The Dark Rumor That Nearly Ended Maureen O'Hara's Career
If you've ever stood in a checkout line at a standard suburban American grocery store, you're familiar with tabloid gossip. Meghan Markle Marriage Trouble! the headlines scream. Jennifer Lopez Gets Plastic Surgery?! Most of us roll our eyes and move on: after all, celebrities have been swatting away ridiculous rumors like these for decades. Every once in a while, though, a piece of juicy gossip comes along that threatens to derail a star's career — and when it happened to Golden Age darling Maureen O'Hara, she wasn't going down without a fight.
Newly Minted Superstar
It wasn't any big surprise that tabloids were after O'Hara. She was drop dead gorgeous, and as movies made the switch from black & white to color, her red hair and striking eyes seemed to pop off the screen. Audiences dubbed her the "Queen of Technicolor," and they were desperate to know about her love life.
On A Pedestal
As a matter of fact, everyone was a little obsessed with O'Hara. "Miss O'Hara somehow seems more significant than a setting sun," wrote one critic. An up-and-coming actress accused O'Hara of making a pass at her in an elevator. It was a rumor made up for attention, but it only heightened O'Hara's intrigue.
Obsession From Coworkers
Even her longtime collaborator, director John Ford, was secretly in love with her — and he was down bad. “Oh Maureen, my darling, I love you so much!...I miss you so much. God, I long for you. I dream of you. Your face is constantly in my dreams,” he wrote in a letter.
Owning The Room
And O'Hara wasn't just pretty; she had spirit. Charles Laughton, the producer who first signed her to a studio, remembered: "[She] blew into the office like a hurricane. [She] had a tweed suit on with hair sticking out and coming from Ireland. [She] blew into the office and said [in Irish accent] 'Watchya want with me?'" But her magnetism came from an atypical place.
