Who was Maureen O'Hara?

Maureen O'Hara (born 7 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was an Irish actress and singer, who became successful in Hollywood throughout the 1940s to '60s. She was a natural redhead who was known for playing passionate but sensible heroines, often in Westerns and adventure films. She worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne on numerous occasions.

O'Hara was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, in a Catholic family, and aspired to become an actress from a very young age. In 1939 she moved to Hollywood to appear in the production of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", and was given a contract by RKO Pictures.

O'Hara began life as Maureen FitzSimons on Beechwood Avenue in the Dublin suburb of Ranelagh. She stated that she was "born into the most remarkable and eccentric family I could have possibly hoped for". O'Hara was the second-eldest of six children of Charles and Marguerite FitzSimons.

She appeared in films such as "How Green Was My Valley" (1941) and the Christmas classic "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947), O'Hara made her first film with John Wayne, the actor with whom she is most closely associated, in "Rio Grande" (1950); this was followed by "The Quiet Man" (1952), "The Wings of Eagles" (1957), "McLintock!" (1963), and "Big Jake" (1971).

On 24 October 2015, O'Hara died in her sleep at her home in Boise, Idaho from natural causes. She was 95 years old. O'Hara's remains were buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.