Author’s
Introduction
Maureen
O'Sullivan: No Average Jane
One glorious summer day in June of 1992 my telephone rang and I was delighted to discover that Maureen
O’Sullivan, one of the great actresses of yesteryear, was calling for me.
I had written Maureen a letter a few weeks prior, concerning
the possibility of her authoring a foreword for a new Tarzan history and filmography that I was researching for McFarland publishers.
“Good afternoon Mr. Fury. My name is Jim Cushing — I’m Maureen’s husband. She would like to speak with you about
your request.” My heart was racing euphorically when, moments later, our conversation began:
“Hello David, this
is Maureen O’Sullivan. I’m flattered that you would consider me to write a foreword for your book. I’m not quite sure where I would
begin?” she mused. “I still clearly remember my early beginnings with MGM, and meeting Johnny Weissmuller and the great fun we had
making the Tarzan pictures. I was also making dozens of other films for Metro in those years, and many of them went on to be classic
films as well.”
Her voice was as I remembered — lyrical, gentle and with her inimitable Irish accent. This
was the voice that immediately connected me with the beautiful actress I had seen in so many motion pictures.
Over
the next several minutes Maureen and I amiably discussed my ideas about the foreword. I asked her to recall her memories of the Tarzan
films, and working with Johnny Weissmuller and little John Sheffield over the period of ten years when she filmed six Tarzan adventures.
I suggested that she compose a page or two, and to feel free to talk about her career in general. Of course the Tarzan pictures were
just a small percentage of her body of work during an amazing 60-year career in the entertainment business.
When
the conversation ended, I was exuberant with the results: Maureen had agreed to write the foreword, pending her review of my manuscript.
I was filled with pride that my name would be linked with the illustrious name of Maureen O’Sullivan, if only by this small matter
of a literary work.
True to her word, the foreword authored by Maureen arrived a few weeks later. Eventually, I
sent her a lengthy written interview which she dutifully answered, each and every one of her replies handwritten in her very clear
script. She answered questions about her early life in Ireland and her career with MGM, and fondly recalled some of her favorite films,
actors, and actresses.
During the ten-year period of 1932 to 1942, Maureen starred in a total of 41 motion pictures
for MGM, many of them classics. The six Tarzan films from this era and her role of Jane made her an international sex symbol and a
household name. However, Maureen was also Louis B. Mayer’s favorite “second lead” female star, and the studio kept her working in
one picture after another. Many of her motion pictures were romances where she assumed the female lead opposite several of the Hollywood
greats of the Golden Age.
In the ensuing decades, she became a bonafide star. She added radio to her repertoire
in the mid-1930s and proceeded to television drama around 1950. Maureen then graduated to the legitimate stage beginning in 1962 with
the Broadway hit, Never Too Late. After a thirty-year career as a film star, she was a top-drawer stage actress for another twenty-five
years from 1961 to 1986.