An Aviation Accident Caused The End Of Maureen O'Hara's Marriage To Her True Love

Apr 16, 2022

Maureen O'Hara was one of the most iconic Irish stars. She was best known for her work as an actress and also had great skills as a singer. From the 1940s to the 1960s, the Irish woman flourished in Hollywood, finding plenty of roles playing passionate yet sensible heroines in films, most often in the Western and adventure genres.

On Aug. 17, 1920, O'Hara was born in Dublin, Ireland, and became interested in the arts at a very young age. She began taking classes at her local theater school and proved that she had great potential. In 1939, she moved to Hollywood and was ready to officially pursue her dreams of becoming a successful actress.

For the next several decades, O'Hara was a screen star, appearing in films such as "How Green Was My Valley," "Miracle on 34th Street," "The Quiet Man," and "The Parent Trap." It seemed there was no stopping this actress, especially when she collaborated with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne. She retired from acting in the early 1970s but returned 20 years later to appear in "Only the Lonely" in 1991.

O'Hara was truly an inspiration until her death in 2015. Today, her legacy lives on through her endless amount of work, including a New York Times bestselling autobiography and a long list of accolades.

In her personal life, O'Hara was married three times. The first two marriages ended in divorce, and the third ended in tragedy. The actress was married to aviation pioneer Charles F. Blair Jr. for ten years before the latter died at the age of 69.

Maureen O'Hara (1950), (Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Getty Images)

Over her many years in the spotlight, O'Hara starred in a long list of films and received plenty of praise from fans, critics and her peers. Each time she read her lines, she represented her home country of Ireland and made people from all over the world extremely happy. Even more importantly, she was proud of how hard she worked in a male-dominated industry. According to the Irish Central, O'Hara wrote in her memoir, "As a woman, I'm proud to say that I stood toe-to-toe with the best of them."

However, working with director Ford really helped O'Hara establish herself in the industry. According to the Irish Central, the pair made five movies together, including their first film, "How Green Was My Valley," and one of their most notable, "The Quiet Man."

Speaking with Ireland Calling, O'Hara reflected on how much she enjoyed working with her friend Wayne. "You couldn't meet a more wonderful guy," she said. "Who would prefer anybody to John Wayne?" She added, "He was a decent, fine, wonderful man. He loved his family, adored his kids and was very loyal to his friends."

O'Hara had been born with the surname FitzSimons but said that the publicity department she worked with helped her create her screen persona. However, her friends and family knew the real her. In her life, O'Hara was married three times, but the first two ended in divorce. Her third marriage sadly ended in tragedy. Her husband, Blair, had been a pilot, and a flight gone wrong resulted in his death.

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Maureen O'Hara, Charles Blair Jr (1969), (Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

When she was just 19 years old, O'Hara secretly married a film producer and production assistant named George H. Brown. They met while on the set of "Jamaica Inn." However, the marriage was annulled just two years later, in 1941.

Later that year, the actress married for the second time and tied the knot with film director William Houston Price. They later worked together on "Tripoli" in 1950. They went on to have one child together, but the marriage was filled with turbulent issues that only seemed to get worse as the years went on. Price had been the one to file for divorce in 1951, although the divorce wasn't finalized until 1953.

O'Hara's third marriage was to Blair, whom she married in 1968 and lost in 1978. Blair had been piloting a routine passenger flight on Sept. 2, 1978, traveling from St. Croix to St. Thomas. Near the end of the flight, the port engine encountered catastrophic failure, and Blair was unable to maintain flight level. The pilot still tried to fly the plane, but it ultimately went into the waters below and sank shortly thereafter. Although no one died from the crash impact, Blair and three of the passengers aboard drowned while awaiting rescue.

John Nicoletti, co-author of O'Hara's autobiography, spoke highly of the pair's relationship. "Both were handsome, charismatic, tough, bold and larger-than-life," he said. "They were a perfect match."

When asked if Blair was the love of her life, O'Hara simply replied, "Yes." According to the Irish Central, she took over his airline in St. Croix called Antilles Air Boats after his death.

Maureen O'Hara (2003), (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

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