Maureen began life as Maureen FitzSimons on August 17, 1920 in Ranelagh near Dublin, Ireland.. She is the second child of six children of Charles Stewart Parnell FitzSimons, and wife Marguerite, and granddaughter of Bartholomew FitzSimons and Bridget Tormey. Her older sister is Peggy, whom Maureen later called the pretty one, though Peggy went on to become a Sister of Charity nun and is noted for her singing in Ireland. Her other younger sisters are Florey and Margaret, and younger brothers Charles and James. Her father was a clothier in Dublin and had a part ownership of an Irish soccer team named the Shamrock Rovers. Maureen grew up as somewhat of a tomboy, played boys games, etc. but early on she took an interest in performing for neighbors. She was educated at the Dominion Convent School, but was chubby as a child and taunted by the other children as 'baby elephant.' At the age of five she was made the boss of a school play, and by the age of ten she was a tomboy who was only interested in becoming a truck driver. At 12, she took courses at the Dublin Dramatic Society and took ballet. At the age of 15 she became one of the youngest student to enter Trinity College after completing the Guild Hall School of Music's Drama Course. She maintained a strong interest in acting and enrolled in the Burke's School of Elocution. She was an honor student at the London School of Music. While still a teenager, at 17, she was accepted to act in the famous Abbey Theater, where she acted in The Merchant of Venice, and worked with Harry Richman.. At her father's insistence, Maureen also studied secretarial and bookkeeping courses, and she has used these considerable skills throughout her life.

In 1938 she was noticed by the actor Charles Laughton after she had had some small parts in British films, and he starred her in his London film Jamaica Inn. The following year, she sailed to American on the Queen Mary, and Mr. Laughton starred her as Esmeralda in his version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but by that time he had gotten her to shorten her name to Maureen O'Hara. Her career then took a turn towards America and Hollywood, when RKO bought her contract.. In 1941, she was cast as Angharad in How Green Was My Valley, a John Ford picture, the first of five pictures. She became a favorite of Ford because of her Irish background, her fabulous appearance, and her acting skills. She soon appeared in a variety of different pictures during the 1940's, but soon was best known for her color swashbuckler pictures such as At Sword's Point, The Black Swan, Bagdad, Tripoli, Flame of Araby, Sinbad the Sailor, and she became known as 'The Pirate Queen of the Screen'. She performed many of the stunts without the use of a stunt double because of her athletic ability and determination. Her mutually favorite costar was the inimicable John "The Duke" Wayne who appeared in five films with her, beginning with Rio Grande and ending with Big Jake. She continued to make movies and appeared on Television shows until 1973, with the remake of The Red Pony. She had occasionally appeared on stage, such as the Broadway musical 'Christina'. During the 1950's and 60's, Maureen appeared many times on televison, on The Jimmy Dean Show, The Andy Williams Show, The Telephone hour, and often sang during her appearances. She acted in 'Mrs. Miniver' on TV and in 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' in 1960, and in 'Spellbound' in 1962, 'A City of Angels' in 1963, 'High Button Shoes' in 1966 and 'Who's Afraid of Mother' in 1967. She released an album called "Maureen O'Hara Sings Her Favorite Irish Songs".

Maureen's personal life has varied from blissful to tragic. She suffered from back problems in 1957, the same year that she filed suit against Confidential Magazine. Her parents came from Ireland to live with her in California, and she bought them a house in Brentwood. Her first marriage was to George Hanley Brown, on June 12, 1939, whom she met while making Jamaica Inn, but the marriage was annulled in Sept, 1940, by her parents before the marriage was consummated. She married William (Will) Price during the early1940's and honeymooned in New Orleans. She had her only child, Bronwyn Brigid on June 30, 1944. Bronwyn later appeared in the film Spencer's Mountain. The marriage between Maureen and Will did not work out because of Mr. Price's alcoholism and physical abuse of his wife, and she divorced him August, 1952, and Maureen prevailed in a custody hearing in August, 1955. In 1968 she married her dream man, Charles F.Blair, a famous aviator and friend of her family for many years, though he was 14 years older than Maureen. He held many aeronautical achievement records, and they retired to the Virgin Islands in 1973. Tragically, he was killed in an air crash in 1979, but Maureen treasured the years with him. Maureen didn't even have time to grieve because she had an airline to run. Maureen has also overcome uterine cancer in the late 1970's.

Maureen owns homes in Ireland, New York, California and The Virgin Islands, and travels extensively during her retirement. She is a grandmother to Ester Vincent Yoakum III, the son of her daughter, Bronwyn. Because of her great popularity, she is not able to respond to the thousands of cards and letters from her fans, especially after she came out of retirement in 1991 to do the film Only the Lonely with the late John Candy. She has since then, in 1995, made the TV movie The Christmas Box and in 1998 the TV movie, Cab to Canada, and The Last Dance in 2001. Maureen remains, at over 80, a lovely, vibrant and charming person. Here is her film listing.