'Tis Herself: An Autobiography

Strangely, after reading her autobiography, I find Maureen a bit unlikable. Hard to get over her dysfunctional relationship with John Ford and her sense of morality stemming from her "strong" Catholic faith. I get this feeling there is a lot more going on in the background than she was ever going to disclose.

After reading "Tis Herself," I have more respect for Maureen O'Hara than ever before. I realize now why John Wayne held her in the very high regard that he did for over 39 years and how she came to be his very best friend during that period. John Wayne was part Irish and they both had a tremendous work ethic; likewise, during filming - it was strictly business while the cameras were rolling and they always knew their lines.

Throughout the book, I kept waiting; kept expecting to encounter signs of personal ego and pettiness in Maureen O'Hara that a few reviewers have described here. I found their criticisms to be so unjust. Frankly, I'm wondering if they read the book at all or had their own personal agendas! For Maureen O'Hara was anything but petty! The book is an honest and revealing account of many events that went on in Hollywood, but in many instances - she did not "name names." And think of how she could have destroyed some of these careers if she had spoken while they were still alive?! She was generosity in itself. At the height of Hollywood's Golden Age, she was a huge star - and she remained surprisingly down to earth.

I had always presumed that Maureen O'Hara had been this beautiful Irish lass that was discovered by a Hollywood agent, traveling in Ireland, and that she became an overnight star. Actually, she was discovered by Charles Laughton of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame fame;" she came from a theatrical family; and she took music, dance, and drama lessons six days a week from the time she decided that she wanted to be an actress at the age of six. She trained herself to be very disciplined from a very early age.

Likewise, I don't believe many readers can understand what it was like in the late 30's and 40's for a young, inexperienced Irish woman, who had been protected all her life. There weren't any televisions in Ireland at that time to expose her to the sophistications of Hollywood and how some men can often be deceitful before marriage. She spent her youth either taking drama, music or dancing lessons or else was with her family. She was raised in a catholic school (with probably lots of guilt encouraged by the nuns daily) and she was rushed into an unconsummated marriage by an older man when she was about 18.

Maureen O'Hara had the marriage annulled - only to discover that her next husband was an alcoholic. So is it any wonder that in an age where divorce was still somewhat frowned upon, she was expecting a child, and image was everything in Hollywood, that she held off on the second divorce? Plus, I imagine that with the very long hours and back to back movies and promotions that she was required to do, that she didn't have to endure her husband's company that often.

I am glad that she found happiness with Charles Blair. Ironically, we purchased an albatross from her after his death. I never met her, but I probably would have just ended up talking about John Wayne anyhow! LOL We restored the plane and I know that her husband would have loved to see how the plane was outfitted with jet skis. In the book, she mentions that her husband was killed due to certain knowledge that he had from working with the CIA. Given what I personally know about the organization during that period, I wouldn't be surprised one bit.

She endured such maliciousness from John Ford that I was appalled. In our present times, his behavior would have landed him in a lawsuit! And yet, she forgave John Ford in the end as well. He was a creative genius and yet - so often I feel that it isn't good for anyone to have that much power as they begin to push people more and more in an attempt to have boundaries set. And it made me wish that Duke had knocked Mr. Ford on his can just once when he berated Maureen! I'm sure that he would have liked to!

I think if Maureen O'Hara had one fault - it was that she was too trusting. She allowed her financial manager to continue handling her money - even after he handled it so badly when she was married to her second husband. (However John Wayne fell victim to allowing his funds to be mismanaged as well, so I suspect that many actors were prey to this at that time.)

And did you know that it was Maureen O'Hara who first pitched the idea of Mary Poppins to Walt Disney? Again, I would have had everything in writing! (Disney probably made the movie just to get back at her!) Walt Disney was a genius in many ways, but he was noted for disregarding contracts and paying his employees very poorly. If her contract stipulated that she receive top billing in "The Parent Trap," it was only right that Disney do so. Good grief, it had nothing to do with her relationship with Hayley Mills - she liked her, but it had everything to do with business. Do you think that Julia Roberts wouldn't expect the same thing today?

I honestly could not put the book down and read it in about 4 hours. I literally wept when I read about her final days with John Wayne. I remember watching her on television when she petitioned Congress to award him the "John Wayne - American" Congressional Medal of Honor. What wonderful words! She knew that those three words would mean more to the Duke - than any flowery speech. In fact, I would bet that those three words inscribed on it meant as much to him as the medal itself. I was so in love with John Wayne - a little girl as a 6th grader with a huge crush on a man 50 years older, but throughout my life he has remained the image of what a true man represents.

I came away from "Tis Herself" knowing exactly why the Duke considered Maureen O'Hara his best friend. She was beautiful and feisty and down-to-earth....and still a lady. Is it any wonder that Charles Blair, John Wayne, Charles Laughton and so many others have worshipped the ground she walks on?

Maureen O'Hara is right up there with Kate Hepburn in my esteem. These two ladies took on a Hollywood totally owned and operated by men in a time that the studies controlled almost every aspect of an actor's life (if one wanted to work on a regular basis). They opened up alot of doors for today's actresses. I found this book to be honest, interesting, clever, funny, tearful and very true to Herself. I can't help but wonder about the stories that Ms. O'Hara chose not to tell - I bet they are barn-burners.

A fine book indeed!

Have always admired this lady and really enjoyed reading about her career and personal life. There was just enough about growing yup and her family to make it interesting but didn't bog you down in too much detail. Her relationships with John Wayne and John Ford were a bit on the complex side sometimes as were some of her other relationships. She has been my favorite since the Quiet Man--a most perfect movie.

'Tis Herself: An Autobiogrophy' is an amazing book. It held my attention on every page. Deffinately the hardest book I have read in a while to put down. It gives you the real insight into the woman. I have always respected Maureen O'Hara for all the hard work she has put into her career, but after reading this book, in her own words I can honestly say that my respect and admiration has increased. I highly reccommend this to anyone who is interested in the movie business of the past 70 years and who is interested in a strong woman who overcame all sorts of barriers put up by men in hollywood.
A must read for anyone who has an interest in one of the best acretsses and women to ever bless us with her talent and firey redhair and Irish temper!

As autobiographies go, it was an interesting one, although you can expect that she would paint her own version of events. She was a star when that word MEANT something, old Hollywood royalty. She tells some interesting stories about her co-stars and gives a LOT of information about her private life, although Im not too sure how much truth there was in it as a "self reveal", it was a very readable book. I enjoyed it, over all.

Maureen o'hara ha lways been a favourite actress of mine...
Reading her biography I discovered her soul
Her story is fascinating, at times sounding like a fairy tale,at times tragic.
Humour is always near even when you do not expect it.
It reads wonderfully well...I started friday ...I was" done" saturday ....You just can not stop reading "Tis herself"!
A great lady,an immense acress,a wonderful spirit have given us a great book.
Thank you Miss O'Hara.Hats off to you.
After having read your book ,it seems I understand better why I already liked you since i was a child...I am 44 years old now.
God bless you always.
Philippe

After reading books about John Wayne and John Ford, this book really filled in the blanks and gave a really great account from a women's perspective! There were a couple shockers, which were wonderful!

After reading books about John Wayne and John Ford, this book really filled in the blanks and gave a really great account from a women's perspective! There were a couple shockers, which were wonderful!

I enjoy reading biographies, especially centered around old Hollywood. Overall, this was a easy read told to the reader as if Maureen was sitting next to you having tea. She had her family, and then she came into contact with all types of "creative souls" & many who just wanted their moment in the limelight which impacted her life in one way or another. Lot's of names and stories told from her perspective of events.

Maureen O'Hara has always been a favorite actress of mine so I thought I'd love reading her book. I was so disappointed to read how everything went wrong in her life but it was always someone else fault! It was the theme throughout the entire book. I will still love her especially with John Wayne but will have to remember it wasn't her fault!

I've always thought Maureen O'Hara was blessed with looks that lasted - and I still think so! However, a lot of things she (or perhaps
a ghost-writer?)wrote of were of interest - but I would never be able to "put up with" the men that she married - the ones who were
pickled, I mean.

Only problem with reading this book was in her great honesty, I couldn't deal with how
foolish she was to let her husband, who was a real creep, spend her money, control her
life for so long and she allowed it. Depressing!

It seems that most actresses should wait for someone to write their biography instead of taking on the task themselves. This is one more "big ego" event that becomes very tedious. Most of the info is interesting. It simply should have been told by someone else who could put a more realistic view on the pages.

This book was filled with the errors and mistakes of a lifetime. One wonders how such a bright a beautiful women could have married one man against her will and married another without loving him in the least.

Ms O'Hara seems to be lacking in personal insight. She worked with John Ford on many occasions during her career but never seemed to comprehend that he was a master manipulator and a binge alcoholic. He set her up on multiple occasions to embarrass her but she never understood his insane games.

Rather than keep quiet about the master manipulator, she wrote about Richard Boone and Peter Lawford being caught in a gay bar by the Australian press during the making of KANGAROO, also known as THE AUSTRALIAN STORY. John Ford arranged it so that she had to be the heroine and talk the press out of spreading the tale. This was clearly a setup, clear, that is, to everyone but the self-important Ms O'Hara. Fifty years later she had to trash Richard Boone's reputation by throwing this story into her book. Since this is the only tale she related about Boone, the tome was a waste to me.

Still I persevered and read the entire book. Ms O'Hara had a habit of turning a blind eye to Ford's manipulations throughout her life. She allowed herself to be used and abused in films, and was physically injured in THE QUIET MAN while being dragged by John Wayne.

It's too simple to judge retroactively the actions of a person based on current rules and this writer made an attempt not to do that. Nevertheless, Ms O'Hara complained continuously about personal attacks in the media of her time, yet she herself is guilty of the same character assassination.

There are some who enjoy reading that sort of thing, this writer is not one of hem. However, there are some good points in this book. If one has any interest in John Wayne, the films Ms O'Hara made together with him and John Ford, there is some interesting material here. Ms O'Hara was John Wayne's best friend (or so she claims), and she was instrumental in acquiring the Congressional Medal of Honor for him.

All in all, this is an average film star biography. Were it not for the sniping and character assassination, it would have received a much higher rating.

I was very disappointed in Maureen O'Hara. She was not a strong woman. If she was she would have said NO to her first 2 marriages. Instead she ran away from the first one to America on her wedding night and not tell anyone about it and the second time she put up with abuse. She had no backbone to stand up to John Ford when he punched her or stole from her. No in her personal life she was not a strong Irishwoman, but onscreen she was and I think she confused the two.