MAUREEN O'HARA was known as much for her fiery persona as she was her incredible beauty.
She arrived in Hollywood when she was still a teenager, and almost immediately, clashed with the men who ran the movie business.
In her own words, “I acted, punched, swashbuckled, and shot my way through an absurdly masculine profession…. As a woman, I’m proud to say that I stood toe-to-toe with the best of them.”
And now, in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, a newspaper article from 1945 has resurfaced on Twitter that shows she wasn't prepared to put up with the disgraceful behavoiur that was common place in the industry even then.
The article, published by the Mirror, describes how O'Hara "charged Hollywood producers and directors with calling her a 'cold potato without sex appeal' because she refuses to let them make love to her."
"I am so upset with it that I am ready to quit Hollwood," O'Hara is quoted as saying. "It's got so bad I hate to come to work in the momring. I am a helpless victim of a Hollywood whispering campaign."
She adds: 'Because I don't let the producer and director kiss me every moring or let them paw me they have spread word around town that I am not a woman."
"It's that's Hollywood's idea of a woman I'm ready to quit now."
The article is now being shared and liked across Twitter in praise of the Irish woman's strength...
This was reported in 1945. What a woman ?? pic.twitter.com/6cTFGgadNf
— James Rhodes (@JRhodesPianist) 4 November 2017
Maureen O’Hara back in 1945 chatting about the shit she was expected to take from Hollywood producers. Don’t say women hadn’t tried to talk. pic.twitter.com/42mZ3X4nDf
— Angela Scanlon (@angelascanlon) 5 November 2017
#MaureenOHara #Hollywood in 1945. Imagine. 72 years ago. That is serious courage. pic.twitter.com/8q7qBIn3mf
— Sarah Jane Hennelly (@SJHennelly) 5 November 2017
This version of the #MaureenOHara story is from the Chillicothe Gazette, June 2, 1945. Well done, John Ford, for being her trusted friend. pic.twitter.com/GuB0pv8IWg
— Julie B (@herstrangefate) 5 November 2017
Anyone who has seen #TheQuietMan knows #MaureenOHara was one hell of a woman. This article is from 1945. Change is overdue! #MaureensArmy pic.twitter.com/goNC5CbPg3
— Jay Ess (@jayess1964) 5 November 2017
Born Maureen Fitzsimons in Co. Dublin in 1920, one of six children, O’Hara began acting at age six with the encouragement of her parents.
Her father was a football player, her mother an actress and singer.
She came to Hollywood to star in 1939’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame and went on to a long career.
How Green Was My Valley, a touching 1941 drama about a Welsh mining family, won five Oscars including best picture.
The flame-haired actress became John Wayne’s favourite leading lady, appearing with him in The Quiet Man and other films.
And she was little Natalie Wood’s mother in the Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street.
You can read more about the fascinating life of Maureen O'Hara here
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