Profile of the Day: Maureen O’Sullivan

On this day in 1911, actress Maureen O’Sullivan was born in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland.

Image: Maureen O’Sullivan / Wikimedia Commons

She was the daughter of Mary Eva Frazer and Charles Joseph O’Sullivan, an officer in the Connaught Rangers who served in World War I. As a child, O’Sullivan attended a convent school in Dublin where future Academy Award-winning actress Vivien Leigh was a classmate.

Discovered by Hollywood filmmaker Frank Borzage at a horse show in Dublin, O’Sullivan left Ireland for the United States with a contract with Fox in 1929. Her career in Hollywood took off when she was cast in the role of Jane in Tarzan the Ape Man. Between 1932 and 1942, Maureen appeared in six Tarzan features and became known as Ireland’s first film star.

In 1936, she married director John Farrow and they remained married until his death in 1963. They had seven children together, including actress Mia Farrow.

O’Sullivan died on June 23, 1998 at the age of 87.

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