Talk:Maureen O'Hara/Archive 1

Hollywood's Golden Age Icons
Contemporaries of Maureen O'Hara during the "Golden" age of Hollywood were people like Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Rita Hayworth, Elizabeth Taylor, Greer Garson, Bete Davis etc. These ladies among others have lasted the test of time. Julie Andrews did not emerge on the silver screen until the 1960s  well after the Golden Age of Hollywood. Julie Andrews is a special lady and certainly a screen luminary for her performance in The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins but is not a Legenday Hollywood star in the company of those contemporaries of Maureen O'Hara mentioned above. Although she is in the same class as say Garland or Striesand as a major musical talent.Vono 19:16, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

O'Hara and Hollywood's Golden Age
Maureen O'Hara certainly could not be considered a "contemporary" of Marilyn Monroe. Monroe's heyday was the 1950s by which time O'Hara had been in the business for quite a number of years...in fact old enough to be Monroe's mother. Betempte (talk) 00:02, 12 July 2014 (UTC)

First marriage annulled
In order to marry her 2nd husband, she must have been divorced from her 1st husband. This is confirmed towards the end of the article. The reference to her 1st marriage being "later annulled" can therefore only refer to an internal Catholic Church process that has no civil legal status. This needs to be made clearer within the article. People often use the word "annulment" these days when what they're really talking about is a divorce. Let's not feed this confusion. JackofOz 06:57, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

Irish American
Someone has mistakenly deleted this classification. I've restored it. Here are the facts in Miss O'Hara's own words as she accepted an American heritage award: "When I first came to the United States of America to become an American citizen you had to get your first papers, your second papers, and your final papers. The first time I applied they just went by and I heard nothing and then I spoke to the attorney and I said, "You know we've never heard from the Immigration Department." My application was lost, so I had to apply again.

By this time the first papers, second papers, and final papers system was gone, and you applied once and then you had to go and do a history exam and all that sort of thing, which I did and I passed. Then I went to a desk with a lady behind it and she said, "Put your hand up," and I did, and she said, "Now you're going to forswear allegiance to England." I said, "I'm terribly sorry, but I can't forswear an allegiance I don't have. I have no allegiance to England at all. I'm Irish," and she said, "Well, you better read these papers." So, she handed me all these papers that I had filled in and everywhere that I had put in former nationality: Irish, it was crossed out and England was printed in. I told her, "I'm terribly sorry, but I don't know who corrected these papers, but I'm Irish and I can't accept it."

She said, "Well then, you have to go before the judge," and I was sent before a judge in a courtroom that same day within about a half an hour of the incident and you were not allowed to have your lawyer with you, you were only allowed to have your 2 witnesses, the witnesses to your good character. They went into the courtroom with me and I appeared before this very nice looking judge and he wanted to know what the problem was and we discussed history, and we discussed all sorts of things, and he said, "well as far as I'm concerned, you're English." I said, "No. I cannot accept it. Under those circumstances I can't be an American citizen."

He called the clerk of the court and said, "Would you check with Washington what they consider her to be." So, he came back in and said, "Washington says she's English," and I said, "Your Honor, I'm very sorry, but I'm not responsible for your antiquated records in Washington. Thank you very much, but I can't accept citizenship under those conditions," and I turned to walk out and I thought, "Well, just before I go," you know we Irish, we always have to have the last word, I said, "I think I'll have one more crack at him."

So, I said, "Your Honor, do you realize what you are trying to do to my children and grandchildren?" He looked at me and I said, "You're trying to take away their *right* to boast about their wonderful Irish mother and grandmother!," and he threw his hands up in the air and he said, "Get that woman out of here! Give her anything she wants on her papers, just get her out of here!" I thanked him and I left the court.

This paper (Ms. O'Hara holds up her naturalization certificate) was official in January 1946 and it hit the newspapers, the story, somebody must have blabbed about it, I didn't. It was so important to me; it just made my heart happy. I didn't do it to get in the newspapers; I was in the newspapers every day, to do with movies. It was around June that it hit the newspapers and the 2 big newspapers in California, I'm not going to name who they were, said that it was a phony publicity stunt, that it never really happened.

But, so you know that it did happen, there is my citizenship paper and where it says former nationality, typed in is Irish and you can see that English was in there before and it has been erased. Then, because it is an official legal document, this is terribly important, it says, "I hereby certify that the erasure made on this certificate as to former nationality: Irish, was made before issuance to conform to the petition," and it was signed January 25, 1946 in the District Court of Los Angeles and I can't reads the signature. But, it was a wonderful judge who got sick of me and gave me permission, but the thing that is terribly important is that was the first time in the history of the United States of America that an Irish person was accepted and officially pronounced to be Irish and so this is a terribly important legal document and I'm very, very proud of it.

For an Irish woman, to shut-up speaking is a very difficult thing because we were born with the gift of the gab. I could tell you stories of Irish immigrants and other immigrants too that I admire who have made wonderful contributions not just to the United States of America, but to the entire world as we move around he world. Maybe one day, please God, we'll make all citizens of the world feel that they're one and the same. That we're all citizens of the world and that we make the world a more wonderful and better place.

I just want to thank you for the wonderful honor you gave me this evening and to congratulate the other recipients of the same award and please God, it will be a wonderful world from now on for all of us and that the Foundation will continue its wonderful work with immigrants, United States' immigrants, but don't forget the immigrants to the rest of the world. They're just as important to the rest of the world and the world hopefully will be one and we're all kind of immigrants in the world. Thank you and good evening." - Nunh-huh 20:56, 21 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Was surprised to see that she is still listed as an Irish actress - clearly as she was a naturalized U.S. citizen, played all of her most famous roles in American movies, and lived most of her life in the United States, it is pretty clear that she is, at the very least, Irish-American. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.50.90.64 (talk) 12:29, 1 October 2016 (UTC)

Fluent in Irish?
She is fluent in Irish? What is that? Do you mean Gaelic? I'd be surprised if she was fluent in Gaelic, as few people are. But they speak English in Ireland, and to say she is fluent in Irish makes no sense. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.19.14.32 (talk) 19:05, 24 December 2006 (UTC).


 * It should read Gaelic. While it might not be so common today it certainly would have been for someone of Maureen O'Hara's age. This from someone who was taught by a nuns from ireland. Nodekeeper 10:28, 13 January 2007 (UTC)


 * The Irish Language is Gaelic however in Ireland it is rarely referred to as "Gaelic" and is called "Irish" the Irish language is alive and well and spoken in many parts of Ireland as a first language subsidised by the government these areas mostly in the West of Ireland Galway, Mayo and Donegal are called Gaeltacht areas and children and adults go to them to learn "Irish" - all signs are in Irish and English and in Belfast or Beal Feirste  (in Irish) it has had a tremendous resurgence with Irish Language schools where Irish is taught as a first language and a Gaeltacht Quarter is planned for Belfast's Falls Road area. The Irish language is an official European language and protected through European, Irish and UK legislation the same as Scots Gaelic and Welsh. It is not unusual for people of Maureen O'Hara's age to be fluent in Irish or Gaelic if you  prefer - but in Ireland the only people who refer to the  language as Gaelic are foreigners - Tiocfaidh ár lá. 81.99.65.220 21:46, 9 March 2007 (UTC).
 * See Wikipedia Article Irish language many many people are fluent in Irish except perhaps the 5th and 6th generation Americans of Irish descent but the Irish language is alive and well in Ireland and ALL children in Ireland are taught it in school. Maureen O'Hara is the only Irish born actress to ever use it in any of her films (probably down to director John Ford who was fascinated by it and the fact that O'Hara could speak it. Even Irish-American singer Judy Garland recorded a song partially in the Irish language and learned it phonetically to sing it entirely in Irish at her Dublin concerts in 1951.Vono 13:09, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Brothers
Someone changed the content to "Munier is a baller". I can't find how to revert it. 128.112.224.198 02:36, 15 April 2007 (UTC) I am currently a resident of Manchester {UK}; & it would mean a great deal, if anyone could tell me; out of her brothers, did any; if any; serve in the "King's Own" regiment, during WW2; my grandfather did; & later became a "CHINDIT"; & his name was Cliff R. Winterbottom; & my name is, Simon Jon W.


 * Neither of O'Hara's brothers served in in the King's Own or any other regiment during WW2 - her 2 brothers Charles and James had careers in Hollywood - both brothers had roles in the Quiet Man film and Charles became a noted producer whilst James appeared in minor acting roles - both brothers are now deceased they were never in military service in either Ireland, England or the USA. 81.99.65.220 12:57, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Rewrite required
This page needs a rewrite to bring it up to encyclopaedic standard. It reads far too much like a tribute at the moment. I wish people who wanted to produce fan pages would produce them in an appropriate place rather than using Wikipedia. Smurfmeister (talk) 11:44, 17 January 2008 (UTC) Don't be angry, at least someone has the enthusiasm to write about Maureen O'Hara. It just needs to be edited.70.125.152.143 (talk) 02:35, 26 April 2011 (UTC) I'm trying to make amends because I got too emotional on other articles and I was too critical of other people's efforts.70.125.152.143 (talk) 04:04, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Copy edit in progress
As time permits, I will try to improve this page's tone, sourcing, neutrality, etc. There is a fair amount of text with few footnotes, so any assistance is much appreciated.  momoricks   (make my day)  04:42, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

Citations Added
I have furnished citations where required, as of May 7, 2010.

Approfondir (talk) 00:40, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

The Rare Breed
I have removed Maureen's quote that was placed beside this movie as the quote related to "The Parent Trap," and not "The Rare Breed". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.95.170.99 (talk) 10:31, 16 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Page 294 of O'Hara's autiobiography, 'Tis Herself - - the quote concerns The Rare Breed, not The Parent Trap, but it's not a very interesting quote anyhow and  the article wont miss it. She obviously didn't think much of the film. Sayerslle (talk) 01:31, 23 December 2010 (UTC)

Name change
Do we know when and why she changed from FitzSimons to O'Hara, and why she chose that particular name? --  Jack of Oz   [your turn]  03:07, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Red Hair
Is red hair Maureen's real hair color? Ann-Margret is a brunette, for instance. Lucille Ball had a special red hair dye she used. 69.236.142.194 (talk) 10:11, 3 January 2012 (UTC)

I would be surprised if her hair did not have to be adjusted in some way because of the limits of that era's Technicolor. Whatever it was originally, red or otherwise. Profhum (talk) 07:26, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

Unsourced quotations
From Quotations "Quotations must be verifiably attributed to a reliable source". There are multiple quotations in the 'Filmography' section that give no source whatsoever. I suggest that someone finds them, before they are deleted. AndyTheGrump (talk) 01:07, 30 April 2014 (UTC)
 * they are all from her autobiography 'tis herself' - when I re-locate my copy i'll add the page numbers for each quote- hope you will forbear deleting in the meantime - its hardly controversial stuff that needs deletion - the first 5 or 6 are reffed exactly, so I just thought its kind of obvious the source Sayerslle (talk) 14:53, 27 May 2014 (UTC)

The Info box could use a better picture of Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara is approximately 93-years-old in her Info box photo, and she has a very sinister expression on her face. It seems apparent that the Info box could use a better photograph of Maureen. She was a very beautiful woman when she was in her twenties, and it is illogical to display the currently unflattering picture of her. When a celebrity dies, the press usually runs a photo of the person when they were in their prime. This is more respect for the person and better ratings for the press.

Let's try and find a better photograph of Maureen O'Hara.

Anthony22 (talk) 16:32, 10 June 2015 (UTC)


 * You speak the truth brother. Besides that we do not know the context of her (miss) expression in the infobox. She might be squinting to see or hear someone off to the side. In that sense it is likely not an accurate representation of her day to day appearance. I do not mind the natural progression of age in a photo if it is reliably truthful, and this one certainly seems suspect. The only question is getting one that meets Wikipedia's gpl requirements. Nodekeeper (talk) 04:33, 29 September 2015 (UTC)

Guys, this image looks much better than the current one. You can see her true beauty.
MV5BMTI2OTA0ODA4MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNjIwNzQ2._V1_UY317_CR5,0,214,317_AL_.jpg — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:8A0:FB7C:6E01:4531:B200:B01A:2570 (talk) 21:31, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

Most beautiful
I don't know why people write such garbage. I shouldn't have to explain why ANY such claim is idiotic. The CULTURAL differences in what constitutes beauty is quite large. Second, it is obviously impossible to know who is "one of the most" without a thorough survey of the 200 million women of roughly her age who she could be compared with. Third, "was considered" is a weasle phrase. It presumes some "authoritative source" of such drivel, and ignores the fact that the PR efforts of the star, her studio, and the industry, as well as those in the media with a economic interest in hyping these "stars", will make all sorts of unsupported claims about who is "most" this or that and there is no way to separate these vested interests' CLAIMS from supportable fact. That is, you can NOT determine what people believed from media and industry hypebole. Fourth, most people were only familiar with her movies and possibly some staged newspaper (TV?) shots, a negligibly small number had ever seen her in person (we're talking about a world population of 2-4 billion). Basing judgements of personal appearance on staged photography of highly made-up actors isn't rational. Being photogenic is not the same as being beautiful. (A beautiful photo is not the same as being beautiful in person.) Anyone can make the statement that Ms X was considered the most (intelligent, athletic, beautiful, spiteful, diplomatic,...) woman of her time. The logical problem is it only requires one person, at one moment of time, to consider her (or anyone) "most" for it to be a true statement, but such a statement doesn't constitute useful or even meaningful information. Why not just say she was a popular movie star known for her good looks?( number of fans, box office draw, salary or income would all be measures of her popularity, if these numbers are available.) I think she was quite pretty as movie stars go, but that is quite different from a belief that she was "one of the most beautiful women" of the 1940's and '50's. Compared to whom, and according to who?216.96.79.240 (talk) 19:03, 24 October 2015 (UTC)

It's not garbage at all. She was beautiful. We say the same thing in the Jolie and Aishwarya articles. Easily sourceable too. You can't just say "Maureen O'Hara was a very beautiful actress" even if true though. We'll have to say "Cited as one of the most beautiful actresses of her generation" or whatever. Obviously she was more than just a very beautiful woman though. I must take on this article soon.♦ Dr. Blofeld  20:43, 24 October 2015 (UTC)


 * She was indeed declared the "queen of technicolor" which is referenced in the article. I think "most beautiful" is pretty silly according to my biases, but every article subject should get whatever credit they are given in attributed reliable sources. μηδείς (talk) 03:48, 25 October 2015 (UTC)


 * Wow. Arguing if Maureen O'Hara should or shouldn't be called one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. A new low even for Wikipedia.  Normal woman here.  She was and she should.  It's the truth, it's okay to put it in an article.  I found this criticism of the article petty, appalling, unbelievable. 172.10.237.153 (talk) 07:03, 17 June 2019 (UTC)

ITN Nomination
This article has been nominated for listing at "Recent Deaths" in the In The News section of the front page, here. If you feel you have contributed significantly to the article's update you can add your name as an updater, or comment otherwise on the value of the nomination if you have an opinion regarding O'Hara's notability. μηδείς (talk) 03:04, 25 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Definitely a good idea! (Just a follower) -- AstroU (talk) 20:26, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

Picture Caption
Is it the TMC Film Festival or, more likely, the TCM Film Festival? 174.100.209.41 (talk) 03:05, 25 October 2015 (UTC)
 * A simple Google-search favors TCM (Watch Turner Classic Movies on TCM.com) -- AstroU (talk) 20:29, 27 October 2015 (UTC)
 * ✅ -- AstroU (talk) 20:31, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

Other photos
The lead image is PD, but has dirt and scratches. I uploaded an improved version the other day but it was deleted due to ban issues. I also uploaded this still, which is PD, as it includes all info on the front and lacks a copyright notice. If an editor approves I can upload one or both. --Light show (talk) 06:54, 28 October 2015 (UTC)
 * No, Light show, you can't. Another editor may upload one or both, but you are banned from uploading images to English Wikipedia, and decisions that editors make here on whether the images should be uploaded have no bearing on your upload conditions on Commons. You must coordinate with Commons users to upload images there, and you must not upload images here. --Moonriddengirl (talk) 12:09, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

Maureen O'hare movies
Not mentioned was "The Long Grey Line" one of her best, co-staring Tyrone Power — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.14.23.132 (talk) 19:52, 2 November 2015 (UTC)

“The Quiet Man”
Article quotes Malone as saying “The Quiet Man” was RKO’s first Technicolor film, yet it was made by Republic Pictures. Wahoo76 (talk) 10:48, 24 June 2018 (UTC)

Maureen with brothers
I pointed out which brother is which in the photo under the film career section of her page. James on the left and Charles on the right. Nichrox2000 (talk) 17:44, 23 March 2022 (UTC)