Maureen O’Hara passes away at 95

[pherank]

I was just watching the Humpback of Notre Dame on TCM last night, and now I'm finding out that my favorite 'pirate queen' has passed away:

"Maureen O’Hara, the spirited Irish-born actress who played strong-willed, tempestuous beauties opposite all manner of adventurers in escapist movies of the 1940s and ’50s, died on Saturday at her home in Boise, Idaho. She was 95."

http://http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/movies/maureen-ohara-irish-born-actress-known-as-queen-of-technicolor-dies-at-95.html

RIP, Maureen - you will be missed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8qakgJqzeM

[cubanmiamiboy]

RIP Miss O'Hara.

[dirac]

Thanks for posting, pherank. O’Hara was interviewed on Turner Classic Movies not too long ago, looking rather frail. Another link to the golden age gone. RIP to a talented and spirited lady with looks made for Technicolor.

She played a ballet dancer in “Dance, Girl, Dance,” directed by the pioneering female director Dorothy Arzner and also featuring Lucille Ball. It bombed at the time of release but is well regarded now. It’s worth checking out.

I especially liked O'Hara in “The Quiet Man” opposite her frequent co-star John Wayne. If you can get past the picture’s cartoonish Irishry – Ernie O’Malley of the old IRA, a friend of John Ford’s, is listed as an “advisor,” I can’t imagine what he must have really thought about it –there’s a solid story about the relationship of a newly married couple from two different cultures. O’Hara’s brother refuses to come up with her dowry. Wayne doesn’t care, but O’Hara does, passionately. Eventually they come to a new and richer understanding of each other.

[cubanmiamiboy]

[volcanohunter]

Here's a little scene from Dance, Girl, Dance, which dirac mentioned. To make ends meet, O'Hara's ballet dancer plays "stooge" to Lucille Ball's raunchy burlesque star, until her "I won't take it anymore" moment.

[sandik]

Many thanks!

[pherank]

O’Hara was interviewed on Turner Classic Movies not too long ago, looking rather frail. Another link to the golden age gone. RIP to a talented and spirited lady with looks made for Technicolor.

I remember seeing that interview - I thought she still sounded pretty sharp. She can be forgiven for looking frail in her 90's. ;)

She never was one to hold back about what she thought of various Hollywood people, though I don't think she was generally rude, or argumentative, in person.

Here's a little scene from Dance, Girl, Dance, which dirac mentioned. To make ends meet, O'Hara's ballet dancer plays "stooge" to Lucille Ball's raunchy burlesque star, until her "I won't take it anymore" moment.

I had forgotten about this movie! It was on TCM a few months ago, as I recall. Lucille Ball was great in those early roles as well. Two clashing red heads - sadly, in black and white.

O'Hara always comes across as a person of character, and fierce pride.

[dirac]

I remember seeing that interview - I thought she still sounded pretty sharp. She can be forgiven for looking frail in her 90's. ;)

She never was one to hold back about what she thought of various Hollywood people, though I don't think she was generally rude, or argumentative, in person.

I had forgotten about this movie! It was on TCM a few months ago, as I recall. Lucille Ball was great in those early roles as well. Two clashing red heads - sadly, in black and white.

O'Hara always comes across as a person of character, and fierce pride.

I certainly don't regard looking frail as a matter requiring forgiveness. Nor does such appearance reflect in any way on someone's mental state, IMO.

"Dance, Girl, Dance" unusual movie for the time in that the O’Hara character chooses to pursue her career rather than give it up for a guy. Lucille Ball is also good in it, as pherank notes. In fact it's the best performance by her that I've seen in a feature film. Also, in most of her better known pictures O’Hara was featured in male-oriented movies where her character was important but not central.

I forgot to mention the original version of The Parent Trap, which I happen to like. Her co-star, Brian Keith, was another performer who didn’t always get his due.