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* * }} | children = Bronwyn FitzSimons (born Bronwyn Bridget Price; 30 June 1944) }} Maureen O'Hara (born Maureen FitzSimons; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was an Irish-American actress and singer. The famously red-headed O'Hara was known for her beauty and playing fiercely passionate but sensible heroines, often in westerns and adventure films. She worked on numerous occasions with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne, and was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood. O'Hara grew up in the Dublin suburb of Ranelagh to an "eccentric" devout Catholic family, and aspired to become an actress from a very young age. She trained with the Rathmines Theatre Company from the age of 10 and at the Abbey Theatre from the age of 14. She was given a screen test, which was deemed unsatisfactory, but Charles Laughton saw potential and arranged for her to co-star with him in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Jamaica Inn'' in 1939. She moved to Hollywood the same year to appear with him in production of ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'', and was given a contract by RKO Pictures. From there, she went on to enjoy a long and highly successful career, and acquired the nickname "The Queen of Technicolor", something which she detested, believing that people saw her only for her beauty rather than talent. O'Hara gained a reputation in Hollywood for bossiness and prudishness, avoiding the partying lifestyle. She appeared in films such as ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1941) (her first collaboration with John Ford), ''The Black Swan'' with Tyrone Power (1942), ''The Spanish Main'' (1945), ''Sinbad the Sailor'' (1947), the Christmas classic ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947) with John Payne and Natalie Wood and ''Comanche Territory'' (1950). In 1950, O'Hara made her first film with Ford and Wayne, the actor with whom she is most closely associated, with ''Rio Grande'' (1950). This was followed by ''The Quiet Man'' (1952), her best known film, and ''The Wings of Eagles'' (1957), by which time her relationship with Ford had deteriorated. Such was her strong chemistry with Wayne that many assumed they were married or in a relationship. In the 1960s O'Hara increasingly turned to more motherly roles as she aged, appearing in films such as ''The Deadly Companions'' (1961), ''The Parent Trap'' (1961) and ''The Rare Breed'' (1966). She retired from the industry in 1971 after starring with Wayne one final time in ''Big Jake'', but returned 20 years later to appear with John Candy in ''Only the Lonely'' (1991). In the late 1970s, O'Hara helped run her third husband's flying business in St Croix in the American Virgin Islands, and edited a magazine, but later sold them to spend more time in Glengariff in Ireland. She was married three times, and had one daughter, Bronwyn, born in 1944 to her second husband. Her autobiography, '' 'Tis Herself'', was published in 2004 and became a ''New York Times'' Bestseller. In November 2014, she was presented with an Honorary Academy Award with the inscription "To Maureen O'Hara, one of Hollywood's brightest stars, whose inspiring performances glowed with passion, warmth and strength". ==Early life and education== Born on 17 August 1920, O'Hara began life as Maureen FitzSimons on Beechwood Avenue in the Dublin suburb of Ranelagh. She states that she was "born into the most remarkable and eccentric family I could have possibly hoped for". O'Hara was the second oldest of six children of Charles and Marguerite (nėe Lilburn) FitzSimons, and the only red headed sibling in the family.〔 Her father was in the clothing business and bought into Shamrock Rovers Football Club, a team O'Hara supported from childhood. She inherited her beauty and singing voice from her mother,〔 a former operatic contralto and successful women's clothier who in her younger years was widely considered to have been one of Ireland's most beautiful women. O'Hara noted that whenever her mother left the house, men would leave their houses just so they could catch a glimpse of her in the street. O'Hara's siblings were Peggy, the oldest, and younger Charles, Florrie, Margot, and Jimmy. Peggy dedicated her life to a religious order, becoming a Sister of Charity. O'Hara earned the nickname "Baby Elephant" for being a pudgy infant. A tomboy, she enjoyed fishing in the River Dodder, riding horses, swimming and Gaelic football, and would play boys games and climb trees.〔 O'Hara was so keen on Gaelic football that at one point she pressed her father to found a women's team, and professed that Glenmalure Park, the home ground of the Rovers, became "like a second home". She enjoyed fighting, and trained in judo as a teenager. She later admitted that she displayed a jealousy towards boys in her youth and the freedom they had, and that they could steal apples from orchards and not get into trouble. O'Hara first attended the John Street West Girls' School near Thomas Street in Dublin's Liberties Area. She began dancing at the age of 5, when a gypsy predicted that she would become rich and famous, and she would boast to friends as they sat in her back garden that she would "become the most famous actress in the world". Her enthusiastic family fully supported the idea. When she recited a poem on stage in school at the age of six, O'Hara immediately felt an attraction to performing in front of an audience. From that age she trained in drama, music and dance along with her siblings at the Ena Mary Burke School of Drama and Elocution in Dublin. Their affinity to the arts left O'Hara referring to the family as the "Irish Von Trapp family". At the age of 10, O'Hara joined the Rathmines Theatre Company and began working in amateur theatre in the evenings after her lessons. One of her earliest roles was Robin Hood in a Christmas pantomime. O'Hara's dream at this time was to be a stage actress. By the age of 12, O'Hara had reached the height of , and it worried her mother for a while that she would become "the tallest girl" in Ireland as Maureen's father was . She expressed relief when O'Hara only grew another two inches. At the age of 14, O'Hara joined the Abbey Theatre. Though she was mentored by playwright Lennox Robinson, she found her time at the theatre disappointing. In 1934, at the age of 15, she won the first Dramatic Prize of the national competition of the performing arts,〔 the Dublin Feis Award, for her performance as Portia in ''The Merchant of Venice''. She trained as a shorthand typist, working for Crumlin Laundry before joining Eveready Battery Company, where she worked as a typist and book keeper. She later put her skills to use when she typed the script of ''The Quiet Man'' for John Ford.〔 In 1936, O'Hara became the youngest pupil to graduate from the Guildhall School of Music at the time, and the following year she won the Dawn Beauty Competition, winning £50. As she matured into a young woman, O'Hara, like many actresses, became increasingly self-conscious, which affected her for a while. In one performance, which was watched by her father from the back of the theatre, O'Hara "sensed there was someone out front watching me, perhaps critically. My arms felt like lead. I gave a rotten show that night. I grew up with the terrible feeling that I was being laughed at". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Maureen O'Hara」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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