Tinseltown Talks

  by Nick Thomas

Maureen O'Hara
in "The Quiet Man"

  And the Oscar went to....Maureen O'Hara

   Despite roles in over 50 feature films, spanning five decades, including big screen classics such as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1939), "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947) and the original "The Parent Trap" (1961),
94-year-old screen legend Maureen O'Hara was never nominated for a competitive Oscar.

   But last Saturday, November 8, 2014, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized the fiery, redheaded Irish actress's lifetime achievement in film with an Honorary Oscar during the 6th Annual Governors Awards.

   "It was very exciting news and I'm so proud to be recognized by my peers," said O'Hara several
days before the ceremony from Boise, Idaho, where she has lived with family since 2012.

   O'Hara remains one of the most beloved classic film actresses, noted for playing feisty females and often alongside John Wayne in five films such as "McLintock!" (1963), and John Ford's "Rio Grande" (1950) and "The Quiet Man" (1952).

   Though she referred to him as a "kind, wonderful man," Wayne could be rough on screen. He dragged her through the Irish countryside in "The Quiet Man," then repeated the harsh treatment a decade later in a chase through the Arizona Territory's dusty streets in "McLintock!"

   Left bruised after both ordeals, O'Hara didn't object. In fact, throughout her career, she performed most of her own stunts, including a dangerous fall backwards from a ladder into a horse trough in "McLintock!"

   "During filming, John Wayne was actually concerned when I was up on the ladder and yelled 'get down you damn fool, you're going to kill yourself!'  But I did the stunt anyway.

   It was rather silly risking permanent injury or death for the sake of a movie, but there was a thrill in it. I did some dangerous things in my career, and usually prayed that I would come through safe and sound."

   Deeply religious, O'Hara has remained delightfully down to earth.

   In a scene from "the Hunchback of Notre Dame," after being rescued from the gallows by Charles Laughton, his stunt double lifts O'Hara high over his head atop the church tower.

   "It scared the hell out of me," she recalled. "With no protective netting and I would have been killed if I'd fallen. But I'm pretty tough and probably would have cracked the cement!"

    That tough, strong-willed, fearless character was evident even in her first major role, Alfred Hitchcock's 1939's "Jamaica Inn" and set the stage for the strong female characters she would play throughout her career.

   "It would have been hard for me to be anything else because I am close in character to the women I played," said O'Hara. "While I love being sentimental, I am a hardheaded woman too!"

   "Jamaica Inn" was Hitchcock's last film before leaving the UK for Hollywood.  Although critics slammed it, audiences flocked to theaters.

   " It was a tremendous success in Canada, England and the US," noted O'Hara. "Hitchcock was fabulous to work with.  But he couldn't help it. He had the gift of genius from the heavens and gave the world wonderful stories and movies."

   "Jamaica Inn" also starred Laughton, who discovered O'Hara during a screen test and was enamored by her beauty, especially her expressive, green eyes.

   "I hope he also saw a talented actress in me with the potential for a long career, even though I was a real smartarse Irish woman!" she said.

   Stefanie Powers recognized that talent when, at age 20, she joined the cast of "McLintock!" as O'Hara's daughter.

   "I was beginning my career," recalled Powers, who starred in the '80's TV series "Hart to Hart."  "Maureen's instinctive timing made her the perfect John Ford heroine.

   The chemistry she had with John Wayne was so extraordinary, she made acting look easy.  Ensemble acting like that is often overlooked at Oscar time."

   "She stayed consistent with the roles she played, and didn't really have that single dramatic role that gets the Academy's attention. Had she played against type, she probably would have won an Oscar long ago."

   O'Hara published her autobiography, "Tis Herself," with John Nicoletti in 2005, and says she's now enjoying retirement surrounded by family. "It's nice to get awards, but they don't compare to the award God gives you when he gave you a family."

   Though age has left her frail and largely wheelchair bound today, O'Hara enjoys watching movies and listening to music in her home, surround not only by family, but numerous framed photographs of her leading men - including John Wayne, Tyrone Power, and John Payne.

   But she feels there's still room on her fireplace mantle to enjoy one more new man in her life. A rather diminutive gold-plated fellow, she says, "My Oscar!"

   Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, Alabama and has written features, columns, and interviews for over 450 magazines and newspapers.

   The Sierra Sentinel is honored to have him contributing to our site.