Maureen O'Sullivan: Movies & Box Office

Maureen Paula O'Sullivan (May 17, 1911 – June 23, 1998) was an Irish‑American actress and singer best remembered for originating the role of Jane Parker in the classic Tarzan series alongside Johnny Weissmuller. Born in Boyle, County Roscommon, she was the ninth of five children of Major Charles Joseph O'Sullivan and Mary Fraser, and received a Catholic convent education in Dublin, England and France before sailing to New York in 1929 to pursue a Hollywood career with Fox Film Corporation. After a successful screen test arranged by director Frank Borzage, O'Sullivan debuted in Song o' My Heart (1930) and quickly became a contract player at Metro‑Goldwyn‑Mayer, where Irving Thalberg selected her for the iconic Tarzan the Ape Man (1932). Over the next decade she appeared in six Tarzan films, as well as prestige pictures such as The Thin Man (1934), Anna Karenina (1935), A Day at the Races (1937) with the Marx Brothers, and Pride and Prejudice (1940) starring Laurence Olivier. In 1936 she married Australian‑American director John Farrow, and the couple raised seven children, including future actress Mia Farrow, before Farrow’s death in 1963. O'Sullivan briefly retired to care for her family, but returned to the screen in the late 1940s, acting in her husband’s The Big Clock (1948) and later in television and stage productions. A second marriage to businessman James Cushing in 1983 lasted until her death. Her later film work featured memorable turn as the mother in Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and supporting roles in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and Stranded (1987). A naturalized U.S. citizen in 1947, O'Sullivan was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and received the George Eastman Award in 1982 for her distinguished contributions to cinema. She died in Scottsdale, Arizona, after complications from heart surgery, leaving a legacy of versatility and grace that continues to inspire actors and fans worldwide.