Actors - Maureen O'Sullivan

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	Actors - Maureen O'Sullivan

Maureen O’Sullivan (17 May, 1911 – 23 June, 1998) was an Irish actress.

Early Life

She was born Maureen Paula O'Sullivan in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland, the daughter of Charles Joseph O'Sullivan, a British officer and Lord Mayor of Cork City, and Mary Lovett Fraser.

She attended a convent school in Dublin, then the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Roehampton in London. One of her classmates there was Vivien Leigh. After attending finishing school in France, O'Sullivan returned to Dublin and began working with the poor.

Career Rise

She then met the motion picture director Frank Borzage, who was doing location filming on Song o' My Heart for 20th Century Fox. He suggested she take a screen test. She did and won a part in the movie, which starred Irish tenor John McCormack. She then traveled to the United States with her mother to complete the movie in Hollywood.

'Tarzan the Ape Man'

O'Sullivan appeared in six movies at Fox, then made three more at other movie studios. In 1932, she signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. After several roles there and at other movie studios, she was chosen by Irving Thalberg to appear as "Jane Parker" in Tarzan the Ape Man
opposite co-star Johnny Weissmuller, with whom she had a brief affair during the early 1930's.

Besides playing Jane, she was one of the more popular ingenues at MGM throughout the 1930s and appeared in a number of other productions with various stars.

In all, O'Sullivan played Jane, mate of Tarzan, in six features between (1932) and (1942). She did not mind doing the first two jungle movies, but feared being typecast and grew increasingly tired of the role.

She also starred with William Powell and Myrna Loy in The Thin Man
(1934) and played Kitty in Anna Karenina
(1935) with Greta Garbo and Basil Rathbone. She appeared as Molly Beaumont in A Yank at Oxford (1938), which was written partly by F. Scott Fitzgerald. At her request, he rewrote her part to give it substance and novelty. She played another Jane in Pride and Prejudice (1940) with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson, and supported Ann Sothern in Maisie Was a Lady (1941).

After appearing in Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942), O'Sullivan asked MGM to release her from her contract so she could care for her husband who had just left the Navy with typhoid. She then retired from show business, devoting her time to being a wife and mother.

Marriages and Later Life

O'Sullivan was first married to Australian-born writer, later award-winning director, and Catholic convert John Farrow (12 September 1936-1963 his death). She was a widow for twenty years, then married James Cushing (22 August 1983-1998 her death).

She and Farrow were the parents of seven children: Michael Farrow, Patrick Farrow, Maria de Lourdes Villiers Farrow (actress Mia Farrow), John Farrow, Prudence Farrow, Theresa "Tisa" Farrow and Stephanie Farrow.

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Actors - Maureen O'Sullivan

Early Life

Career Rise

'Tarzan the Ape Man'

Marriages and Later Life

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