Maureen O’Hara Height, Weight and Body Measurements

Maureen O’Hara was widely reported at about 5 ft 8 in (173 cm), tall for an actress of her era, with a slim, statuesque build. The Irish star was born August 17, 1920, and died on October 24, 2015, at the age of 95.

Quick facts

Height and screen presence

Her height mattered on screen. She could stand eye to eye with leading men, and directors often leaned into her presence rather than hiding it. Weight is not documented in any reliable source, and her image is better described by the word most reviewers used: striking, with famous red hair that Technicolor made unforgettable. She was also known for playing women who could hold their own, whether trading insults with John Wayne or wielding a sword in an adventure picture.

From Dublin to Hollywood

She was born Maureen FitzSimons in Ranelagh, a Dublin suburb, and trained at the Abbey Theatre school as a teenager. She also had a fine singing voice, and early on she appeared in Irish and British productions. Her break came when actor Charles Laughton saw her screen test and brought her to Hollywood, casting her in Jamaica Inn (1939), which was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and then The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), in which she played Esmeralda. That was followed by John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley (1941), a Best Picture winner. The name O’Hara was chosen for her early in her Hollywood career.

The John Ford and John Wayne years

Her most beloved work came under director John Ford, particularly The Quiet Man (1952), opposite John Wayne, shot in County Mayo, Ireland. The pair made several films together, including Rio Grande, The Wings of Eagles and McLintock!, plus Big Jake in 1971. She also starred in Miracle on 34th Street (1947), The Parent Trap (1961) and swashbucklers like The Black Swan and Sinbad the Sailor, earning a reputation as “the Queen of Technicolor.” Wayne and O’Hara stayed lifelong friends, and she spoke fondly of him in interviews for decades.

Later years

After a long break from acting she returned to film in 1991 for Only the Lonely, and she kept an eye on her legacy. In 2014 the Academy gave her an honorary Oscar at its Governors Awards. She spent her later years partly in Ireland and partly in the United States, and Glengarriff in County Cork was among her favorite places. She died at home in Idaho in 2015.

Marriages

O’Hara married three times. Her last husband, Charles Blair, was a pilot whom she wed in 1968. He died in 1978, and she went on to take a leading role in the Caribbean airline he had founded.

Why people still search for her

A new generation discovers her every Christmas, thanks to Miracle on 34th Street, and The Quiet Man is a staple on St. Patrick’s Day broadcasts. Her red hair and green eyes became shorthand for Irish glamour in classic Hollywood, which is why so many articles about her focus on her looks. Her actual legacy is bigger: she was one of the few actresses of her era to hold her own in action films, and she was known for doing much of her own stunt work.

Style and legacy

Photographers loved her for the contrast of red hair, pale skin and vivid costumes, and her portraits from the 1940s and 1950s remain some of the most reproduced images of classic Hollywood. Irish audiences in particular regard her as a national treasure, and in Ireland she is remembered as much for her pride in her heritage as for her screen work.

Frequently asked questions