Movie buffs will remember Maureen O’Sullivan more for her relationship with a chimpanzee than a dog, and a few generations don’t remember Maureen O’Sullivan at all. For those younger readers, she is Mia Farrow’s mother.

For anyone who doesn’t know who Mia Farrow is, either, she is Ronan Farrow’s mother. For anyone who doesn’t know who Ronan Farrow is, he’s best known for his investigative reporting of allegations of sexual abuse against film producer, Harvey Weinstein. For anyone who doesn’t know who Harvey Weinstein is, may we be the first to welcome you to 2021?

Back to Maureen.

Born in Ireland, O’Sullivan was best known for playing “Jane” in the Tarzan series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. Though her father opposed her dreams of becoming an actress, an actress she became after the opportunity to become one fell in her lap. A screen test she took landed her the meaty role of Eileen O’Brien, then it was off to Hollywood where she became one of MGM’s most popular ingenues throughout the 1930s. In 1932, she teamed up with Johnny Weissmuller who was  swimming’s first superstar when he won five Olympic gold medals (he also set 28 world records, one of which was unbeaten for 17 years).

In a move that probably shocked her agent, O’Sullivan walked away from a successful (and lucrative career) to spend more time with her husband and their seven children: Michael, Patrick, Maria (a.k.a. Mia Farrow), John, Prudence, Theresa, and Stephanie. She didn’t retire entirely. She made an occasional movie and television show, and ran a bridal consulting service.  We mention O’Sullivan because her chosen breed as a family companion was the Dalmatian, and the internet has several photos of her with one. We like to share famous owners of purebred dogs because they are part of the “modern” history of a breed.

Maureen died during heart surgery in 1998 at the age of 87. She outlived Weissmuller, and Cheetah outlived them both. The memorable chimp died of kidney failure at age 80 in 2011. He spent the last decades of his life at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor, Florida fingerpainting, playing football, and listening to “nondenominational Christian music.”

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