Why John Wayne Was Banned From Working With Maureen O'Hara
John Wayne had a trusted circle — directors, screenwriters, stuntmen, and a handful of actors he worked with over and over again. But when it came to female co-stars, there was only one who ever made it into his inner circle: Maureen O'Hara.
The two first teamed up in Rio Grande (1950), and quickly followed it with The Quiet Man, The Wings of Eagles, McLintock!, and Big Jake. Offscreen, their relationship was close but strictly platonic. Wayne once called O'Hara "my only female friend" and even described her as "a great guy." For context, he also once said his favorite screen partner was a horse — so this was high praise.
But as easy as their chemistry was, studios didn't always share Wayne's enthusiasm. In 1947, when he signed on to star in Tycoon, he wanted O'Hara to play his leading lady. The studio initially agreed — then changed its mind.
Despite a verbal agreement, RKO pulled O'Hara from the project and reassigned her to Sinbad the Sailor, replacing her in Tycoon with Laraine Day. Wayne was furious. As he later told biographer Michael Munn:
"Some bright spark at RKO decided we were mismatched or something. And so they decided to put another actress in the part. Obviously, someone at RKO didn't know dick."
It took three more years before Wayne and O'Hara were allowed to reunite on screen — and it only happened under director John Ford. Even then, their long-planned film The Quiet Man was delayed because the studio doubted it would make money. They were pressured into filming Rio Grande first, just to prove they could deliver a hit.