Mary Maguire
Encyclopedia
Mary Maguire was an Australia
n actress who briefly became a Hollywood and British film star in the late 1930s.
, footballer, racehorse owner, hotel proprietor and former Australian welterweight champion and Mary Jane Maguire (née Carroll). Nicknamed "Peggy" by the family, she was the second of five sisters. She grew up in Melbourne and Brisbane, her father managing the famous "Bull and Mouth Hotel" in Bourke Street Melbourne, and later the iconic "Bellevue Hotel" in Brisbane. In Melbourne she attended the Academy of Mary Immaculate
in Fitzroy. She began acting when she was cast in the film Heritage by director Charles Chauvel at the age of 16. Elsa Chauvel
, in her 1973 memoirs, wrote; "This lovely child was brought to our notice by a Brisbane publicity man...fresh from a Queensland convent." Changing her name to Mary, Maguire then starred in The Flying Doctor, an Australian-British co-production which was filmed in Australia by director Miles Mander
, and which also starred American actor Charles Farrell
.
, Maguire and her family moved to Hollywood
in September 1936, and Mary made her U.S. debut in That Man's Here Again, followed by B movie
s Alcatraz Island and Sergeant Murphy with Ronald Reagan
. In 1938, after appearing in Mysterious Mr. Moto
, she moved to Britain
, where she appeared in a few British films. As one of only a handful of Australian actors working internationally in film at the time, her career attracted considerable attention from Australian newspapers between 1936 and 1946.
Maguire's reasons for leaving Hollywood in 1938 are unclear. There is some evidence that she had originally intended to travel to Britain in 1936. On the other hand, in November 1937, a newspaper reported she had "mutinied," and been temporarily removed from Warner Brothers payroll, because she wanted "dramatic roles" rather than ingenue roles.
, she married Captain Robert Gordon-Canning
MC, a First World War veteran, thirty years her senior. Gordon-Canning
was active in the British Union of Fascists
and the Link
and amongst his fascist publications had written disparagingly of the influence and tone of Hollywood films. Although he was interned in July 1940, a son, Michael Robert, was born in February 1941. Maguire's last film was This was Paris made in 1942 in England; ironically a story of the activities of fifth columnists in Paris before its fall. By 1945 the marriage to Gordon-Canning was over, Maguire describing it as a "closed chapter" in her life. She attempted to restart her Hollywood career, but although still aged only 26, her efforts were to no avail.
Her second marriage was to Philip Henry Legarra, a US Engineer.
She died at Long Beach, California, in 1974.
and was the mother of the current 6th Baronet Green of Wakefield. The third Maguire daughter, Joan, acted on stage in London under the name Joan Shannon. Carmel Maguire, married John Wodehouse, 4th Earl of Kimberley
and was the mother of the current Earl. The youngest of the girls, "Lupe" (actually christened Mary), married British hire car "king," Godfrey Davis
, also having appeared in a minor part in The Man in Grey
(1943).
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n actress who briefly became a Hollywood and British film star in the late 1930s.
Childhood and Career in Australia
She was born Hélène Teresa Maguire in Melbourne, Australia, to Michael "Mickey" MaguireMichael Maguire (footballer)
Michael 'Mick' Maguire was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the VFL from 1910 to Round 8 of the 1912 season, then played for the Melbourne Football Club for the rest of 1912 to 1914...
, footballer, racehorse owner, hotel proprietor and former Australian welterweight champion and Mary Jane Maguire (née Carroll). Nicknamed "Peggy" by the family, she was the second of five sisters. She grew up in Melbourne and Brisbane, her father managing the famous "Bull and Mouth Hotel" in Bourke Street Melbourne, and later the iconic "Bellevue Hotel" in Brisbane. In Melbourne she attended the Academy of Mary Immaculate
Academy of Mary Immaculate
The Academy of Mary Immaculate is a Roman Catholic girls' secondary school, situated in Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia.It was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1857....
in Fitzroy. She began acting when she was cast in the film Heritage by director Charles Chauvel at the age of 16. Elsa Chauvel
Elsa Chauvel
Elsa Chauvel, OBE was an Australian filmmaker and actress, and the wife and collaborator of film director Charles Chauvel.-Early years:...
, in her 1973 memoirs, wrote; "This lovely child was brought to our notice by a Brisbane publicity man...fresh from a Queensland convent." Changing her name to Mary, Maguire then starred in The Flying Doctor, an Australian-British co-production which was filmed in Australia by director Miles Mander
Miles Mander
Miles Mander , born Lionel Henry Mander , was a well-known and versatile English character actor of the early Hollywood cinema, also a film director and producer, and a playwright and novelist.-Early life:Miles Mander was the second son of Theodore Mander, builder of Wightwick Manor, of the prominent...
, and which also starred American actor Charles Farrell
Charles Farrell
Charles Farrell was an American film actor of the 1920s silent era and into the 1930s, and later a television actor...
.
Hollywood 1936–1938
With encouragement from Miles ManderMiles Mander
Miles Mander , born Lionel Henry Mander , was a well-known and versatile English character actor of the early Hollywood cinema, also a film director and producer, and a playwright and novelist.-Early life:Miles Mander was the second son of Theodore Mander, builder of Wightwick Manor, of the prominent...
, Maguire and her family moved to Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
in September 1936, and Mary made her U.S. debut in That Man's Here Again, followed by B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
s Alcatraz Island and Sergeant Murphy with Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
. In 1938, after appearing in Mysterious Mr. Moto
Mysterious Mr. Moto
Mysterious Mr. Moto is the fifth in a series of eight films starring Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto produced in 1938 by Twentieth Century Fox. The film is based on the character of Mr. Moto created by John P. Marquand, and an original screenplay by Philip MacDonald and Norman Foster.-Synopsis:The film...
, she moved to Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, where she appeared in a few British films. As one of only a handful of Australian actors working internationally in film at the time, her career attracted considerable attention from Australian newspapers between 1936 and 1946.
Maguire's reasons for leaving Hollywood in 1938 are unclear. There is some evidence that she had originally intended to travel to Britain in 1936. On the other hand, in November 1937, a newspaper reported she had "mutinied," and been temporarily removed from Warner Brothers payroll, because she wanted "dramatic roles" rather than ingenue roles.
Marriage to Robert Gordon-Canning and end of Career
In 1939, while in a wheelchair recovering from an injury sustained on the set of An Englishman's HomeAn Englishman's Home
An Englishman's Home is a threat-of-invasion play by Guy du Maurier, first produced in 1909. The title is a reference to the expression "an Englishman's home is his castle".-Play:...
, she married Captain Robert Gordon-Canning
Robert Gordon-Canning
Robert Cecil Gordon-Canning was a notable British fascist, antisemite and supporter of Arab nationalist causes. He was briefly married to Australian born film star Mary Maguire.-Upbringing and early politics:...
MC, a First World War veteran, thirty years her senior. Gordon-Canning
Robert Gordon-Canning
Robert Cecil Gordon-Canning was a notable British fascist, antisemite and supporter of Arab nationalist causes. He was briefly married to Australian born film star Mary Maguire.-Upbringing and early politics:...
was active in the British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
and the Link
The Link (organisation)
The Link was established in July 1937 as an 'independent non-party organisation to promote Anglo-German friendship'. It generally operated as a cultural organisation, although its journal, the Anglo-German Review reflected the pro-Nazi views of Admiral Sir Barry Domvile, and particularly in London...
and amongst his fascist publications had written disparagingly of the influence and tone of Hollywood films. Although he was interned in July 1940, a son, Michael Robert, was born in February 1941. Maguire's last film was This was Paris made in 1942 in England; ironically a story of the activities of fifth columnists in Paris before its fall. By 1945 the marriage to Gordon-Canning was over, Maguire describing it as a "closed chapter" in her life. She attempted to restart her Hollywood career, but although still aged only 26, her efforts were to no avail.
Her second marriage was to Philip Henry Legarra, a US Engineer.
She died at Long Beach, California, in 1974.
The Marrying Maquires
Elsa Chauvel claimed the Maguire sisters were known as "The Marrying Maquires", because they took "London by storm" when they arrived there, making "spectacular marriages." The oldest Maguire girl, Patricia, married Peter Rudyard Aitken, the son of Lord BeaverbrookMax Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook
William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Bt, PC, was a Canadian-British business tycoon, politician, and writer.-Early career in Canada:...
and was the mother of the current 6th Baronet Green of Wakefield. The third Maguire daughter, Joan, acted on stage in London under the name Joan Shannon. Carmel Maguire, married John Wodehouse, 4th Earl of Kimberley
John Wodehouse, 4th Earl of Kimberley
John Wodehouse, 4th Earl of Kimberley was the oft-married Earl of Kimberley from 1941 to 2002. He inherited the title when his father, John Wodehouse, 3rd Earl of Kimberley, was killed in an air raid...
and was the mother of the current Earl. The youngest of the girls, "Lupe" (actually christened Mary), married British hire car "king," Godfrey Davis
Davis Service Group
Berendsen plc is a leading British-based provider of textile maintenance services. It is headquartered in London and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...
, also having appeared in a minor part in The Man in Grey
The Man in Grey
The Man in Grey is a 1943 British film melodrama made by Gainsborough Pictures, and is widely considered as the first of its "Gainsborough melodramas"...
(1943).
Filmography
- Diggers in Blighty (1933) (Extra)
- HeritageHeritage (film)Heritage is a 1935 Australian historical film directed by Charles Chauvel.-Production:Heritage was originally conceived in 1933, while Charles Chauvel was organising publicity for his previous film, In the Wake of the Bounty. The Australian government, in a bid to encourage the local film industry,...
(1935) - The Flying DoctorThe Flying DoctorThe Flying Doctor is a 1936 Australian-British drama film directed by Miles Mander and starring Charles Farrell, Mary Maguire and James Raglan. The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia operate in the Australian Outback...
(1936) - That Man's Here Again (1937)
- Confession (1937)
- Alcatraz Island (1937)
- Sergeant Murphy (1937)
- Mysterious Mr. MotoMysterious Mr. MotoMysterious Mr. Moto is the fifth in a series of eight films starring Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto produced in 1938 by Twentieth Century Fox. The film is based on the character of Mr. Moto created by John P. Marquand, and an original screenplay by Philip MacDonald and Norman Foster.-Synopsis:The film...
(1938) - Keep SmilingKeep Smiling (film)Keep Smiling is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Gracie Fields, Roger Livesey and Mary Maguire. After they are cheated out of money by an ex-manager, a group of performers club together to buy a bus and travel around the country doing shows.Banks incidentally, had...
(1938) - The OutsiderThe Outsider (1939 film)The Outsider is a 1939 British drama film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring George Sanders, Mary Maguire and Barbara Blair. An osteopath cures one of his patients with whom he has fallen in love. It is a remake of the 1931 film The Outsider and was based on a play by Dorothy Brandon.-Cast:*...
(1939) - Black EyesBlack Eyes (film)Black Eyes is a 1939 British drama film directed by Herbert Brenon and starring Otto Kruger, Mary Maguire and Walter Rilla.-Cast:* Otto Kruger - Ivan Ivanovich Petroff* Mary Maguire - Tanya Petroff* Walter Rilla - Roudine* John Wood - Karlo Karpoff...
(1939) - An Englishman's HomeAn Englishman's HomeAn Englishman's Home is a threat-of-invasion play by Guy du Maurier, first produced in 1909. The title is a reference to the expression "an Englishman's home is his castle".-Play:...
(1940) - This Was ParisThis Was ParisThis Was Paris is a 1942 British drama film directed by John Harlow and starring Ann Dvorak, Ben Lyon and Griffith Jones.-Cast:* Ann Dvorak ... Ann Morgan* Ben Lyon ... Butch, Sydney Chronicle Reporter* Griffith Jones ... Capt. Bill Hamilton, MI5...
(1942)