Maureen O’Hara
This Irish-born, naturalized American actress was beloved for being a fiery presence in Westerns, dramas, and adventure movies from the late 1930s through the 1960s.
But the fiery Irish lass of The Quiet Man, McLintock! and Big Jake may have played her best role as mother to her only daughter, Bronwyn.
Her daughter was named for her close friend Anna Lee’s character in Maureen’s breakout movie, How Green Is My Valley. Born Brownwyn Price (daughter of American producer William Houston Price, O’Hara’s second husband), she would later take on her mother’s birth name, FitzSimons.
Mother and daughter had a close relationship, and with Maureen’s encouragement, Bronwyn followed in her acting footsteps. She had several movie roles, including in Spencer’s Mountain and The Ravagers, and television parts in The Virginian and McHale’s Navy, among others.
Bronwyn left acting behind for marriage and motherhood. In 1970, she gave birth to her only child, Conor. In that same year, Maureen bought a home in Glengarriff, County Cork, Ireland. Over the years, Maureen and her daughter lived there together. However, in 2014, Maureen left Ireland and moved back to America to live with Conor and his children.
Mother and daughter passed away just seven months apart. Maureen O’Hara died in October 2015 at age 95. Bronwyn FitzSimons died in May 2016 at age 71.