"You are about to read the tale of the toughest Irish lass who ever
took on Hollywood and became a major leading lady....In a career that
has lasted more than sixty years, I have acted, punched,
swashbuckled, and shot my way through an absurdly masculine
profession....As a woman, I'm proud to say that I stood toe-to-toe
with the best of them and made my mark on my own terms. I'm Maureen
O'Hara and this is my life story." -- From Chapter One of 'Tis
Herself In language that is blunt, straightforward, and totally
lacking in artifice, Maureen O'Hara, one of the greatest and most
enduring stars of Hollywood's "Golden Era," for the first time tells
the story of how she succeeded in the world's most competitive
business. Known for her remarkable beauty and her fiery screen
persona, Maureen O'Hara came to Hollywood when she was still a
teenager, taken there by her mentor, the great actor Charles
Laughton. Almost immediately she clashed with the men who ran the
movie business -- the moguls who treated actors like chattel, the
directors who viewed every actress as a potential bedmate. Determined
to hold her own and to remain true to herself, she fought for roles
that she wanted and resisted the advances of some of Hollywood's most
powerful and attractive men. It was in the great director John Ford
that she first found someone willing to give her a chance to prove
herself as an important actress. Beginning with the Academy
Award-winning How Green Was My Valley, she went on to make five films
with Ford and through him first met the great John Wayne, with whom
she also made five films. In O'Hara, Ford had found his ideal Irish
heroine, a role that achieved its greatest realization in The Quiet
Man. And in O'Hara, John Wayne found his ideal leading lady, for she
was perhaps the only actress who could hold her own when on screen
with "The Duke." Ford, however, was not without his quirks, and his
relationship with his favorite actress became more and more complex
and ultimately deeply troubled. The on-screen relationship between
Wayne and O'Hara, on the other hand, was transformed into a close
friendship built on mutual respect, creating a bond that endured
until his death. Writing with complete frankness, O'Hara talks for
the first time about these remarkable men, about their great
strengths and their very human failings. She writes as well about
many of the other actors and actresses -- Lucille Ball, Tyrone Power,
Errol Flynn, John Candy, Natalie Wood, to name a few -- with whom she
worked, but ultimately it is about herself that she is most
revealing. With great candor and a mixture of pride and regret, she
reflects on just how this young girl from Ireland made it to America
and onto movie screens all around the world. There were missteps, of
course -- a troubled and deeply destructive marriage, a willingness
to trust too readily in others -- but there were triumphs and great
happiness as well, including her marriage to the aviation pioneer
Brigadier General Charles F. Blair, who tragically died in a
mysterious plane crash ten years after their marriage. Throughout,
'Tis Herself is informed by the warmth and charm and intelligence
that defined Maureen O'Hara's performances in some sixty films, from
The Hunchback of Notre Dame to Miracle on 34th Street to The Parent
Trap to McLintock! to Only the Lonely. 'Tis Herself is Maureen
O'Hara's story as only she can tell it, the tale of an Irish lass who
believed in herself with the strength and determination to make her
own dreams come true.
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