Irén Varsányi

Irén Varsányi (1878-1932) was a renowned but now forgotten Hungarian stage actress who was one of the founders and first stars of the Vígszínház Comedy Theatre in Budapest, and also acted in four Hungarian silent films. Varsányi wonderfully acted the new type of woman of the time: the easy-going bourgeoise.


Hungarian postcard by Magyar Rotophot. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest.


Hungarian postcard by the magazine Shinhazi Elet (Theatre Life), Budapest, published by Jozsef Pécal. Photo: Angelo, Budapest, 1919. Irén Varsányi in Ferenc Molnár's play 'Liliom'.

The new type of woman of the time

Irén Varsányi was born in 1877 or 1878 (sources differ) as Malvin Wollner in a Jewish family in Györ, Hungary, a middle-class city at the time. She moved with her family to Budapest to enrol in drama school. Here she was discovered by theatre director Mór Ditrói, who immediately signed the 18-year-old, who had not even graduated, to the newly founded Vígszínház Comedy Theatre.

The theatre was founded in 1894 and opened in 1896, amidst Budapest's population explosion and hunger for theatre. She played the role of Ibolyka in the opening performance, 'The Barangók'. Varsányi was an instant success. After countless actresses portraying the traditional female roles of the time, naïve, comic, and dramatic heroines, with learned gestures, Varsányi's effortless naturalism was refreshing.

Irén Varsányi wonderfully brought out the new type of woman of the time: the easy-going bourgeoise. Her greatness lay in the fact that she could play far more than only one character. Varsányi was a universal actress, which was new for the time. She played Ferenc Molnár's 'Liliom', George Bernard Shaw's 'Pygmalion', Carlo Goldoni's 'Mirandolina', etc.

Between 1918 and 1920, Irén Varsányi acted in four Hungarian silent films: she debuted as the title character and protagonist of Anna Karenina (Márton Garas, 1918), based on Leo Tolstoy's classic novel. Dezsõ Kertész played her lover Vronsky, while Karenin was played by Emil Fenyvessy. In 1995, the Hungarian Film Institute and Compline Studio recreated the original Hungarian intertitles, thus restoring the film to its original state, while before only a version with German intertitles existed.

In 1919, Varsányi acted in two more films by Garas: A Táncosnö / The Dancer, starring Leopoldine Konstantin as the dancer, and again with Dezsõ Kertész and Emil Fenyvessy. Irén Varsányi also played a double role as the protagonist in Sappho, also with Fenyvessy and Victor Varconi. In 1920, Varsányi played a supporting part in her last film, A színésznö / The Actress (Antal Forgács, 1920), starring Helene von Bolvary and Paul Lukas.


Hungarian postcard. Photo: Båro Bianka, Budapest, 1918. Caption: Irén Varsányi and her little girl.


Hungarian postcard by the magazine Shinhazi Elet (Theatre Life), Budapest / City, no. 80. Photo: Báró Bianca. Irén Varsányi in Ernö Vajda's play 'Szerelem vására' (Love Fair), performed at Vígszínház (the Comedy Theatre).

A life refrained from scandals except one

In addition to her success on stage (and screen), Irén Varsányi led an exemplary family life. Her life was refrained from scandals, and she strictly protected her private life from the tabloids of the time.

In 1904, she married Illés Szécsi, an industrialist and landowner, one of the founding members of the Vígszínház. They lived opposite the Vígszínház, in a large bourgeois apartment. Their marriage was legendary, although contemporaries said that Varsányi had to give up much of her bohemian, easygoing spirit, honed in the acting world, to fit into the somewhat boring, bourgeois world.

Their two children were brought up in peace and affection. For Varsányi, it was important to spend time with them, to be part of their lives. During her long marriage, she only had one breakdown - she was said to be Ferenc Molnár's greatest love.

She met Molnár at the rehearsals of 'The Bodyguard' in 1910, and they fell madly in love. According to contemporaries, Varsányi then tried for once to break out of the bourgeois life, which was a little stifling, but also offered comfort and wealth. Molnár made her leave home and even initiated divorce proceedings. But when her daughter became ill, she returned to her family. Molnár attempted suicide soon after.

Irén Varsányi's career did not decline even as she aged out of her roles as young girls and naughty beauties, but we will never know what she would have been like as an elderly actress. She made her last appearance on stage in 1932, aged 54, by which time she had been battling illness for some time. In the autumn of that year, she underwent surgery for gallstones. The operation was a success, but Varsányi died two days later due to complications.


Hungarian postcard by Magyar Rotophot, no. 8. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest. Irén Varsányi and Gyula Hegedüs in the stage comedy 'A kék róka' by Ferenc Herczeg.


Hungarian postcard by Magyar Rotophot. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest. Irén Varsányi and Gyula Csortos in the stage comedy 'A kék róka' by Ferenc Herczeg.


Hungarian postcard by Magyar Rotophot, no. 14. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest 1917. Caption: the stage actors Irén Varsányi, Gyula Csortos, Frigyes Tanay, Frida Gombaszögi, and Gyula Hegedüs pose in the photo studio of Strelisky. 'Kék róka' means 'Blue fox,' referring to the eponymous stage comedy 'A kék róka' by Ferenc Herczeg. The play later became famous through the film adaptation Der Blaufuchs (Viktor Tourjansky, 1938) with Zarah Leander.

Sources: Nora Nemes (We love Budapest), Wikipedia (Hungarian) and IMDb.

Directed by Holger-Madsen

Holger-Madsen (1878-1943) was a Danish actor and film director. In 1911, he changed his name to Holger-Madsen and was also called Holger Bindestreg. He directed more than 40 films between 1912 and 1936. He also appeared in more than 20 films between 1908 and 1935.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2147. Photo: Nordisk Film. Lilly Jacobson as Marya, the Martian leader's daughter, in Himmelskibet / Das Himmelschiff (Holger-Madsen, 1918).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1850. Photo: Nordisk Films. Valdemar Psilander in Lykken / The Road to Happiness (Holger-Madsen, 1918). The German release title was Das zweite Ich.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2029. Photo: Union-Film / Nordisk. Hugo Bruun (also Hugo Brunn) and Lily Jacobson (Lilly Jacobsson) in Testamentets Hemmelighed / The Secret of the Testament (Holger-Madsen, 1918). The German film title was Das trennende Band.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2149. Photo: Nordisk. Publicity still for Himmelskibet / A Trip to Mars / Das Himmelschiff (Holger-Madsen, 1918) with Lily Jacobson as Marya, the Martian leader's daughter, and Gunnar Tolnaes as Avanti Planetaros.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 3131. Photo: Nordisk. Asta Nielsen and Alf Blütecher in Mod lyset / Towards the Light / Fackelträger (Holger-Madsen, 1919).


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 821/2. Photo: National / Verleih Mondial A.G. Eliza La Porta and Walter Rilla in Die Sporck'schen Jäger / The Sporck Battalion (Holger-Madsen, 1927).

Fine and nuanced depictions of environments

Holger-Madsen was born Holger Madsen in Copenhagen in 1878. Holger Madsen debuted as an actor at Rønne Teater in 1896 and was a provincial actor until 1905. From 1905-1912, he was engaged at Casino and from 1912-1914 at Dagmarteatret. Holger-Madsen played significant roles at the theatre but distinguished himself especially by his talent for masking and was nicknamed 'Maske-Madsen' and 'Troldemads' in the theatre world. He never completely gave up his stage work, but between film assignments, he was engaged as a guest actor at various theatres.

Madsen debuted as a film actor at Nordisk Film in Den sorte hertug / The Black Duke (Viggo Larsen, 1907), now lost. He appeared in several films there until the end of the year. In 1911, he changed his name to Holger-Madsen. Until 1912, he appeared sporadically in quite a few films at various companies, including Ingvar Jørgensen Film.

In 1912, he directed his first film, Kun en Tigger / Only a Beggar (Holger-Madsen, 1912) at Filmfabrikken Skandinavien. He had also written the script and played the lead role of the beggar himself. The following year, he returned to Nordisk Film, and then his career really took off. In the period 1913-1919, Holger-Madsen directed around 80 films and became one of the company's leading director profiles. He often wrote the scripts himself, but only starred in a few films.

Holger-Madsen's films are distinguished primarily by fine and nuanced depictions of environments and beautiful photography and lighting. Evangeliemandens Liv / The Candle and the Moth (Holger-Madsen, 1915) was one of his most successful films, there is an intensity and surprising effect in the beautifully drawn environments and spaces: a harbor pub that exudes atmosphere and lots of depth, the 'evangelist's' ascetic room and not least the visually unforgettable scenes from the prison, where the prisoners with hoods over their heads are led to worship with the prison chaplain and placed side by side in their own small isolated 'window hole'.

The collaboration with the cinematographer Marius Clausen was exemplary and included at least 70 films. The pair were innovative in the use of camera angles and, not least, the lighting, which was a new 'discipline' in the early 1910s.


Danish postcards by Ed. Stenders. Holger-Madsen (standing right), Regnar Bjelke, and Sophus Neumann in the stage operetta 'Prins Incognito' by Preben Nodermann, performed at the Casino theatre in 1909.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1554. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psilander in Manden uden Fremtid / The Man Without A Future (Holger-Madsen, 1916). The German title was Prinz im Exil.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1916. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psiander and Ebba Thomsen in Lykken / The Road to Happiness (Holger-Madsen, 1918). The German release title was Das zweite Ich.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1921. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psilander in Lykken / The Road to Happiness (Holger-Madsen, 1918). The German release title was Das zweite Ich. NB. The card was sent from Czechoslovakia to Vienna, probably after the First World War. Czechoslovakia became a sovereign state in October 1918, one month before the war ended.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1937. Photo: Nordisk. Philip Bech (misspelt as Beck) as Baron Walden in Livets Gøglespil / An Impossible Marriage (Holger-Madsen, 1917), released in Germany as Die Spur der ersten Liebe. Here, .


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2017. Photo: Union-Film / Nordisk. Hugo Bruun in Børnenes Synd / Children's Sin (Holger-Madsen, 1917), released in Germany as Gottes Mühlen mahlen langsam. Bruun's last name is misspelt as Brunn.

Responsible for many of the period's blockbusters

Holger-Madsen was responsible for many of the period's blockbusters: the pacifist film Ned med Vaabnene! / Down with the Weapons! (1915), another pacifist film Pax Aeterna (1917) and the first Science-Fiction film, Himmelskibet / A Trip to Mars (1918). He also directed some of the more successful, intense, chamber-play-like dramas such as Elskovsleg / Liebelei (1914) after Arthur Schnitzler's play, Evangeliemandens Liv / The Candle and the Moth (1915) and En Kunstners Gennembrud / The Soul of the Violin (1919).

Also memorable are his films Den mystiske Fremmede / A Deal with the Devil (1914) with Olaf Fønss, Lykken / The Road to Happiness (1918) and Lydia / The Music-Hall Star (1918) with Valdemar Psilander, and Mod lyset / Towards the Light (1919) with Asta Nielsen. A young Carl Th. Dreyer wrote several scripts for Holger-Madsen's films before debuting himself as a film director. Holger-Madsen also directed the first Danish film to be completely banned by the State Film Censorship Board: Opiumsdrømmen / The Opium Smoker (produced in 1914).

His actors were not necessarily enthusiastic about Holger-Madsen, who was portrayed by many as the opposite of the calm and amiable August Blom. Film star Ebba Thomsen described him in an interview as an impulsive and unbalanced gentleman who said everything he thought out loud and ordered around the actors. You couldn't get peace of mind working with him, she said. Zanny Petersen called him 'excited', 'fiery' and 'crazy'.

Around 1920, Holger-Madsen moved to Germany and directed 13 to 14 films for various companies. An example is Die Sporck'schen Jäger (1927) with Walter Rilla. At the end of the 1920s, he returned to Copenhagen, but it became difficult to find a foothold in the Danish film industry after the breakthrough of sound films.

He appeared in several feature films until 1935. The creative film assignments for Holger-Madsen waned. He wrote the script for a film, directed one, and dubbed a handful of the old Fy & Bi (Pat & Patachon) films. His last film was a documentary on eels: Aalens Livsmysterium / The Riddle of the Eel (1937). In 1937, he obtained a cinema licence for a small cinema, Enghave Bio, which he ran until his death. He was married to Rigmor Holger-Madsen, née Neuhaus. She was the daughter of photographer Even Neuhaus and thus the granddaughter of photographer Christian Neuhaus. Holger-Madsen, nicknamed, Holger Bindestreg, died in Copenhagen in 1943. He was 65 years old.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K 1931. Photo: Nordisk. Gunnar Tolnaes in Livets Gøglespil / An Impossible Marriage (Holger Madsen, 1917). The German title was Die Spur der ersten Liebe. The other man is Philip Bech, who plays Baron Walden.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1962. Photo: Nordisk. Gunnar Tolnaes in Livets Gøglespil / An Impossible Marriage (Holger-Madsen, 1917). It was released in Germany as Die Spur der ersten Liebe. Plot: Architect Erik Berndt (Tolnaes) has been hired by Baron Walden (Philip Bech) to restore the old castle, but falls in love with the baron's daughter, the young Lydia (Erna Schøyen). She elopes with him against her father's wishes. One year later, Lydia has a child with Erik, but their relationship cools down, and she returns to her father. The Baron plans to marry off his daughter to Count Herbert Rhena (Robert Schmidt), but he proves to be unworthy. A reconciliation between Erik and Lydia takes place, in which the child also plays a role.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2028. Photo: Union-Film / Nordisk. Lily Jacobson (Lilly Jacobsson) in Testamentets Hemmelighed / The Secret of the Testament (Holger-Madsen, 1918). The German film title was Das trennende Band.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2150. Photo: Nordisk. Publicity still for Himmelskibet / A Trip to Mars / Das Himmelschiff (Holger-Madsen, 1918) with Lily Jacobson as Marya, the Martian leader's daughter, and Gunnar Tolnaes as Avanti Planetaros.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2161. Photo: Nordisk. Publicity still for Himmelskibet / A Trip to Mars / Das Himmelschiff (Holger-Madsen, 1918) with Gunnar Tolnaes as Avanti Planetaros, Philip Bech as the Martian leader, Lily Jacobson as Marya, the Martian leader's daughter, Alf Blütecher (kneeling) as his friend Dr. Krafft and Nils Asther as the fallen Martian.


German collector card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 113, group 43. Photo: Ufa. Paul Hartmann in Der Evangelimann / The Evangelist (Holger-Madsen, 1924).


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 817. Photo: National / Mondial. Walter Rilla in Die Sporck'schen Jäger/ The Sporck Battalion (Holger-Madsen, 1927).


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 818. Photo: National / Distr. Mondial. Anton Pointner in Die Sporck'schen Jäger / The Sporck Battalion (Holger-Madsen, 1927).


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 820. Photo: National / Verleih / Mondial A.G. Albert Steinrück in Die Sporck'schen Jäger / The Sporck Battalion (Holger-Madsen, 1927).


French postcard by Europe, no. 365. Photo: Hegewald Film. Evelyn Holt in Freiwild / Free game (Holger-Madsen, 1928). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Sources: Filmdatabasen (Danish), Wikipedia (Danish and English) and IMDb.

Published by Partners

EFSP regularly squanders its name and pays attention to film memorabilia other than postcards. Today, we have a post on a British collector card series called 'Partners' published by the Victoria Gallery in London. To be honest, the cards are quite ugly. The star portraits by Stephen Woolley are clumsy, and the flipside captions are mediocre, but we still love the series. Why? All the cards feature comedy partners and apart from such well-known Hollywood stars as Lewis & Martin, Abbott & Costello and Lucille Ball & her husband Desi Arnaz, the series presents lesser-known American comedy teams of which postcards are very hard to find. There are 20 cards in the series, of which we present 13 examples.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 1 in a series of 20. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: HOPE, CROSBY & LAMOUR. Bob Hope - Born Leslie Town Hope, 1904. Bing Crosby - Born Harry Lillis Crosby, 1904-1977. Dorothy Lamour - Born Mary Leta Dorothy Kaumeyer. In 1940, Bob, Bing and Dorothy Lamour became an inseparable team, and their first film together was The Road to Singapore. Other successes were The Road to Zanzibar, The Road to Morocco, The Road to Utopia and others, which are known to be The Road pictures. All in all, there were seven films in The Road series. The last being in 1962, The Road to Hong Kong. By 1962, the nature of film comedy had changed, and the American audience wanted a different brand of humour.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 2 in a series of 20. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: ABBOTT & COSTELLO. Born: William Abbott (1895-1974), Francis Cristello (1906-1959). Bud Abbott and Lou Costello first met in New York in 1936. Apparently, they saw each other's acts and decided they would be better off together. Their success took them to Hollywood, and in 1941, One Night in the Tropics was the first of 36 films they made together. These included Hold That Ghost, Ride 'em Cowboy and Abbott and Costello Go to Mars. The last film was Dance Dance With Me, Henry in 1956. After their last film, they officially split up.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 3 in a series of 20. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: MARTIN & LEWIS. Martin - Born: Dino Paul Crocetti, 1917, Lewis - Born: Joseph Leuitch, 1926. In 1946, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis became friends and began working in Nightclubs in New Jersey. Their first picture in Hollywood was My Friend Irma. As far as the team of Martin and Lerwis was concerned, Dean was the straight man and Jerry a Solko comedian. They went on to make 16 films together, including That's My Boy, The Stooge and Money From Home. Their last film together in 1956 was Hollywood or Bust, about a pair of partners who were going to make it in the movies.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 6. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: THE RITZ BROTHERS. Born: Al Joachim. Jimmy Joachim. Harry Joachim. All three of the Ritz Brothers were born in New Jersey during the opening decade of the 20th Century. Their first feature film was Sing Baby Sing in 1936, and others included One in a Million, On the Avenue, Kentucky Moonshine, The Gorilla and many others. In 1939, The Three Musketeers was made and is considered to be one of their all-time funniest films and a Ritz Brothers classic. The brothers ended their career working on the stage in New Orleans when Al Joachim died of a heart attack.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 7. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: LEMMON & MATTHAU. Jack Lemmon - Born John Uhler Lemmon III (1925-2001). Walter Matthau (1920-2000). Matthau and Lemmon were stars in their own right before they even met in 1966, with their first film together, The Fortune Cookie. They went on to make five more; one of the most popular ones, The Odd Couple, became an instant hit in America. Kotch, The Front Page and Buddy, Buddy, the last one in 1981. They were quoted to have said, "We were too different to be brothers, but we have the best chemistry this side of Tracy and Hepburn."


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 8. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: MA & PA KETTLE. Pa Kettle - Born: Percy Kilbride. Ma Kettle - Born: Marjorie Main. The Egg and I set the course for the series of Kettle films in 1947. There were nine black and white films made between 1949 and 1956. These included Ma & Pa Kettle Go To Town, Ma & Pa Kettle at the Fair and Ma & Pa Kettle On Vacation, each making the top ten earning film list of each year. Percy Kilbride bowed out after 1955 and was replaced in the last of the Kettle films by Parker Fennelly.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 10. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: LUCILLE BALL & DESI ARNAZ. Lucille Ball, Born: 1910-1989. Desi Arnaz. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz started their show business career with the film Too Many Girls. They then married and formed a business partnership. I Love Lucy made them TV stars for many years, with the films The Long, Long Trailer and Forever Darling in between, until Arnaz retired from TV. They bought the old RKO studio and founded their own corporation. But in 1960, Lucy and Arnaz divorced and went their separate ways.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 11. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: THREE STOOGES. Larry Fine (1911-1975), Moe Howard (1895-1975), Jerry (Curly) Howard (1906-1952). The Stooges were a trio of American knockabout comics specialising in a peculiarly violent form of slapstick. They originally went from Vaudeville to Hollywood with Ted Healy (as Ted Healy and His Stooges). But broke away to become world famous in hundreds of two-reelers throughout the thirties, forties and fifties. Towards the end of their popularity, The Stooges appeared in a few features, Stop Look and Laugh, and The Three Stooges Meet Hercules.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 14. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: GEORGE BURNS & GRACIE ALLEN. George Burns - Born 1896(-1996). Gracie Allen - Born 1902/6-1964. George and Gracie made a successful team. They married quite early after their success. Films together included We're Not Dressing, College Humor, Love in Bloom, and many more. Between 1950 and 1957, they had a TV series called The Burns and Allen Show, which was extremely successful. At the age of eighty, George Burns became a big star again and a national institution.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 15. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: WHEELER & WOOLSEY. Bert Wheeler - Born: 1895-1968. Robert Woolsey - Born: 1889-1935. Wheeler and Woolsey were a great pair of American comedians in the thirties, and decided to team as a double act. They made their first film together in 1929 called Rio Rita. Then they went on to Half Shot at Sunrise, Cracker Nuts, and many more. Their last film as a double act was in 1937, On Again, Off Again. They then went on to make a popular TV series called Brave Eagle 55.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 16. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: BLONDIE FILM. Penny Singleton - Born: Mariana Dorothy McNutty, Arthur Lake - Born: Arthur Silver Lake, Larry Simms. The first of the Blondie films was in 1938. Altogether, there were twenty-eight films in the series. Blondie's Lucky Day, Blondie's Hero, Blondie's Secret and many more. Between 1938 and 1950, the first Blondie and the last Beware of Blondie, the films were very popular. But by 1950, the series held no surprises, and age had crept upon Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake, removing the freshness of young middle age from their performances.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 18. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: ROONEY & GARLAND. Mickey Rooney - Born: Joe Yule Junior, 1920(-2014). Judy Garland - Born: Francis Ethel Gumm, 1922-1969. Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland made a number of films together, including The Andy Hardy films. One of the first of these was in 1940 Andy Hardy Meets Debutante, and went on to Life Begins For Andy Hardy. The films served as an excellent training ground for studio starlet Judy Garland.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 19. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: TOM & JERRY. Short cartoons featuring the mean-minded, accident-prone cat and likeable little mouse, Tom and Jerry. The original cartoons were drawn by William Hanna and Joe Barbara in 1937. There were an awful lot of these cartoons made, and some were always winning Academy awards - titles such as The Milky Way, Yankee Doodle Mouse, Mouse Trouble, Cat Concerto and The Little Orphan, as well as quite a few more.

Maureen O’Hara

Irish-born Maureen O’Hara (1920-2015) was one of the icons of Hollywood’s Golden Age. The feisty and fearless actress starred in John Ford’s Oscar-winning drama How Green Was My Valley (1941), set in Wales, and Ford’s Irish-set The Quiet Man (1952) opposite John Wayne. The famously red-headed actress also worked successfully with Charles Laughton at Jamaica Inn (1939) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), starred in the perennial Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947), and appeared in the Disney children’s hit The Parent Trap (1961).


Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 314. Photo: Universal International.


British postcard, London, no. FS 200. Photo: Pommer-Laughton 'Mayflower' production. Publicity still for Jamaica Inn (Alfred Hitchcock, 1939).


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W 561. Photo: 20th Century Fox.


Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 297. Photo: Universal International. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.


Italian postcard by Rotalcolor / Rotalfoto, Milano, no. N. 152.

Alfred Hitchcock

Maureen O’Hara was born Maureen FitzSimons in the Dublin suburb of Ranelagh, Ireland, in 1920. Her mother, Marguerita Lilburn FitzSimons, was an accomplished contralto. Her father, Charles FitzSimons, managed a business in Dublin and also owned part of the renowned Irish soccer team, The Shamrock Rovers.

From the age of 6 to 17, Maureen trained in drama, music and dance, and at the age of 10, she joined the Rathmines Theatre Company and worked in amateur theatre in the evenings after her lessons. O'Hara's dream at this time was to be a stage actress. By age 14, she was accepted to the prestigious Abbey Theatre and pursued her dream of classical theatre and operatic singing.

Her first screen test was for a British film called Kicking the Moon Around (Walter Forde, 1938) at Elstree Studios. It was arranged by American bandleader Harry Richman, who was then appearing in Dublin. The result was deemed unsatisfactory, but when Charles Laughton later saw it, he was intrigued by her large and expressive eyes.

Laughton arranged for her to co-star with him in the British film Jamaica Inn (Alfred Hitchcock, 1939). Laughton was so pleased with O'Hara's performance that she was cast in the role of Esmeralda opposite him in the Hollywood production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (William Dieterle, 1939). The epic film was an extraordinary success, and international audiences were now alerted to her natural beauty and talent.

From there, she went on to enjoy a long and highly successful career in Hollywood. Director John Ford cast her as Angharad in How Green Was My Valley (1941), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. O’Hara was often an example of noble and defiant womanhood, like in This Land Is Mine (Jean Renoir, 1943). In this film, she was reunited with Laughton, who plays a mother-dominated schoolteacher secretly in love with O’Hara, a colleague who is working for the wartime resistance.


Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 314. Photo: Universal International.


Dutch postcard by J.S.A. Photo: M.P.E.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 715. Photo: H.P.S.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 400. Photo: Paramount, 1952.


Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 154. Photo: RKO Radio.

John Wayne

Maureen O'Hara starred in Swashbucklers such as The Black Swan (Henry King, 1942), opposite Tyrone Power, and Sinbad the Sailor (Richard Wallace, 1947), with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. She also starred as Doris Walker and the mother of a young Natalie Wood in Miracle on 34th Street (George Seaton, 1947), which became a perennial Christmas classic.

O'Hara made a number of films with John Wayne. She met Wayne through director John Ford, and the two hit it right off. O'Hara: "I adored him, and he loved me. But we were never sweethearts. Never, ever.”

Opposite Wayne, she played Mary Kate Danaher in The Quiet Man (John Ford, 1952), an iconic film that is still very much celebrated in Ireland and abroad. In total, they made five films together between 1948 and 1972, also including Rio Grande (John Ford, 1950), The Wings of Eagles (John Ford, 1957), McLintock! (Andrew V. McLaglen, 1963) and Big Jake (George Sherman, 1971).

O’Hara most often played strong and wilful women, but offscreen, she was the same. In 1957, her career was threatened by scandal when the tabloid Confidential magazine claimed she and a man had engaged in 'the hottest show in town' in the back row of Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. However, as she later told the Associated Press, at the time she “was making a movie in Spain, and I had the passport to prove it”.

Maureen O'Hara testified against the gossip magazine in a criminal libel trial and brought a lawsuit that was settled out of court. Confidential magazine eventually went out of business.


Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 955. Photo: Columbia. Maureen O’Hara in The Long Gray Line (John Ford, 1955). The Italian title was La lunga linea grigia.


Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 2028. Photo: Columbia Film / Ufa.


Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 2029. Photo: Columbia Film / Ufa.


Dutch postcard. Photo: Paramount.


German postcard by Starfoto Hasemann, no. 748. Photo: RKO Radio.

John Candy's domineering mother

Maureen O'Hara was married three times. In 1939, at the age of 19, O'Hara secretly married Englishman George H. Brown, a film producer, production assistant and occasional scriptwriter, whom she had met on the set of Jamaica Inn. The marriage was annulled in 1941.

Later that year, O'Hara married William Houston Price, the dialogue director of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but the union ended in 1953, reportedly as a result of his alcohol abuse. They had one child, a daughter named Bronwyn FitzSimons Price (1944).

In later life, Maureen O’Hara married her third husband, Brigadier General Charles Blair. The couple lived in the US Virgin Islands, where he operated an airline. He died in a plane crash in 1978, and O’Hara took over management of the airline, which she eventually sold. “Being married to Charlie Blair and travelling all over the world with him, believe me, was enough for any woman,” she said in 1995. “It was the best time of my life.”

O'Hara remained retired from acting until 1991, when she starred in the film Only the Lonely (Chris Columbus, 1991), playing Rose Muldoon, the domineering mother of a Chicago cop played by John Candy. Ronald Bergan in his obituary in The Guardian: "She acted everyone else off the screen, a reminder of just how much the cinema had missed her." In the following years, she continued to work, starring in several made-for-TV films.

Her autobiography, ''Tis Herself', was published in 2004 and was a New York Times Bestseller. In 2005, she moved back to Ireland, settling in her house on a 35-acre estate, Lugdine Park, in West Cork, which she had bought with Blair in 1970. In 2012, she returned to the US to be closer to her family as her health declined. She was never nominated for an Oscar, instead being given an honorary award in 2014. After accepting her statuette from a wheelchair, the then 94-year-old star protested when her speech of thanks was cut short. Maureen O'Hara died in her sleep at home in Boise, Idaho. She is survived by her daughter, Bronwyn, and by a grandson and two great-grandchildren.


Italian collector card by G.B. Pezziol, Padova / Stab. Pezzini, Milano. Photo: Republic Pictures. John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara in The Quiet Man (John Ford, 1952), released in Italy as Un uomo tranquillo.


Yugoslav postcard by Sedma Sila. Photo: IOM, Beograd. Maureen O'Hara and Jeff Chandler in War Arrow (George Sherman, 1953).


Dutch postcard, no. 198. Photo: Universal-International. Publicity still for Lady Godiva of Coventry (Arthur Lubin, 1955).


Trailer for Jamaica Inn (Alfred Hitchcock, 1939). Source: Cohen Film Collection (YouTube).


Trailer for The Quiet Man (John Ford, 1952). Source: Eurekaentertainment (YouTube).


German flyer, cover of a special issue ofIllustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 3496. Photos: Republic. Maureen O'Hara and Ray Milland in Lisbon (Ray Milland, 1956). The film was distrubuted in Germany under the title Geheimzentrale Lissabon by Gloria / Naturama.

Sources: Ronald Bergan (The Guardian), Wikipedia and IMDb.