Ireland’s own queen of Hollywood set for An Táin
This year marks the centenary of the birth of Irish movie star Maureen O’Hara and to commemorate the occasion, Elaine O’Dwyer brings her one-woman show ‘Queen of Technicolour - the story of Maureen O’Hara’ to the Studio Theatre at An Táin Arts Centre on Friday night.
The show, which traces O’Hara’s life from humble Irish beginnings to Hollywood star, is the creation of Limerick native Elaine O’Dwyer. Not only has she devised the hugely entertaining show, but she portrays over twenty characters as she takes the audience on an intimate journey, revealing the person Maureen O’Hara was both on and off stage.
Star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, the legendary Maureen O’Hara’s on-screen roles often mirrored her true persona as a tough and courageous woman. O’Hara’s stunning looks led Hollywood to dub her ‘ The Queen of Technicolor’ – a title she grew to resent, as she wanted to be seen as more than a pretty face. She wanted her acting talent to be taken more seriously.
The Irish actress, best known for her roles in ‘ The Quiet Man’, ‘Miracle on 34th Street’, ‘How Green Was My Valley’ and ‘ The Parent Trap’, played fiercely passionate but sensible heroines. She held her own alongside Hollywood’s top leading men, including long-time friend and frequent co-star John Wayne, who described O’Hara as the ‘greatest guy I ever knew’.
The outspoken screen star paid the price for standing up to the men who ran the Hollywood studios, men who often expected more than a performance from their stars. Though no longer alive when the #MeToo and #TimesUp anti-sexual-harassment movements rocked Hollywood, O’Hara had let the world know how she had been treated – and how she felt about it.
She wrote in her biography, ’ Tis Herself: “…more than anything, there was a resistance to Maureen O’Hara from the studio casting executives. I always felt they resented me … part of me has always blamed the casting couch. I wasn’t a whore. I’ve said over and over, you can have anything you want in life provided you are willing to make the necessary sacrifices for it. I was unwilling to make that kind of sacrifice to get a part in a movie.”
Maureen O’Hara died at the age of 95 at her home in Boise, Idaho, where she had moved in 2013 to be closer to her relatives. Prior to that, she had been living at Lugdine Park, a stunning 45-acre estate in Glengarriff, Co Cork, which she had purchased with her husband Charles Blair in 1970.
‘Queen of Technicolor – The Story of Maureen O’Hara’ premiered at Limerick’s Belltable Arts Centre in 2018 and has toured many of the country’s top venues since then.
Tickets for Friday night’s show are available from the box office, An Táin Arts Centre, Crowe St, tel 042 3332332 or online www.antain.ie. 2
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