Reader Blind

Many decades ago, while filming a movie in another country, this A list actress in her day who surprisingly only received an honorary type of this award in her long career met and had a one night stand with this iconic figure who appears on a lot of clothing.

She did discuss this publicly in a very roundabout way.

Movie: Our Man in Havana (Cuba)

Maureen O’Hara

Award: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences the Academy’s Honorary Oscar – 2014

Che Guevara

Irish Actress Maureen O’Hara on meeting Che Guevara in Cuba

When we arrived in Havana on April 15, 1959 , Cuba was a country experiencing revolutionary change. How could I not meet Che? Che Guevara was often at the Capri Hotel. I would see him at the restaurant and he’d come to my table to say hello. Che would talk about Ireland and all the guerilla warfare that had taken place there. He knew every battle in Ireland and all of its history. Che knew more about Ireland than John Ford did. I couldn’t believe it and finally asked, ‘Che, you know so much about Ireland and talk constantly about it. How do you know so much?’ He said, ‘Well, my grandmother’s name was Lynch and I learned everything I know about Ireland at her knee.’ He was Che Guevara Lynch! That famous cap he wore was an Irish rebel’s cap. I spent a great deal of time with Che Guevara while I was in Havana. I believe he was far less a mercenary than he was a freedom fighter. Today he is a symbol for freedom fighters wherever they are in the world and I think he is a good one. – Source

Our Man in Havana (1958) is a novel set in Cuba by the British author Graham Greene. He makes fun of intelligence services, especially the British MI6, and their willingness to believe reports from their local informants. The book predates the Cuban Missile Crisis, but certain aspects of the plot, notably the role of missile installations, appear to anticipate the events of 1962.

The revolutionary government of Cuba allowed the film version of Our Man in Havana to be filmed in the Cuban capital, but Fidel Castro complained that the novel did not accurately portray the brutality of the Batista regime. – Source

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