References

IMDB Biography: Maureen O'Sullivan USA VIEW SOURCE
Maureen O'Sullivan at KING HOUSE Ireland VIEW SOURCE
Place of migration
Migrated to/Born in USA

Maureen Paula O'Sullivan (1911 – 1998) was an Irish-born American actress best remembered for her role as Jane Parker in the 1930s series of Tarzan films. She was also the mother of actress Mia Farrow. When told that Frank Sinatra was hoping to marry her daughter, she memorably quipped "At his age, he should marry me!"

Maureen O'Sullivan

A picture of Maureen O'Sullivan, the Irish actress. She played Jane in Tarzan, and her daughter is American actress Mia Farrow. Downloaded from https://snl.no/Maureen_O%27Sullivan

Mia Farrow

A picture of young Mia Farrow, daughter of Maureen O'Sullivan. Downloaded form https://picryl.com/media/mia-farrow-circa-1969-a0da88

Maureen O'Sullivan and Her Family

A family picture of John Farrow and Maureen O'Sullivan with their children. Mia Farrow is on the left. Downloaded form https://picryl.com/media/john-farrow-family-1950-d63528

Frank Sinatra

A picture of young Frank Sinatra, an American singer. Downloaded from https://picryl.com/media/frank-sinatra-1942-photo-portrait-bf6b74

IRELAND

Born in Boyle, and raised on Main Street, she was privately educated at convent schools in Dublin, and Roehampton (England) followed by finishing school in France. Age 18, O'Sullivan then returned to Dublin to work with the poor. Filming on location in Ireland, director Frank Borzage noticed her at a Dublin's International Horse Show dinner-dance. He had the waiter send her a note: "If you are interested in being in a film, come to my office tomorrow at 11 am", and subsequently he cast her as Eileen O'Brien in Song O' My Heart starring the tenor John McCormack.

Song O' My Heart Movie Poster

A picture of Song O' My Heart 1930 movie poster. Maureen O'Sullivan played in this movie along with John McCormac. Downloaded from https://picryl.com/media/song-o-my-heart-poster-32336c

John McCormac

A picture of John McCormac, Irish tenor. Downloaded from https://picryl.com/media/john-mccormack-1884-1945

USA

In October 1929, she sailed to New York with her mother on the British steamer R.M.S. Baltic, to work for Fox Film in Hollywood. O'Sullivan appeared in six movies at Fox, then made three more at other movie studios.  In 1932 she was signed to a contract by MGM and immediately cast as Jane in Tarzan, The Ape Man with the Olympic swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller as her co-star.

Maureen O'Sullivan and Johnny Weissmuller in Tarzan, The Ape Man

A picture of Maureen O'Sullivan and Johnny Weissmuller who played Jane and Tarzan in Tarzan, The Ape Man 1932. Downloaded from https://www.flickr.com/photos/kndynt2099/5739972096/in/photostream/

 

O'Sullivan was one of the more popular ingenues at MGM throughout the 1930s and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6541 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. Her career was a long and distinguished one, including performances in such major Hollywood films as The Thin Man, Pride and Prejudice, The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Anna Karenina, A Day at the Races, The Big Clock, and later Hannah and Her Sisters, in which she played mother to her daughter Mia.  In 1982, she was awarded The George Eastman Award for distinguished contribution to the art of film. Maureen O'Sullivan's handprints can also be found at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park (in front of The Great Movie Ride).

The Thin Man Movie Poster

A picture of the poster for The Thin Man movie that Maureen O'Sullivan played in. Downloaded from https://picryl.com/media/the-thin-man-1934-poster-bac473

Pride and Prejudice Movie Poster

A picture of Pride and Prejudice 1940 film that Maureen O'Sullivan played in. Downloaded from https://picryl.com/media/prideundprejudice-cb9633

The Barretts of Wimpole Street Movie Poster

A picture of The Barretts of Wimpole Street 1934 movie poster that Maureen O'Sullivan played in. Downloaded from https://picryl.com/media/the-barretts-of-wimpole-street-dc3bc4

A Day at The Races Movie Poster

A picture of A Day at The Races Movie Poster 1937 movie poster that Maureen O'Sullivan played in. Downloaded from https://picryl.com/media/a-day-at-the-races-poster-3-a36477

In 1942, she settled down to raise a large family. Maureen O'Sullivan became a US citizen on October 22, 1947 [Naturalization Petition #133033] and returned to films in 1948.  In the mid-1950s she hosted a television show, Irish Heritage, but spent most of her time nursing Mia through a bout of polio. In 1958 her son Michael was killed in an aeroplane crash while taking flying lessons and in 1963 her husband died. O'Sullivan was working in theatre at that time, having opened in a hit comedy Never Too Late in 1962, for which she received the best notices of her career.

BOYLE REACHING OUT

Maureen returned to Boyle in 1988 to be honoured by the town. A black plaque marks her home on Main Street in Boyle, County Roscommon. Just around the corner from there, opposite King House is a tree, ceremonially planted by O'Sullivan to mark her return to her birthplace. There, she famously said:

“My life has come full circle. Today that circle has kind of closed and I am home again where I was born and where my happiest days were spent. I have lived in a great many places but the best part of me I owe to Boyle. Its influence, Lough Key, the countryside, has given me whatever poetry is in my soul, whatever love I have of God. Whatever it is, it comes from here”.

In 1998, Maureen O'Sullivan died of complications from heart surgery, age 87. She is interred at Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery, New York.

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Additional Information
Date of Birth 17th May 1911
Date of Death 23rd Jun 1998
Associated Building (s) King House BOYLE  
Mother (First Name/s and Maiden) Mary Eva Lovatt (née Frazer) VIEW SOURCE
Father (First Name/s and Surname) Charles Joseph O'Sullivan, an officer in the Connaught Rangers who served in World War I.
Townland born Boyle, Co. Roscommon
Spouse (First Name/s and Maiden/Surname) John Villiers Farrow m. 12 September 1936 (widowed in 1963) James Cushing m. 22 August 1983 (until she died in 1998).
Number of Children 7
Names of Children Michael Damien (1939–1958), Patrick J (Patrick Villiers Farrow, 1942–2009), Maria de Lourdes Villiers (Mia Farrow, b. 1945), John Charles (b. 1946) Prudence Farrow (b. 1948), Stephanie Farrow (b. 1949) and Theresa Magdalena "Tisa" Farrow (b.1951).
Occupation Movie Star
Place of Death Phoenix, Arizona
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