FITZSIMONS, Maureen 1920(?)-

(Maureen O'Hara)

PERSONAL:

Surname pronounced "Fitz-Sime-uns"; born August 17, 1920 (some sources say 1921), in Milltown, Ireland (one source says Ranelagh, Ireland); naturalized U.S. citizen, 1946; daughter of a soccer team owner and an opera singer; married George Hanley Brown (a film director), 1939 (divorced, 1941); married Will Price (a film director), 1941 (divorced, 1952); married Charles F. Blair (a retired Air Force general), 1968 (died September 2, 1978); children: (second marriage) Bronwyn Brigid. Education: Attended Burke's School of Elocution Abbey; Theatre School, Dublin, Ireland; Guildhall School of Music, London, England; and London College of Music.

ADDRESSES:

Home—St. Croix, Virgin Islands. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Simon & Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

CAREER:

Actress. Appeared in over fifty films from 1938 to 1998, including My Irish Molly, 1939, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1939, Dance, Girl, Dance, 1940, How Green Was My Valley, 1941, To the Shores of Tripoli, 1942, Sentimental Journey, 1946, Miracle on 34th Street, 1947, Sinbad the Sailor, 1947, Rio Grande, 1950, The Quiet Man, 1952, The Long Gray Line, 1955, The Wings of Eagles, 1957, The Parent Trap, 1961, Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, 1962, The Rare Breed, 1966, The Red Pony, 1973, Only the Lonely, 1991, and Cab to Canada, 1998; has also appeared in television specials and a television movie, The Christmas Box, 1995. Also president of Antilles Airboats.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Inducted into National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum's Hall of Great Western Performers, 1993; named among Top 100 Irish Americans, Irish America, 1996, 1999; elected grand marshal, New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade, 1999; received star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.

WRITINGS:

(Under name Maureen O'Hara; with John Nicoletti) 'Tis Herself: A Memoir, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

When color movies were still a novelty, actress Maureen FitzSimons, best known by her screen name of Maureen O'Hara, was called the "Queen of Technicolor" because of her hazel-green eyes and red hair. Her heyday lasted from the 1940s through the 1960s, when she starred in swashbuckling pirate movies, John Wayne Westerns, comedies, and dramas, as well as in classic films such as Miracle on 34th Street, The Quiet Man, and The Parent Trap. Although FitzSimons never won an Academy award, critics often state that her acting talents were highly underrated. Reviewers regard her as a talented performer who excelled at portraying strong-willed women who could stand up to the likes of Wayne and moody director John Ford. FitzSimons writes about her private life and her Hollywood experiences in 2004's 'Tis Herself: A Memoir.

FitzSimons was born in a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, one of six children of a prominent opera singer and a father who owned a soccer team. Her parents' influence lent the young FitzSimons an appreciation of both the theater and sports, but given the day and age in which she grew up, it was the former avenue that she was best able to pursue as a woman. Beginning her acting career at age six, she studied at Dublin's Abbey School, and at age seventeen was discovered by American entertainer Harry Richman. Invited to London to do an acting test, FitzSimons did not perform well. Still, producers were convinced she had a definite stage presence, and as England entered World War II in 1939, she was brought to Hollywood, where she was given the role of Esmeralda the Gypsy in Charles Laughton's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. By this time FitzSimons had been assigned the name O'Hara by Laughton, who felt Americans would never pronounce FitzSimons correctly.

FitzSimons, whose beauty and charisma were well suited to the camera, soon made a name for herself in Hollywood, but the male-dominated nature of the business prevented her from exercising her talent to its fullest. Although she played strong female leads in such movies such as John Ford's The Quiet Man or opposite swashbuckling actors like Tyrone Power and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., her characters typically submitted to the masculine wiles of the film's male lead. Consequently, as a contributor to the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers put it, "O'Hara has been undervalued by critics who cannot see the forest for the Titian tresses. A bewitching Esmeralda in Hunchback of Notre Dame, FitzSimons displayed a haunted duality as the tragically pragmatic Angharad in How Green Was My Valley, and gave a delicate performance as an artistically inclined ballerina in Dance, Girl, Dance." The contributor concluded that "in O'Hara's canon of work … such showcase dramas took a backseat to rip-roaring escapism." FitzSimons, indeed, displayed a remarkable range, holding her own in everything from comedies to physically challenging stunts in pirate movies.

After two unsuccessful marriages to film directors, FitzSimons married a retired Air Force general named Charles F. Blair in 1968. Finally happily wed, she backed away from acting to focus on family life. Sadly, Blair was killed in an airplane crash in 1978, a devastating chapter in FitzSimons's life, and for a time she occupied herself with running her late husband's airline business. Occasionally, she has returned to the screen to participate in carefully selected projects, including 1991's Only the Lonely, 1998's Cab to Canada, and the 1995 television movie The Christmas Box. FitzSimons is also active in various charitable organizations. "I work a lot for the aviation museums and my golf tournament in Ireland," she told Boston Irish Reporter writer Peter F. Stevens. "It all takes time. But it's good, it keeps you moving, keeps you busy. It's healthy."

In 2004 FitzSimons completed her autobiography, 'Tis Herself, which offers frank comments about her fellow actors, directors, and husbands. The book is filled with "colorful anecdotes," according to Entertainment Weekly reviewer Michael Sauter, including a portrait of John Ford that includes the time he punched her in the jaw, only later to send her flowers and love letters, though FitzSimmons insists he never really loved her. Describing her book as "refreshingly honest," a Kirkus Reviews contributor commented that "the actress comes across as tough and strong" in this "feisty memoir." "Celebrity mavens will lap up this engrossing addition to the autobiography genre," concluded Rosellen Brewer in Library Journal.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television, Volume 8, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1990.

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 3: Actors and Actresses, fourth edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 2000.

O'Hara, Maureen, and John Nicoletti, 'Tis Herself: A Memoir, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2004.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 2004, Carol Haggas, review of 'Tis Herself, p. 1129.

Boston Irish Reporter, October 1, 2000, Peter F. Sevens, "Top Colleen of the Big Screen: Maureen O'Hara at Eighty Years Young," p. 27.

Entertainment Weekly, February 27, 2004, Michael Sauter, review of 'Tis Herself, p. 101.

Irish America, April 30, 1996, "Top 100 Irish Americans 1996," p. 60; May 31, 1999, "The Top 100 Irish Americans of 1999," p. 72.

Irish Voice, March 16, 1999, Kevin Lewis, "The Grandest Marshal of Them All: Maureen O'Hara to Step out in NYC," p. 28.

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2004, review of 'Tis Herself, p. 120.

Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, November 23, 1998, Luaine Lee, "Maureen O'Hara Makes a Rare Return to Acting Nov. 29 in CBS Movie," p. K7022.

Library Journal, March 15, 2004, Rosellen Brewer, review of 'Tis Herself, p. 78.

Publishers Weekly, January 26, 2004, review of 'Tis Herself, p. 242.

World of Hibernia, autumn, 1997, Connolly Cole and June Parker Beck, "Filmdom's Feistiest Colleen," p. 108.

ONLINE

Internet Movie Database,http://www.imdb.com/ (August 26, 2004), "Maureen O'Hara."

Maureen O'Hara Magazine,http://www.moharamagazine.com/ (September 3, 2004).*