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PEOPLE & ARTSMonday 26 October 2015
Maureen O’Hara, spirited movie star, dies at 95
ROBERT JABLON face. I gave bloody good or a mother, her characters has really encountered company of men, except
Associated Press performances.” were strong-willed wom- Santa Claus in the 1947 for Maureen O’Hara; she’s
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fiery- Never nominated for an en — a characteristic she Christmas classic “Mira- a great guy.”
haired and feisty, Maureen Oscar (although she re- practiced in real life as well cle on 34th Street,” and a “We met through Ford, and
O’Hara could handle any- ceived an honorary Acad- and attributed to her Irish scrappy Irish colleen who we hit it right off,” she re-
thing the world and Holly- emy Award last year), roots. is romanced by an Ameri- marked in 1991. “I adored
wood threw at her. Direc- O’Hara nonetheless starred She was the daughter of can boxer (John Wayne) in him, and he loved me.
tor John Ford punched her But we were never sweet-
in the jaw at a party and In this November, 2014 file photo Maureen O’Hara arrives at the 6th annual Governors Awards at hearts. Never, ever.”
John Wayne dragged her the Hollywood and Highland Center in Los Angeles. O’Hara, who appeared in such classic films Her relationship with Ford
through sheep dung — as “The Quiet Man” and “How Green Was My Valley,” has died. Her manager says O’Hara died in was sometimes strained,
real sheep dung — in “The her sleep Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015 at her home in Boise, Idaho. especially when he had
Quiet Man.” In “Miracle on been drinking. O’Hara re-
34th Street” she learned to (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) called that for some reason
believe in Santa Claus. he punched her hard in the
But first and foremost, she in some of the best-known Welsh miner in the grim Os- 1952’s “The Quiet Man.” jaw at a party. For a prank,
always believed in herself. and beloved movies of Hol- car-winning 1941 film “How Wayne, who co-starred he and Wayne scattered
“I do like to get my own lywood’s Golden Age. Green Was My Valley”; the with her in five movies, real sheep dung over a field
way,” she said in a 1991 in- Whether playing a ranch- mother who doubts her once said: “I’ve had many in Ireland where they were
terview with The Associat- er’s wife, a pirate queen, daughter, Natalie Wood, friends, and I prefer the filming “The Quiet Man.”
ed Press. “There have been She sometimes called him a
crushing disappointments. “devil” but acknowledged
But when that happens, his talent.
I say, ‘Find another hill to She also played the mother
climb.’” of twins, both played by
The Irish-born beauty was Hayley Mills, who conspire
95 when she died Saturday to reunite their divorced
in her sleep at her home parents in the 1961 Disney
in Boise, Idaho, said John- comedy “The Parent Trap.”
ny Nicoletti, her longtime “My first ambition was to
manager. be the No. 1 actress in
In her heyday, O’Hara was the world,” she recalled in
known as the Queen of 1999. “And when the whole
Technicolor because of the world bowed at my feet, I
camera’s love affair with would retire in glory and
her vivid hair, bright green never do anything again.”
eyes and pale complexion. O’Hara held dual U.S. and
But she also had talent. Irish citizenship and main-
“I proved there was a tained strong ties to the
bloody good actress in land of her birth. She was
me,” she told the British grand marshal of New
newspaper The Telegraph York’s St. Patrick’s Day pa-
last year. “It wasn’t just my rade in 1999. q
Usher and Harry Belafonte talk activism in joint appearance
HILLEL ITALIE other as fellow artists, activ- enough to see this emer- adding that Belafonte and the sentence was never fin-
AP National Writer ists and celebrities and as gence,” he said. his peers “used everything ished,” Belafonte said. “Yes
NEW YORK (AP) — As he elder statesman and pro- Usher has a new single out, they’ve got, or they had, we can what?”
considered his growing tege. “Chains,” which protests in order for us to have that Usher, meanwhile, was ea-
commitment to activism, Usher called Belafonte racism and police violence. platform.” ger to complete that sen-
Usher only needed to look a hero, mentor and fa- “Chains” features cameos Speaking before an ad- tence. He became tearful
at the man seated next ther figure. And Belafonte by Nas and Bibi Bourelly, miring, multigenerational as he spoke of making the
to him, Harry Belafonte, to spoke far more positively and an interactive video crowd that often called country “a land of hope”
know how much more he about young black celebri- that stops playing if you out praise and encourage- and seemed to be asking
could give. ties than he did two years turn away from the images ment, Belafonte assumed himself as much as anyone
“Unfortunately, no matter ago when he chastised Jay of Michael Brown, Eric Gar- the role of teacher, summa- where any future move-
what I say I’m never going Z, Beyonce and others for ner and other black men rizing the history of black re- ment might lead.
to be able to upstage (Be- turning “their back on so- who were killed recently. silience dating back to slav- “I’m inquisitive in my young
lafonte),” the million-selling cial responsibility.” The video was made with ery and defining the power age,” he said, calling
musician joked during a At the 92nd Street Y, Jay Z the assistance of Belafonte of art as a way to slow “the “Chains” the beginning of
weekend appearance at was in the audience nod- and his nonprofit organi- rush to the bank.” He has a conversation. “When do
the 92nd Street Y in Man- ding his head as Belafonte zation www.sankofa.org, criticized President Barack we really face the issues
hattan. praised him, Usher and which supports social en- Obama in the past as too that are within our system?”
In an hourlong conversa- Common for renewing a gagement by artists. cautious and at the 92nd Near the end, the subject
tion moderated by Sole- commitment to change af- “This conversation comes Street Y ridiculed Obama’s briefly turned from politics
dad O’Brien, the 37-year- ter a “very me” generation at a time when I think it’s a campaign slogan “Yes We and social causes when an
old Usher and 88-year-old immediately following the necessity for us as artists to Can.” audience member asked if
Belafonte related with civil rights era. use our platforms in a sig- “The political cleverness, if Usher and Belafonte would
obvious warmth to each “I’m glad I lived long nificant way,” Usher said, you want to call it that, (is) sing together. q
