Maureen O’Hara is one of the finest actors ever to come from Ireland. She was one of the stars of Hollywood in the 1940s and 50s, often working with film legends John Ford and John Wayne on classics such as The Quiet Man.
She also starred in the original production of the heart-warming Christmas film, Miracle on 34th Street, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to film.
Her life wasn’t without tragedy though. She was married three times, with her second husband being a drunken abusive man. She also suffered heartache when her third husband was killed in a plane crash.
O’Hara remains one of Ireland’s most loved figures. She is also hugely popular in America where she now lives. Here are a selection of some of her best quotes.
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President Roosevelt assured me that Ireland would one day be part of the Communist bloc.
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First marriage was never consummated. I was pushed into it. I went from there to the boat for the United States of America.
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Making movies is just like betting on horses at the racetrack.
Audiences in London called me the girl with the black cherry eyes.
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I am like many of the women I have played onscreen.
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Where men were concerned, I was ill-prepared to navigate confidently through Hollywood’s sometimes murky waters.
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I dainty little lass I wasn’t. I looked twice my age until I turned 10 or 11.
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I have never lost my faith in God.
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The studio thought I was crazy to perform all of my own fencing stunts, but I loved it.
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I was tough. I was tall. I was strong. I didn’t take any nonsense from anybody.
In a career that has lasted for over 60 years, I have acted, punched, swashbuckled, and shot my way through an absurdly masculine profession.
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I’m a lousy cook but one helluva cleaning lady.
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How could you have had such a wonderful life as me if there wasn’t a God directing?
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They said my nose was too big and they wanted to bob my nose. I said, sorry. If that’s what you want, buy me a ticket and I’ll go home.
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I’m terrified about the day that I enter the gates of heaven and God says to me, just a minute.
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I watch and listen to movies today and am shocked by the way actors deliver their lines. Everybody mumbles now and I don’t understand why.
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I felt the walls of private life crumble around me as I embraced and became the public person known as Maureen O’Hara.
I entered the world hairless as an egg. Mammy told me she almost sewed fake curls on my bonnet.
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There’s a terrible truth for many women in the picture business: Aging typically takes its toll and means fewer and less desirable roles.
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God has a most wicked sense of humour.
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I had always been a tomboy – I still am, at heart.
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My heritage has been my grounding, and it has brought me peace.
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John Wayne was one of the greatest ambassadors for the United States that ever lived.
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Charles Laughton signed me to my first movie contract at 17. He later asked my parents if he could adopt me.
As the 1960s began, a new breed of Hollywood leading lady was emerging. She was elegant, international, and wonderfully comedic.
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After I got to Hollywood, I resented that I didn’t get a crack at more dramatic roles because I photographed so beautifully.
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Comedy is difficult, especially slapstick. The trick is to have fun while you are performing it.
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I had no money to pay for the meals. I had a bottle of vitamins. And I took all the vitamins, one after the other.
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Almost all of my friends in the picture business have died.
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Above all else, deep in my soul, I’m a tough Irishwoman.
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