Maureen was the girl next door that every man adored. Average Joe daydreamed about being the hero who came to her
rescue, and then carried her off to the lofty tree-house for a night of jungle passion. Of course every young woman that took in the
movies or read the fan magazines would have gladly taken her place in her life of fame and glamour.
In the Tarzan
films she oozed sensuality clothed only in the skimpy little jungle outfits that complemented Weissmuller’s Tarzan loin cloth. Johnny
and Maureen were the sexiest screen couple in America during the 1930s, each individual idolized and adulated by men and women everywhere.
They both had a rare combination of personal beauty, perfectly crafted physiques, and the heroic nature of the Tarzan and Jane screen
characters made them super-heroes of the era.
Off-screen both Maureen and Johnny were wholesome, all-American types.
Weissmuller was a former Olympic swimming champion, and he was equally admired for his past athletic achievements as for his screen
heroics as Tarzan of the jungle. The public would have loved nothing more than to see a real-life romance between Maureen and Johnny,
but they were the best of friends and nothing more.
In 1992 Maureen revealed to me their relationship that went
beyond the ten years they spent in MGM’s imaginary jungle world: “We were dear friends. He was simple, unpretentious, without conceit
— a wonderful big kid.” Johnny called her “Maggie,” because he thought the name Maureen was too sophisticated. He played a myriad
assortment of innocent gags on her over the years, including an exploding birthday cake that covered her face with sweet sticky frosting.
Sometimes Maureen would reciprocate with her own simple jokes.
After my original book was published in 1993, I
would send a letter or card to Maureen from time to time, updating her on my projects including a new biography of Johnny Weissmuller
(published in 2000). I would always receive a card or short note back from her, but sometimes it would take several weeks for a reply.
She told me that she was almost three years behind on her correspondence, so not to fret if her replies to me were somewhat delayed.
The actress did invest a lot of her free time in answering mail from her adoring fans, still in vast numbers despite
the passing years. She would always sign a photo or autograph whenever possible, never considering it an imposition but rather a privilege.
Maureen had a basic philosophy that you got out of life what you put into it. If you were a kind person, you received kindness back.
She caught a break and was brought to Hollywood because she was beautiful, emoted sensuality, and could read lines well enough to
pass her initial screen test. But she stayed in Hollywood for decades because she was loved by everyone, from the top man at MGM,
Louis B. Mayer, to her fellow actors, her millions of fans, and even the support staff that are part of every Hollywood production.
Life for the most part was kind to Maureen, although she suffered her share of tough blows along the way. She lost
her son Michael in a plane crash in 1958, and she raised her children without help after husband John Farrow died of a heart attack
in 1963. When Maureen O’Sullivan died in 1998 in Phoenix with her husband James Cushing by her bedside, she was mourned by movie fans
around the world. I too was saddened by the loss of this beautiful lady from Ireland, who made America her home and had achieved great
success in the tough business of the Hollywood movie factory. She was a marvelous actress, and if you examine her roles from 1930
to 1994, she almost always played heroines, sweethearts, the girl-next-door, and sometimes a victim or jilted lover.
While her most famous character was Jane of the Jungle, she also made a wonderful career out of playing women of courage, character,
and heart. Maureen rarely portrayed the bad seed, the nasty-girl roles that instead went to Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and Barbara
Stanwyck.
So this is her story, as true and accurate as the gathered facts portray. Like the other giants of the
Golden Age of Hollywood, she was larger than life. Maureen was lucky enough to be born with beauty and grace, and therefore lived
a charmed life. She indeed was a kind and wonderful person and deserved the admiration of her fans, and that love and adulation was
not in vain. It was appreciated and returned by Maureen O’Sullivan, one of the true heroines of the Silver Screen.
