ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 16, 1995 TAG: 9512190002
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
It seemed only natural that Maureen O'Hara would be cast in the CBS special based on the best-selling book ``The Christmas Box.'' After all, she starred in the holiday classic ``Miracle on 34th Street.''
In 1947, she played the romantic lead opposite John Payne in ``Miracle.'' In ``The Christmas Box,'' which airs Sunday (at 9 p.m. on WDBJ-Channel 7), she appears as an elderly widow who needs care and takes a young family - played by Richard Thomas, Annette O'Toole and Kelsey Mulrooney - into her vintage mansion.
``The Christmas Box'' has had an amazing publishing history. Salt Lake City advertising man Richard Paul Evans wrote the slim volume in 1992 and printed 20 copies for friends and relatives. Rejected by publishers, he decided to become his publisher in 1993 and sold 20,000 books.
In 1994, the book totaled 400,000 copies and made the best-seller lists. It's up there again this year in an edition published by Simon & Schuster.
``The story has been changed a little in the movie,'' O'Hara said. ``In the book, my character is wonderful, charming, sweet and gracious. In the movie, she is not 100 percent charming, sweet and gracious. She is tough, likes her own way, gives orders, doesn't listen to anybody in the beginning of the script.
``Then you find out that she has a terrible sorrow in her life and isn't really as bad as she appears to be.''
O'Hara, who seems neither old nor cranky in real life, was speaking at a sparsely furnished rented house. She usually comes here twice a year to visit family and her doctor and dentist - ``Why change what you've had for 50 years?'' she reasoned.
Since 1968, when she married flying hero Brig. Gen. Charles Blair, she has made her home in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. (He died in a plane crash in 1978.) She summers in West Cork, Ireland, where she takes part in a number of civic activities.
``The Christmas Box'' is O'Hara's first acting since 1991, when she starred with John Candy in ``Only the Lonely.'' There had been a 18-year lapse between that and ``Big Jake,'' the last of four films she made with John Wayne.
``None of the scripts sent to me intrigued me that much,'' she said. ``It's much more fun to go fishing and play golf in Ireland and do the same thing in St. Croix than making something you don't believe in.
``Christopher Columbus wrote Rose in `Only the Lonely' for me, and then he couldn't find me. A newspaperman in New York named Joe Murphy said, `Here's her brother's number. Call him.'
``My brother Charlie called me and said, `This you do.' I said, `I don't want to go to work. I'm too happy living the way I'm living.' But I read the script and told him, `This I do.' So I did it.
``The same thing happened with `The Christmas Box.' I read it, said, `This I do,' left within 24 hours and started immediately on two hours' sleep.''
Beginning in 1939 as Esmeralda in ``The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' with Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara enjoyed more than 30 years of Hollywood stardom. With flaming hair and equally fiery presence, she became the Technicolor Queen, notably in pirate pictures with Tyrone Power and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Did she miss the acting life when she retired to the Virgin Islands?
``Being married to Charlie Blair and traveling all over the world with him, believe me, was enough for any woman,'' she said forcefully. ``It was the best time of my life. I enjoyed it, I had fun, it was exciting, a whole new world, all aviators, crazy people doing pioneering things.
``Now I have a very full life. I do a lot. I don't sit down very long.''
She would have plenty to do when she returned to her Virgin Island home: It was in the path of the recent Hurricane Marilyn. A few years ago, her house was virtually demolished by Hurricane Hugo.
``During the picture, I said, `I don't want to know what happened. Don't tell me anything about it,''' she said. ``Because I can't put a sign on the screen: `O'Hara is lousy in this scene because she was worried about her house in St. Croix.' I'll find out what happened when I get back.''
She was asked if she would return for other projects.
``Sure,'' she replied. ``But it's hard to find something. A man, the older he gets, the younger the parts are that he plays. A woman, the older she gets, you've got to find parts that are believable. Since I'm not a frail character, it's not that easy.
``There must be some good parts for, shall we say, `older women.' If they come along, fine. If they don't, I've got too much to do.''
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Richard Thomas (clockwise), Annette O'Toole, Maureenby CNBO'Hara and Kelsey Mulrooney star in ``The Christmas Box,'' airing
Sunday at 9 p.m. on WDBJ-Channel 7. color.