Maureen O'Sullivan

Maureen O'Sullivan (May 17, 1911 – June 23, 1998) was an Irish actress who played Jane in the Tarzan series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller.

She starred in dozens of feature films across a span of more than half a century and performed with such actors as Laurence Olivier, Greta Garbo, Fredric March, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, the Marx Bros. (Groucho, Harpo and Chico) and Woody Allen.

O'Sullivan was born in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland, on 17 May 1911, the daughter of Mary Eva Lovatt (née Frazer) and Charles Joseph O'Sullivan, an officer in the Connaught Rangers who served in World War I.

In October 1929, she sailed to New York with her mother on the British steamer RMS Baltic (1903), on the way to Hollywood to work for the Fox Film Corporation.

O'Sullivan's film career began in the 1930s, and she eventually signed a contract with MGM.

O'Sullivan's film career began when she met motion picture director Frank Borzage, who was doing location filming on Song o' My Heart (released in 1930) 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 travelled to the United States to complete the movie in Hollywood.

She appeared in six movies at Fox, then made three more at other studios.

One of MGM's more popular ingenues through the 1930s, she appeared in a number of other productions with various stars.

She is best known for playing Jane Parker in six Tarzan films between 1932 and 1942, alongside Johnny Weissmuller.

In 1932 she signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

After several roles there and other studios, she was chosen by Irving Thalberg to appear as Jane Parker in Tarzan the Ape Man, with costar Johnny Weissmuller.

She played Jane in six Tarzan features between 1932 and 1942.

O'Sullivan also appeared in films such as The Thin Man (1934), Anna Karenina (1935), A Day at the Races (1937), Pride and Prejudice (1940), and Maisie Was a Lady (1941).

She took a break from acting to care for her family but later returned to the screen in films directed by her husband, John Farrow.

She was featured with William Powell and Myrna Loy in The Thin Man (1934) and played Kitty in Anna Karenina (1935) with Greta Garbo, Fredric March, and Basil Rathbone.

After costarring with the Marx Brothers in A Day at the Races (1937), she appeared as Molly Beaumont in A Yank at Oxford (1938), written partly by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

She appeared 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, John Farrow, who had just left the Navy with typhoid.

She retreated from show business, devoting her time to her family.

She became a U.S. citizen in 1947 and was a Catholic and Democrat.

In 1948, she reappeared on the screen in The Big Clock, directed by her husband for Paramount Pictures.

She continued to appear occasionally in her husband's movies and on television.

In 1958, Michael Farrow, eldest son of John Farrow and Maureen O'Sullivan, died in a plane crash in California.

By 1960, O'Sullivan believed she had permanently retired.

However, actor Pat O'Brien encouraged her to take a part in summer stock, and the play A Roomful of Roses opened in 1961.

It led to her Broadway debut in Never Too Late with costar Paul Ford.

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is remembered for her contributions to the art of film, including receiving the George Eastman Award in 1982.

She continued to work in film and theater throughout her life, including appearances in Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Coppola's Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), and in Stranded (1987).

O'Sullivan was married twice, first to John Farrow, with whom she had seven children, including actress Mia Farrow, and later to businessman James Cushing.

Maureen O'Sullivan returned to Boyle in 1988 to be honoured by the town.

As a child, O'Sullivan attended a convent school in Dublin, then the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Roehampton, England (now Woldingham School).

One of her classmates there was Vivian Mary Hartley, the future Academy Award-winning actress Vivien Leigh.

After attending finishing school in France, O'Sullivan returned to Dublin to work with the poor.

O'Sullivan died in 1998 at the age of 87.

In 2020, she was listed at number eight on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

O'Sullivan was born in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland.

After attending schools in Dublin, England, and France, she moved to Hollywood to work for Fox Film Corporation.