ability to perform physical feats that most actresses couldn't begin to attempt, from fencing to fisticuffs.
In 2014 O'Hara was honored by a long overdue Oscar for "Lifetime Achievement" at the annual Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Governors Awards.
Maureen O'Hara has an enviable string of classics to her credit that include the aforementioned "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", How Green Was My Valley (1941), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Sitting Pretty (1948), The Quiet Man (1952), The Parent Trap (1961) and McLintock! (1963).
O'Hara starred with some of Hollywood's most talented and handsome leading men, including Tyrone Power, John Payne, Rex Harrison, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Brian Keith, Sir Alec Guinness and, of course, her famed pairings with "The Duke" himself, John Wayne. She starred in five films with Wayne, the most beloved being The Quiet Man (1952).
Her life was altered, when Charles Laughto saw a screen test of Maureen, which he became mesmerized by her hauntingly beautiful eyes. Before he casted 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.
O'Hara was married 3 times and she had a daughter.
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