I am breaking my own rule--just this once--by posting something not only pre-written but previously published elsewhere. The below article first appeared, in slightly different form, in The Atomic Tomorrow in September 2005. Enjoy!!
In an industry with few certainties, where yesterday's brightest star is gone tomorrow without a trace, the charming appeal of Maureen O'Hara remains tangibly relevant more than 70 years after her graceful debut. The majority of her impressive body of work spans the 1940's-1960's, with a few decidedly worthy performances book-ending those decades.
Starting out as a player at Dublin's legendary Abbey Theatre, the teenager was soon under personal contract to Charles Laughton, debuting under the directorial genius of Alfred Hitchcock. After being brought to Hollywood to again star opposite Laughton, this time in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', she found herself indentured to the studio system when her contract was sold.
Faced with a confused studio hierarchy, who did not know what to do with the regal, intelligent actress, she bounced around in a handful of pretty unimpressive films. She soon found solid footing under the direction of John Ford. 'How Green Was My Valley', Richard Llewellyn's classic tale of family life in a downtrodden Welsh mining village, was magnificently adapted by the already legendary director. Well-built yet gracefully commanding, she soon carved a unique niche for herself as a female 'swashbuckler'. She found solid success by doing her own stunts while displaying a personality both fiery and self-possessed.
Portraying the logical, fairy-tale denying mother of Natalie Wood in 'Miracle on 34th Street' (original version) commenced another successful aspect of her career. Although only 26 years old, she embraced the professional opportunity that this afforded. Today, she is closely identified with a number of maternal roles,endowing her mothers with a hip, breezy, sexy and modern attitude.
She was a most-worthy partner for the otherwise stilted machismo of John Wayne in one of Hollywood's best screen partnerships. Real-life platonic best-friends, they had a sizzling yet affable chemistry that usually revolved around a well-matched battle-of-the-sexes. She hitched Wayne's talent to her own, elevating his wooden but iconic ability far above that which he exhibited on his own or opposite less-dynamic co-stars. 'The Quiet Man' is the ultimate movie of O'Hara, Wayne and director John Ford. As near to perfect as the hollywood movie machine can get, then or now, it remains refreshing, absorbing and delightful nearly sixty years after its release. Worth all 7 years it spent in the planning stages, it has spawned legions of devoted fans known as 'Quiet Maniacs'.
Forever Esmerelda, forever Angharad, forever the mother of the young Natalie Wood and the twinned Hayley Mills, forever Mary Kate Danaher....Maureen O'Hara's roster of classic performances is nearly as interesting as the lady herself. She is a real-life heroine:as a fighter for Irish identity within the American immigration process, she made history. She was the first celebrity to sue a tabloid and win, putting the shady and story-concocting 'Confidential' out of business 50 years ago. After retiring from Hollywood, she became a magazine publisher and airline president, the first woman to hold that position in the US. Tough, elegant and brave, she is one of the few actresses in Hollywood history whose real-life accomplishments and endowments match those of her on-screen counterparts.
John Ford, the quintessential American director, won two of his Academy Awards for films starring Maureen O'Hara: 'How Green Was My Valley' and 'The Quiet Man'.
Photo-Maureen O'Hara in 'The Black Swan' (1942).
