Maureen O Hara Biography

By the time she was fourteen, Maureen was winning awards in drama contests.

In 1938, at the age of eighteen, Maureen got a small part as a secretary in the film 'Kicking The Moon Around'. Later that year she appeared as Eileen O'Shea, in 'My Irish Molly'.

After appearing in 'Jamaica Inn' in 1939, Maureen moved to Hollywood. Her first film in the US was 'The Hunchback Of Notre Dame', with Charles Laughton. Maureen's next two films, 'A Bill Of Divorcement' and 'Dance, Girl, Dance', both in 1940, met with lukewarm reviews from the critics.

In 1941, she played Angharad in 'How Green Was My Valley'. In 1947, Maureen appeared in two big hits, 'Sinbad The Sailor' and 'Miracle On 34th Street'. The latter is now considered a Christmas classic, due to her performance.

1952 saw Maureen play Mary Kate Danaher, in John Ford's hit 'The Quiet Man'. This film garnered Ford an Oscar for Best Director, but it was the performance by Maureen that many observers said made the film great.

Maureen took a break from films, after 1957's 'The Wings Of Eagles', returning in 1960 in 'Our Man In Havana'. In 1961, she played Maggie McKendrick in the ever popular 'Parent Trap'. Two years later, she starred in the tearjerker, 'Spencer’s Mountain'.

Maureen married her third husband, Charles Blair, in 1968. Blair was a pioneer of transatlantic aviation, a former Brigadier General in the US Air Force and a former Chief Pilot at the Pan Am airline. Sadly, Blair died in 1978 when the engine of the aircraft he was flying from St. Croix to St. Thomas exploded.

A few years after her marriage to Blair, Maureen was beginning to make films at a lesser rate. After 'The Big Jake' in 1971, she wasn't seen on the silver screen for 18 years, although she appeared in one made for television movie. In 1991, she returned to film with 'Only The Lonely', and her last film to date was 'The Last Dance', in 2000.

For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Maureen O'Hara has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2004, Maureen O'Hara released her autobiography 'Tis Herself. In the same year she was also honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Irish Film and Television Academy in her native Dublin, Ireland.

She now spends her time between homes in County Cork, Arizona, and the Virgin Islands.