The Queen of Technicolor, actress Maureen O’Hara, passed away this weekend at the age of 95. Known for her striking beauty, fiery red hair, and long list of leading roles during the golden age of Hollywood including The Quiet Man with co-star John Wayne, The Parent Trap, and most notably Miracle on 34th Street. O’Hara was truly a force to be reckoned with.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1920, she moved to the U.S. after completing her training as a stage actress and became a citizen in 1939. Her big break came in the 1941 multi-Oscar winning drama, How Green Was My Valley, beating Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane for Best Picture and Best Director. Though O’hara was never nominated for the prestigious award, she did receive an honorary Oscar in 2014 for her incredible body of work and contributions to the motion picture arts and sciences.
Throughout her career she worked with many of Hollywood’s biggest leading men, but none bigger than The Duke himself, John Wayne. O’Hara and Wayne made five films together, with an on-screen chemistry only matched by the lifetime friendship they shared off-screen.
She said of Wayne, “Speaking as an actress I wish all actors would be more like Duke, and speaking as a person, it would be nice if all people could be honest and as genuine as he is. This is a real man.”
In a statement on her passing her family said, “Her characters were feisty and fearless, just as she was in real life. 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.”
Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner, actress Jessica Chastain tweeted…