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Maureen FitzSimons was born August 17, 1920 in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland, the second of six children of Charles and Marguerite (Lilburn) FitzSimons. Her siblings included Peggy, Charles, Florrie, Margot, and Jimmy.
Maureen was married three times:
She had one child, Bronwyn Bridget Price.
Maureen's mother was an accomplished contralto who became a successful woman's clothier. Her father was a businessman in the clothing business, and partial owner of the Shamrock Rovers football team. Very early in life, Maureen wanted to be an opera singer or a football player and follow in her parents' footsteps.
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Maureen was educated at John Street West Girls' School in Dublin until the age of six when she started learning drama, music, and dance. By this point, her dream was to become a stage actress. When she reached ten years old, Maureen joined the Rathmines Theatre Company and was working in amateur theatres after school. At 14, she was enrolled at Dublin's prestigious Abbey Theatre School. She studied drama and music and graduated in 1937.
By the age of 15, Maureen had won many dramatic prizes at the national competition of performing arts, 'The Dublin Feis Awards'[1]
O'Hara's father did not entirely support his daughter's ambitions in the theatre and persuaded her to enroll in business school to ensure she had a career to fall back on. She became a proficient bookkeeper and typist, which proved useful later in her career.
After graduation, Maureen auditioned for an English feature while she was in London but it was never produced. During this time she was working for the Eveready Battery Company as a typist and bookkeeper while gaining experience in the theatre. Her audition did impress Charles Laughton and his business partner Erich Pommer. They signed her to a contract with Mayflower Pictures. In 1939, she signed a contract with RKO Pictures. On June 14th, 1939 Maureen and her mother arrived in New York, on board the Queen Mary[2] and then traveled on to Hollywood. Her name was changed at this time from FitzSimons to O'Hara by Pommer, as it was shorter for the credits.[3]
In 1941, Maureen first collaborated with director John Ford in How Green was My Valley. The film was a hit at the Oscars but Maureen was not on the list. With her career on a rise, she signed with 20th Century Fox, being billed alongside Hollywood's leading men. "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947) turned into a Christmas classic.
Starting in the 1950s she starred with her very good friend John Wayne in the western film, "Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, The Wings of Eagles, McClintock, and Big Jake. This friendship would continue until John's death.
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After her last film with John Wayne, Big Jake in 1971, Maureen had taken a 20 year hiatus from acting. She traveled back and forth to Ireland from America. In 1991 she returned in a film called Only the Lonely but her career never was the same. She officially retired in 2000. In 2005, she moved back to Ireland, settling in her house on a 35-acre estate, Lugdine Park, in west Cork, which she had bought with Blair in 1970. In 2012, she returned to the US to be closer to her family as her health declined.
Although O'Hara was never nominated for an Oscar, she received an Academy HonoraryAward in 2014 in acknowledgment of a lifetime of performances.[4]
Maureen O'Hara died in her sleep at her home in Boise, Idaho October 25, 2015 from natural causes. She was 95 years old. O'Hara was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia next to her late husband Charles Blair.
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F > FitzSimons | O > O'Hara > Maureen (FitzSimons) O'Hara
Categories: Actors | Ireland, Featured Connections | Academy Award Winners of the 21st Century | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Ranelagh South Townland, Saint Peter's Parish, County Dublin | Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia | Example Profiles of the Week | Example Profiles Ireland | Descendants of John Skinner, Skinner Name Study | Featured Connections Archive 2021 | Featured Connections Archive 2022 | Notables
We plan on featuring Maureen alongside St. Patrick, the Example Profile of the Week in the Connection Finder on March 17th. Between now and then is a good time to take a look at the sources and biography to see if there are updates and improvements that need made, especially those that will bring it up to WikiTree Style Guide standards. We know it's short notice, so don't fret too much. Just do what you can. A Team member will check on the profile Tuesday and make changes as necessary.
Thanks! Abby