A true great of Hollywood's golden age, Maureen O'Hara, has died. The tall, striking, multi-talented redhead from Dublin, where she was born Maureen FitzSimons, was one of the film industry's most iconic figures from the late '30s to the early '60s, starring in some of the era's best-remembered titles and working with many of the great directors of the time - Jean Renoir, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Borzage and Carol Reed among them. Not necessarily the most popular performer among awards voters, her legacy as a legend of the screen has only grown over time, as modern audiences have discovered her invaluable work in films such as Jamaica Inn, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, How Green Was My Valley, Miracle on 34th Street, Bagdad, Rio Grande, The Quiet Man and The Parent Trap. Her on-screen partnership with John Wayne over five films is one of the most memorable in all of cinema history. Not only an accomplished actor, O'Hara was also a natural athlete, a skilled soprano singer, and, following the death of her aviator husband General Charles Blair in 1978, president and CEO of Antilles Airboats. Late last year, she received the greatest film honour of her career, an Honorary Academy Award. O'Hara died at home in Boise, Idaho at age 95. Though not having starred in a feature film since 1991, she'll be much missed by audiences worldwide for her unmistakable screen presence, and for her stunning beauty.
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