Maureen O’Hara (17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015)

One of the very few actresses who could hold their own in a scene with John Wayne (she also once said she made him sexy), Irish-born Maureen O’Hara had an earthy sexuality about her that the camera captured every time, and who made a succession of high quality movies from the very start of her career. She was fearless, often doing her own stunts, and she projected a mental and emotional toughness that audiences in the Forties were quick to respond to. She was affectionately known as Big Red (for the colour of her hair), and worked with directors as diverse as John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock, Carol Reed, Jean Renoir and Henry Hathaway, and co-starred alongside the likes of Rex Harrison, James Stewart and Henry Fonda. But she’ll always be remembered for her performances opposite Wayne, and the larger than life personality she presented both in public and in private.

1) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)

2) How Green Was My Valley (1941)

3) The Black Swan (1942)

4) Sentimental Journey (1946)

5) Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

6) Rio Grande (1950)

7) The Quiet Man (1952)

8) Our Man in Havana (1959)

9) The Parent Trap (1961)

10) McLintock! (1963)