Maureen O’Hara (Finally) Gets Her Oscar

Maureen O’Hara, the star of such classic films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, How Green Was My Valley, Sentimental Journey, The Miracle on 34th Street, The Quiet Man, and The Parent Trap, received a special honorary Academy Award. Incredibly, O’Hara, 94, was never nominated for a competitive Oscar in a career that spanned 75 years.

From left to right: John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Natalie Wood, and O’Hara In Miracle on 34th Street

In her acceptance speech, O’Hara paid tribute to the three men who helped her career: Charles Laughton, John Wayne, and John Ford. Laughton signed O’Hara to her first film contract and costarred with her in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Jamaica Inn, and This Land Is Mine. O’Hara costarred with Wayne in five films, including Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, McClintock!, and Big Jake. Ford directed O’Hara in How Green Was My Valley, The Quiet Man, and The Long Gray Line.

If you were to award O’Hara for one of her film performances, what would it be?