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01
Clark Gable was wearing old-man make-up for Strange Interlude 1932 when Maureen O’Sullivan first met him. He invited her horseback riding, but she declined. When she later met him again to record voice-overs, she discovered his actual age and regretted turning him down.
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02
She occasionally baked Irish soda bread for Greta Garbo.
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03
As of 1980, the year in which Just Imagine 1930 is set, Maureen O’Sullivan and Joyzelle Joyner were the only two credited cast members still alive.
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04
Irving Thalberg and Louis B. Mayer at MGM had high hopes for Maureen O’Sullivan as a major star. Thalberg’s unexpected death from pneumonia in 1936 at age 37 hindered her momentum.
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05
She was mother to Michael, Patrick, John Charles, Mia, Tisa, Prudence, and Stephanie Farrow.
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06
She strongly disliked working with the chimpanzee Cheetah on the Tarzan films. Daughter Mia Farrow reported that O’Sullivan privately called the chimp that ape son of a bitch.
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07
Irish-born O’Sullivan was sent by her father to a convent school in Roehampton because her brogue had become too thick. There she became best friends with Vivien Leigh, who was two years younger.
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08
Her oldest son Michael Farrow died in a plane crash in 1958 while taking flying lessons.
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09
She played the mother of her real-life daughter Mia Farrow in Hannah and Her Sisters 1986.
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10
She was ex-mother-in-law of Frank Sinatra, André Previn, and Ava Roosevelt.
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11
Following her death, she was interred at Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery in Niskayuna, Schenectady County, New York.
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12
She met her future husband John Farrow while he was a writer on the Fox lot during her work on Just Imagine 1930.
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13
She was of Irish ancestry with some English and Scottish roots.
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14
In May 1934, she received police protection after reports of a kidnapping threat.
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15
Of her later films, she liked The Tall T 1957 the best.
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16
An Audio-Animatronic figure of her appears in the Tarzan scene at Disney’s Hollywood Studios; after the Great Movie Ride closed in 2017, the figure was moved to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
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17
She was discovered in Dublin by director Frank Borzage, who was filming exteriors for Song o’ My Heart 1930.
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18
Paramount Pictures insisted she do a screen test for her husband John Farrow’s film The Big Clock 1948.
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19
She appeared in three films selected for the National Film Registry: Tarzan and His Mate 1934, The Thin Man 1934, and The Tall T 1957.
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20
She became a stage actress at Pat O’Brien’s urging for a Chicago production of A Roomful of Roses in 1961.
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21
She and John Farrow were married at St. Monica’s Church in Santa Monica; among the groomsmen were Alan Mowbray and Ainsworth Morgan.
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22
She was friends with Maureen O’Hara, Vivien Leigh, Betty Furness, Robert Ryan, Johnny Weissmuller, and Mr. and Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson.
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23
She is often dubbed Ireland’s first film star.
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24
She was the last surviving cast member of Just Imagine 1930.
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25
A active member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee and the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League, she supported the United Nations, the Civil Rights Movement, and candidates such as Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.
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26
She appeared in stage revivals of Pygmalion and The Glass Menagerie.
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27
She was honored by TCM’s Summer Under the Stars event on August 8, 2022.
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28
She was paired with Robert Young in five MGM films: Strange Interlude 1932, Tugboat Annie 1933, West Point of the Air 1935, The Emperor’s Candlesticks 1937, and Sporting Blood 1940.
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29
Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was awarded on February 27, 1991 at 6541 Hollywood Boulevard.
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30
She appeared with both Will Rogers and Will Rogers Jr. in films.
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31
She appeared alongside Lew Ayres in three MGM films: Okay America! 1932, Spring Madness 1938, and Maisie Was a Lady 1941.
