Olivia de Havilland - Biography - IMDb Olivia de Havilland Biography Showing all 98 items Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trade Mark (3) | Trivia (58) | Personal Quotes (27) | Salary (3) Overview (4) 5' 4" (1.63 m) Mini Bio (1) Olivia Mary de Havilland was born July 1, 1916, in Tokyo, Japan, to British parents Lilian Augusta (Ruse), a former actress, and Walter Augustus de Havilland, an English professor and patent attorney. Her sister, Joan, later to become famous as Joan Fontaine , was born the following year. Her surname comes from her paternal grandfather, whose family was from Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Her parents divorced when Olivia was just three years old, and she moved with her mother and sister to Saratoga, California. After graduating from high school, where she fell prey to the acting bug, Olivia enrolled in Mills College in Oakland.

It was while she was at Mills that she participated in the school play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and was spotted by Max Reinhardt . She so impressed Reinhardt that he picked her up for both his stage version and, later, the Warner Bros. film version in 1935. She again was so impressive that Warner executives signed her to a seven-year contract. No sooner had the ink dried on the contract than Olivia appeared in three more films: The Irish in Us (1935), Alibi Ike (1935) and Captain Blood (1935), the latter with the man with whom her career would be most closely identified, heartthrob Errol Flynn . He and Olivia starred together in eight films during their careers. In 1939 Warner Bros. loaned her to David O. Selznick for the classic Gone with the Wind (1939). Playing the sweet Melanie Hamilton, Olivia received her first nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, only to lose out to one of her co-stars in the film, Hattie McDaniel . After GWTW, Olivia returned to Warner Bros. and continued to churn out films.

In 1941 she played Emmy Brown in Hold Back the Dawn (1941), which resulted in her second Oscar nomination, this time for Best Actress. Again she lost, this time to her sister Joan for her role in Suspicion (1941). After that strong showing, Olivia now demanded better, more substantial roles than the "sweet young thing" slot into which Warners had been fitting her. The studio responded by placing her on a six-month suspension, all of the studios at the time operating under the policy that players were nothing more than property to do with as they saw fit. As if that weren't bad enough, when her contract with Warners was up, she was told that she would have to make up the time lost because of the suspension. Irate, she sued the studio, and for the length of the court battle she didn't appear in a single film. The result, however, was worth it. In a landmark decision, the court said not only that Olivia did not have to make up the time, but that all performers were to be limited to a seven-year contract that would include any suspensions handed down.

This became known as the "de Havilland decision"; no longer could studios treat their performers as mere cattle. Returning to screen in 1946, Olivia made up for lost time by appearing in four films, one of which finally won her the Oscar that had so long eluded her. It was To Each His Own (1946), in which she played Josephine Norris to the delight of critics and audiences alike. Olivia was the strongest performer in Hollywood for the balance of the 1940s. In 1948 she turned in another strong showing in The Snake Pit (1948) as Virginia Cunningham, a woman suffering a mental breakdown. The end result was another Oscar nomination for Best Actress, but she lost to Jane Wyman in Johnny Belinda (1948). As in the two previous years, she made only one film in 1949, but she again won a nomination and the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Heiress (1949). After a three-year hiatus, Olivia returned to star in My Cousin Rachel (1952).

From that point on, she made few appearances on the screen but was seen on Broadway and in some television shows. Her last screen appearance was in The Fifth Musketeer (1979), and her last career appearance was in the TV movie The Woman He Loved (1988). During the hoopla surrounding the 50th anniversary of GWTW in 1989, she graciously declined requests for all interviews as the only surviving one of the four main stars. Today she enjoys a quiet retirement in Paris, France. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Denny Jackson Spouse (2) Emotionally (and sometimes physically) vulnerable characters Despite her great beauty, was often cast as plain, everyday women Small, delicate frame Older sister of actress Joan Fontaine . Daughter of film and stage actress Lilian Fontaine . Relations between she and younger sister Joan Fontaine were never strong and worsened in 1941, when both were nominated for 'Best Actress' Oscar awards. Their mutual dislike and jealousy escalated into an all-out feud after Fontaine won for Suspicion (1941). Despite the fact that de Havilland went on to win two Academy Awards of her own, they remained permanently estranged.

After her divorce in 1979 from second husband Pierre Galante , they remained close friends; after he became ill with cancer, she nursed him until his death in 1998. As of December 15 2014, the 75th anniversary of the premiere of Gone with the Wind (1939), she is the only surviving major cast member. She has been the only survivor of the four principal leads since 1967. The only other surviving cast member who received screen credit is Mickey Kuhn . Justly famous for her court victory against Warner Brothers in the mid 1940s (many others had sued Warners but failed), which stopped Warners from adding suspension periods to actors' contracts and therefore meant more freedom for actors in Hollywood. It became known as the "de Havilland decision". Has made Paris her home since the mid 1950s. Showed flair as a writer when "Every Fenchman Has One," a light-hearted autobiographical account of her attempts at adapting to French life, was published in 1962.

At the age of 82, was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Hertfordshire, England. Lost her son, Benjamin, to Hodgkin's disease in 1991, shortly before his father, writer Marcus Goodrich , passed away. In 1965 she became the first female president of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. Turned down the role of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), reportedly saying that "a lady just doesn't say or do those things on the screen". De Havilland set the record straight in a 2006 interview, saying that she had recently given birth to her son when offered the part and was unable to relate to the material. Is descended from the Haverlands of Normandy, one of whom (the Lord of Haverland) accompanied William the Conquerer in his invasion of England in 1066. Her father, Walter Augustus de Havilland (1872-1968), was a patent attorney in Japan and also the author of the 1910 book "The ABC of Go", which provides a detailed and comprehensive description of the Japanese board game.

It was reported in October 2001 that she was among 40 prominent French residents who were victims of hoax anthrax attacks (the attacks were proven to be hoaxes after a woman was arrested in Paris for sending out envelopes containing a powdery substance). She lives a peaceful retirement at her home on Rue Benouville, in Paris. She spends time teaching Sunday school to children at a local church. She made a special appearance at the The 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003) and received a standing ovation. She holds the record for the most people thanked in an Oscar acceptance speech (27), which she set when she accepted the award for Best Actress for To Each His Own (1946). In 1991 her son Benjamin Briggs Goodrich, a statistical analyst, died of complications from Hodgkin's disease at his mother's home in Paris, France. Is the 15th cousin twice removed of Errol Flynn , her co-star in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). She and Joan Fontaine are the first sisters to win Oscars and the first ones to be Oscar-nominated in the same year.

Confessed in later years that she had an intense crush on Errol Flynn during the years of their filming, saying that it was hard to resist his charms. Her mother named her Olivia after William Shakespeare 's romantic heroine in "Twelfth Night". The role of Lisolette Mueller in The Towering Inferno (1974) was originally offered to her. It was eventually played by Jennifer Jones . Was somewhat overweight when she first came to Paramount; Edith Head designed costumes for her with a slimming effect. Ex-sister-in-law of Collier Young , Brian Aherne and William Dozier . She has a street named after her in Mexico City. Renowned Mexican actor and director Emilio Fernández lived in Coyoacan Town on a street with no name at all, so he asked the authorities to name this street "Dulce Olivia," Spanish for "Sweet Olivia," after her. When she was nine years old she made a will in which she stated, "I bequeath all my beauty to my younger sister Joan [ Joan Fontaine ], since she has none". Was romantically involved with James Stewart , Howard Hughes , John Huston in the late 1930s.

In the 1950s the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum near Tucson, AZ, named one of their female javelinas "Olivia de Javelina" in her honor; Their male was named "Gregory Peckory" to honor actor Gregory Peck . Is mentioned in Helge Schneider 's book "Die Memoiren des Rodriguez Faszanatas". In April 1946 she set off a power struggle within the Hollywood Independent Citizens Committee of the Arts, Sciences and Professions (HICCASP) by refusing to deliver two speeches in Seattle as written by her fellow executive council member Dalton Trumbo , later one of the blacklisted Hollywood Ten. She felt Trumbo's text was too left-wing and worried that the organization was becoming "automatically pro-Russian". In Italy almost all of her films were dubbed by either Dhia Cristiani or Lidia Simoneschi . For the Italian releases of two of her most celebrated and fondly remembered roles, Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind (1939) and Maid Marian in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), she was dubbed, respectively, by Renata Marini and Dina Perbellini .

This was the only time that either Italian actresses lent her voice to Olivia. Attended the funeral of Charlton Heston in April, 2008. Attended as a surprise guest honoring the late Bette Davis , her long-time friend and co-star at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles on May 1, 2008. The event, "A Centennial Tribute to Bette Davis", was hosted by film historian Robert Osborne and its reception included Davis' son Michael Merrill , her long-time personal assistant Kathryn Sermak and friends Gena Rowlands and Joan Leslie . She accepted two film roles turned down by Ginger Rogers , To Each His Own (1946) and The Snake Pit (1948). She won an Oscar for "To Each His Own" and was nominated for "The Snake Pit". Rogers later regretted turning down the roles and wrote: "It seemed Olivia knew a good thing when she saw it. Perhaps Olivia should thank me for such poor judgment". Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 6764 Hollywood Blvd. In 2008 she was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts by President George W. Bush in Washington, DC.

Received the Medal of Arts honor from President George W. Bush at a White House ceremony in the East Room on November 17, 2008, "for her persuasive and compelling skill as an actress in roles from Shakespeare's Hermia to Margaret Mitchell 's Melanie. Her independence, integrity, and grace won creative freedom for herself and her fellow film actors.". One of her cousins, Capt. Sir Geoffrey de Havilland (1882-1965), was a British aviation pioneer, aircraft designer and owner of the de Havilland Aircraft Co. Its wooden bomber Mosquito has been considered the most versatile warplane ever built. The ill-fated de Havilland Comet was the first commercial jet airliner in 1952. Was offered the role of Mary Hatch Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life (1946) after Jean Arthur turned it down, but she also turned it down. In a rare act of reconciliation, Olivia and her sister Joan Fontaine celebrated Christmas 1962 together along with their then-husbands and children. Gave birth to her first child at age 33, son Benjamin Briggs Goodrich, on September 27, 1949.

The child's father was her first husband, Marcus Goodrich ; they divorced in 1953, and he died in 1991. Gave birth to her second child at age 40, daughter Gisèle Galante, on July 18, 1956. The child's father was her second husband, Pierre Galante ; they divorced in 1979, and he died in 1998. Is a staunch liberal Democrat and anti-communist. Visited New York in the spring of 2004 to film a special commentary programme for the upcoming DVD of Gone with the Wind (1939), to be released in November that year. [July 2006] Celebrated her 90th birthday at her daughter's home in Malibu. Her paternal grandfather, the Rev. Charles Richard de Havilland, was from a family originally from Guernsey, in the Channel Islands. Her other ancestry includes Anglo-Irish and English. Was considered for the title role in Mildred Pierce (1945).

Was the 28th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for To Each His Own (1946) at The 19th Academy Awards on March 13, 1947. When Alicia Rhett , who played India, the daughter of John Wilkes in Gone with the Wind (1939), died less than one month before her 99th birthday on January 3, 2014, Olivia became the very last surviving cast member from that movie. This is quite an accomplishment considering the film had over 50 speaking parts. As of 2016 she is the earliest surviving recipient of a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. She was nominated in 1939 for Gone with the Wind (1939). As of 2016 she is the earliest surviving recipient of a Best Actress Oscar nomination. She was nominated in 1941 for Hold Back the Dawn (1941),. In celebration of her 100th birthday, she was honored as Turner Classic Movies Star of the Month for July 2016.

She is only the third Oscar-winning actor to celebrate a 100th birthday. The others are George Burns , who died less than two months after passing the 100-year mark in 1996, and Luise Rainer , who lived to be 104. Personal Quotes (27) Famous people feel that they must perpetually be on the crest of the wave, not realizing that it is against all the rules of life. You can't be on top all the time; it isn't natural. [on Hollywood's reaction to her landmark court victory against Warner Bros.] I was told I would never work again, if I lost or won. When I won, they were impressed and didn't bear a grudge. The one thing that you simply have to remember all the time that you are there is that Hollywood is an Oriental city. As long as you do that, you might survive. If you try to equate it with anything else, you'll perish. The TV business is soul-crushing, talent-destroying and human being-destroying. These men in their black towers don't know what they are doing. It's slave labor. There is no elegance left in anybody. They have no taste.

Movies are being financed by conglomerates, which take a write-off if they don't work. The only people who fight for what the public deserves are artists. We were like a stock company at Warners. We didn't know any of the stars from the other studios. [after winning her second Oscar in 1950] When I won the first award in 1947, I was terribly thrilled. But this time I felt solemn, very serious and . . . shocked. Yes, shocked! It's a great responsibility to win the award twice. Playing good girls in the '30s was difficult, when the fad was to play bad girls. Actually I think playing bad girls is a bore; I have always had more luck with good girl roles because they require more from an actress. [speaking in 1997] I have taken a long vacation, but I wouldn't object to a fascinating part in a first-rate project, something I felt I could do well or would understand and interpret in an effective way. Then I would say, "Yes". The offers still come, but not what I'm looking for.

[on the continuing appeal of Gone with the Wind (1939)] It will go on forever, and how thrilling that is. It has this universal life, this continuing life. Every nation has experienced war--and defeat and renaissance. So all people can identify with the characters. Not only that, it's terribly well constructed. Something happens every three minutes, and it keeps you on your toes and the edge of your seat, which is quite a feat, I must say. [in 2004] There certainly is such a thing as screen chemistry, although I don't believe you find it frequently. There was a definite on-screen chemistry between Errol [ Errol Flynn ] and me. Before us, the most potent example was Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell in the '20s and '30s. People should not be surprised by screen chemistry because, after all, life is chemistry. [in 2003] I know this is not a popular thing to say at the moment, but I love living among the French. They are very independent, intelligent, well educated and creative. They are a people full of feeling, which they express. They're a vivacious people.

Well, they're Celts, you see. [on Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)]: It was full of traps; it was a delicate tightrope assignment. I found that very interesting. Robert Aldrich gave it a very special style, a kind of dark, glittering style which fascinated me. [in 2006, asked if she missed acting] Not at all. Life is too full of events of great importance. That is more absorbing and enriching than a fantasy life. I don't need a fantasy life as once I did. That is the life of the imagination that I had a great need for. Films were the perfect means for satisfying that need. [in June 2006] I'll be 90 on July 1. I can't wait to be 90! Another victory! The overwhelming majority of people who make up the liberal and progressive groups of this country believe in democracy, and NOT in communism. We believe that the two cannot be reconciled here in the United States, and we believe that every effort should be exerted to make democracy work, and to extend its benefits to every person in every community throughout the land.

[on Errol Flynn ] I had a very big crush on Errol Flynn during [ Captain Blood (1935)]. I thought he was absolutely smashing for three solid years, but he never guessed. Then he had one on me but nothing came of it. I'm not going to regret that; it could have ruined my life. [on Michael Curtiz ] He was a tyrant, he was abusive, he was cruel. Oh, he was just a villain but I guess he was pretty good. We didn't believe it then, but he clearly was. He knew what he was doing. He knew how to tell a story very clearly and he knew how to keep things going. [on Bette Davis ] The great lesson I learned from Bette was her absolute dedication to getting everything just right. She used to spend hours studying the character she was going to play, then hours in make-up ensuring that her physical appearance was right for the part. I have always tried to put the same amount of work into everything I've done. [on Clark Gable ] Clark Gable was highly professional. He was a bigger star than we can create today. I was just a mini-star when we did Gone with the Wind (1939).

I was afraid to talk to him. People can't understand it now, but we were in awe. Clark Gable didn't open supermarkets. [ Clark Gable ] was supposed to cry in the scene after the death of his daughter. It worried him for days before he was to do the scene. He never cried on the screen before, and it became an obsession with him. He didn't think it was masculine for a man to cry. One day he confided in me, "Olivia, I can't do it. I'm just going to have to quit." I talked with him and convinced him that the tears denoted strength of character, not weakness. It turned out to be one of the most memorable scenes in the movie. Clark always underrated himself as an actor. I think his Rhett Butler will live forever as one of the screen's classic performances. I felt Gone with the Wind (1939) would last five years, and it's lasted over 70, and into a new millennium. There is a special place in my heart for that film and Melanie. She was a remarkable character--a loving person, and because of that she was a happy person. And Scarlett, of course, was not.

[on Bette Davis ] I always thought it would be fun if we could work together. Then I was offered the chance to work with her on the film that became Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) when Joan Crawford withdrew. I knew Bette wanted badly to work, and Jane [ What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)] had been such a success that Bette was quite anxious. They had to find the replacement, and Bette wanted me. [on Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)] [ Bette Davis ] wanted it so much, so I did it. I can't say I regretted it, because working with her was special, but I can't say it was a picture I am proud to put on my resume. Given the choice, I wouldn't have deprived Joan Crawford of the honor! [on Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)] The problem was I wasn't as anxious to work as she was. I didn't need to. I wasn't thrilled with the script, and I definitely didn't like my part. I was reverse-typecast, being asked to be an unsympathetic villain.

It wasn't what people expected of me. It wasn't really what I wanted to do. [her favorite word] I am attracted by almost any French word--written or spoken. Before I knew its meaning, I thought "saucisson" so exquisite that it seemed the perfect name to give a child--until I learned it meant "sausage"! [dedication to Mickey Rooney upon his death, 2014] Mickey, Mickey, Mickey. They say you have died but I find this so hard to believe, for you are so live in my memory. There you are in the big room of the Chamber of Commerce Building on Sunset Boulevard in the summer of 1934, a little boy passing easily as a nine-ear-old when you are really 13. You hand me your work copy of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', climb onto the banquette beside me, place your head upon my lap and ask me to awaken you nine lines before your cue . . . What a memory you have left with me to keep. I loved France, although I initially thought they were stubborn for always speaking French. When I went to Paris, Hollywood was collapsing because of television.

A whole civilization was dying, and you cannot imagine how depressed we all were. That was the real Gone with the Wind (1939) saga. We didn't know what the new world was going to be, but we were sure it wasn't going to be as good. We were right. Salary (3) Behind Joan Fontaine’s Epic Feud With Sister Olivia de Havilland Behind Joan Fontaine’s Epic Feud With Sister Olivia de Havilland Joal Ryan Joan Fontaine and Olivia De Havilland More According to Joan Fontaine, the actress was born to feud with sister Olivia de Havilland. Literally. "Olivia so hated the idea of having a sibling that she wouldn't go near my crib," Fontaine told People magazine in 1978. Fontaine, the Oscar-winning star of "Suspicion," and de Havilland, the two-time Best Actress honoree and star of "Gone With the Wind," were parties to one of Hollywood's all-time chilliest relationships. The siblings' legendary rivalry apparently was carried to the grave Sunday when Fontaine died in her sleep in her Carmel, California, home. Fontaine was 96.

De Havilland, who survives her, is 97. By most accounts, the last time the two spoke was during the Ford Administration. As Fontaine put it, "You can divorce your sister as well as your husbands." [Related: Legendary Actress Joan Fontaine Dies at 96 ] More often than not, de Havilland didn't say anything at all. "That is the one subject on which I never speak," she told London's Independent in 2009. "Never." Fontaine gave her version of things in the 1978 memoir "No Bed of Roses." (Though long said to have been at work on her own autobiography, de Havilland has yet to publish one.) In the interview with People, which was timed to promote her book, Fontaine talked about how, as children, de Havilland made her cry by reading aloud, and loudly, from the Bible, and how, as teens, de Havilland broke Fontaine's collarbone "in a rage." On paper, at least, the two were close. They were born just 15 months apart. They moved from Tokyo, where they were born to British parents, to California together.

They made their big-screen debuts in the same year, 1935. Gone With the Wind More De Havilland had the more immediate success, courtesy the Errol Flynn swashbuckler "Captain Blood." Four years later, de Havilland received her first Academy Award nomination, for Best Supporting Actress, for her turn as the saintly Melanie Hamilton in the 1939 blockbuster "Gone With the Wind." De Havilland was next nominated for the 1941 romance, "Hold Back the Dawn." This time she was in the Best Actress category, and this time her competition included Fontaine, who'd had a hit in Alfred Hitchcock's "Rebecca" and who was back in the Oscar running for "Suspicion," also directed by Hitchcock. Though much has been made of Oscar's role in the sisters' feud, neither de Havilland nor Fontaine stressed the awards as a turning point in their relationship. Or, that is, neither seemed to view the 1942 ceremony, at which Fontaine won, that way. As for the 1947 ceremony...

The 19th Annual Academy Awards was where the sisters' longstanding tensions went as viral as things could go viral in the Teletype age. De Havilland was up for Best Actress for the drama "To Each His Own." After she claimed the statuette, her first win after three career nominations, Fontaine attempted to congratulate her sister offstage. She was snubbed. "I started to shake hands with her, but she seemed very occupied and busy," Fontaine told the Associated Press days later. "Maybe she didn't see me." Oh, de Havilland saw her all right. "Our relations have been quite strained for some time — I couldn't change my attitude," de Havilland said in the same AP account. About the only thing the sisters agreed on was a hug, or lack thereof: both shot down a report that they'd embraced. De Havilland told her side of the feud in 1957.

In an interview with the AP's Bob Thomas , she said that Fontaine had said "cutting" things about her husband, Marcus Goodrich, whom de Havilland had married in 1946, and that her sister shouldn't have been surprised to get the brush off at the Oscars. "She was aware there was an estrangement between us," de Havilland said. De Havilland was not bitter when she gave the interview: She said relations with Fontaine had improved after the Goodrich union ended in 1953, and as the idea of waiting on an apology from her sister came to seem "silly." Read More Suspicion More In the 1960s, according to a 2010 Daily Mail accounting of the sisters' history, Fontaine bailed out de Havilland financially. But things took a decisive and definitive turn for the worse in 1975 when the sisters' mother died. "Olivia and the executor of the estate took full charge, disposing of Mother's effects as well as her body — she was cremated — without bothering to consult me," Fontaine told People. "I wasn't even invited to the memorial service.

Of course, I went anyway." The two were never close again. They saw to it. The actresses reportedly had special requests at the 1978 and 1988 Oscars, two ceremonies which they both attended: Keep me away from her, and vice versa. The feud produced a definitive soundbite — "I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia did and if I die first, she'll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it!," from Fontaine's 1978 People magazine interview — but not much in the way of public vitriol. Even the definitive soundbite feels less harsh when read in its entirety: "Olivia has always said I was first at everything," Fontaine began, before reeling off what she and her sister apparently had acknowledged were Fontaine's firsts. Hollywood Reporter correspondent Scott Feinberg , who'd interviewed both Fontaine and de Havilland this past year, tweeted Sunday that while the sisters "certainly weren’t close, they weren’t passionately feuding, either." In 2008, Vanity Fair asked Fontaine what she most disliked. The answer was one word — and it wasn't a name.

It was simply "noise." Reblog Olivia de Havilland Mourns Joan Fontaine | Hollywood Reporter Courtesy Everett Collection Joan Fontaine Havilland said she was "shocked and saddened" over the death of the "Suspicion" actress Sunday at her home in Carmel, Calif. NEW YORK – In rare public remarks about her sister and fellow Oscar-winning actress, Olivia de Havilland mourned the loss of Joan Fontaine, with whom de Havilland reportedly feuded for much of their lives. De Havilland on Monday issued a statement through the DGRW Talent Agency, saying she was "shocked and saddened" by the news and that she was grateful for "the many kind expressions of sympathies." Fontaine, 96, died in her sleep Sunday at her home in Carmel, Calif. The 97-year-old de Havilland is a longtime resident of Paris and over the years often declined to talk about her sister.

PHOTOS: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2013 De Havilland and Fontaine are among Hollywood's most famous siblings, stars from Hollywood's studio era known for their many screen achievements and for a rivalry that at times became public, especially after they were both nominated for best actress in 1941. Fontaine won for Suspicion, and later recalled the moment her name was announced at the Academy Awards ceremony. "All the animus we'd felt toward each other as children, the hair pullings, the savage wrestling matches, the time Olivia fractured my collarbone, all came rushing back in kaleidoscopic imagery," she wrote in No Bed of Roses, a memoir published in 1978. "My paralysis was total. I felt Olivia would spring across the table and grab me by the hair. I felt age 4, being confronted by my older sister. Damn it, I'd incurred her wrath again!" STORY: Legendary Actress Joan Fontaine Dies at 96 De Havilland went on to win two Oscars, but that apparently didn't warm her to Fontaine. After de Havilland won in 1947 for To Each His Own, Fontaine came forward to congratulate her and was rebuffed.

De Havilland's publicist said at the time: "This goes back for years and years, ever since they were children." Olivia De Havilland 'in mourning' following death of sister and rival Joan Fontaine | Daily Mail Online comments Hollywood legend Olivia de Havilland was today 'in mourning' over the death of her equally famous sister Joan Fontaine Hollywood legend Olivia de Havilland was today ‘in mourning’ over the death of her equally famous sister Joan Fontaine, telling friends: ‘I’ll never forget her’. The Oscar-winning actress is now almost 97, and living in an upmarket apartment block close to the Arc de Triumphe in Paris. She and her sister were notorious for their bitter quarrels, and barely spent any time together during their long and successful screen careers. But on Monday Ms De Havilland issued a statement saying she was ‘shocked and saddened’ by Joan’s death on Sunday at the age of 96. ‘Joan was her kid sister – of course she’s hugely sad at her passing,’ said one of Ms De Havilland’s friends in the French capital.

‘She’s certainly in mourning and has made it clear that she will never forget Joan.’ Olivia has been bombarded with flowers and letters since Sunday night, and said in her statement that she was overwhelmed by ‘the many kind expressions of sympathies.’ Ms De Havilland and Ms Fontaine, who lived in California at the time of her death, were among Hollywood's most famous sisters. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share Both were nominated for the best actress Oscar in 1941, and Ms Fontaine won it for her role in the film ‘Suspicion’. Scroll down for video Long feud: Sisters Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine were born just 15 months apart Recalling the awards ceremony many years later, Ms Fontaine said: ‘All the animus we'd felt toward each other as children, the hair pullings, the savage wrestling matches, the time Olivia fractured my collarbone, all came rushing back in kaleidoscopic imagery. ‘My paralysis was total. I felt Olivia would spring across the table and grab me by the hair.

Left to right: Fontaine opposite Laurence Olivier in Rebecca (he had wanted the part of the second Mrs de Winter to go to his real life soon-to-be wife, Vivien Leigh); and with Orson Welles in Jane Eyre 'I felt age 4, being confronted by my older sister. Damn it, I'd incurred her wrath again!’ Ms De Havilland is hugely respected in France, and was awarded the Legion of Honour by the then President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010. She won two Oscars in all, including one for her part in in the 1947 film ‘To Each His Own’. Joan Fontaine (left) said the sibling rivalry was encouraged by their ambitious stage mother.

It may have also had something to do with their similarity (the photo on the right, for example, is of Olivia de Havilland) Olivia de Havilland pictured with Frederic Mitterrand at the 36th Cesar French Film Awards in Paris in 2011 When Fontaine tried to congratulate her for the 1947 award, Ms De Havilland ignored her, with a spokesman saying: ‘This goes back for years and years, ever since they were children.’ Ms Fontaine once told The Hollywood Reporter: ‘I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia did, and if I die first, she’ll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it.’ Olivia de Havilland - IMDb IMDb Actress | Soundtrack Olivia Mary de Havilland was born July 1, 1916, in Tokyo, Japan, to British parents Lilian Augusta (Ruse), a former actress, and Walter Augustus de Havilland, an English professor and patent attorney. Her sister, Joan, later to become famous as Joan Fontaine , was born the following year. Her surname comes from her paternal grandfather, whose ...

See full bio » Born: 46 Days Until "Feud" 18 January 2017 11:33 AM, -08:00 | FilmExperience a list of 24 people created 03 Apr 2012 a list of 30 people created 22 Feb 2014 a list of 39 people created 12 Mar 2014 a list of 22 people created 23 Mar 2014 a list of 40 people created 2 months ago Do you have a demo reel? Add it to your IMDbPage How much of Olivia de Havilland's work have you seen? User Polls Won 2 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 7 nominations. See more awards » Known For Gone with the Wind Melanie Hamilton - Their Cousin (1939) The Snake Pit Virginia Stuart Cunningham (1948) - Episode #1.6 (1986) ... Mrs. Neal (credit only) - Episode #1.5 (1986) ... Mrs. Neal (credit only) - Episode #1.3 (1986) ... Mrs.

Neal - Episode #1.2 (1986) ... Mrs. Neal (credit only) 1981 The Love Boat (TV Series) Aunt Hilly 1972 The Screaming Woman (TV Movie) Laura Wynant (as Olivia DeHavilland) 1966 ABC Stage 67 (TV Series) Ellie Thompson 1965 The Big Valley (TV Series) Ms.

Hadley Soundtrack (4 credits) 1943 Thank Your Lucky Stars ("The Dreamer" (1943), uncredited) / (performer: "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" (1854)) 1935 A Midsummer Night's Dream (performer: "Scottish Symphony: Final Movement" (1842) - uncredited) Hide 2012 60 Minutes (TV Series documentary) Herself - Actress (segment "McCullough") 1978-2011 La nuit des Césars (TV Series documentary) Herself 2005 The Adventures of Errol Flynn (TV Movie documentary) Herself - Actress 2004 Premiere Women in Hollywood Awards (TV Movie documentary) Herself (Received Legend Award) 1998 Entertainment Tonight (TV Series) Herself 1998 The Aviators (TV Series) Herself - Interviewee 1988 Talking Pictures (TV Series documentary) Herself 1987 Our World (TV Series) Herself - Interviewee 1983 Arena (TV Series documentary) Herself 1978-19

83 Good Morning America (TV Series) Herself - Guest 1964-1980 This Is Your Life (TV Series documentary) Herself 1978 Inside 'The Swarm' (TV Movie documentary) Herself 1977 Hollywood Greats (TV Series documentary) Herself - Interviewee 1977 Film 2016 (TV Series) Herself Herself - Accepting Award for Favourite Movie Actress 1975 Dinah!

(TV Series) 1971 The Movie Crazy Years (TV Movie documentary) Herself Herself - reviewing Academy's second decade (pre-recorded) 1967 Personality (TV Series) 1958-1965 What's My Line? (TV Series) Herself - Mystery Guest 1963-1965 Password All-Stars (TV Series) Herself - Celebrity Contestant 1964 The Hollywood Palace (TV Series) Herself 1962 Here's Hollywood (TV Series) Herself 1962 The Tonight Show (TV Series) Herself Lael Tucker Wertenbaker - scene from 'A Gift of Time' - Episode #15.26 (1962) ...

Lael Tucker Wertenbaker - scene from 'A Gift of Time' 1961 Play Your Hunch (TV Series) Herself 1960 Person to Person (TV Series documentary) Herself 1943 Show-Business at War (Documentary short) Herself 2013 60 Minutes (TV Series documentary) Herself - Actress (segment "McCullough") 2006 Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (TV Movie documentary) Herself 2003 Living Famously (TV Series documentary) Herself - 1980s interview - Vivien Leigh (2003) ...

Herself - 1980s interview 2001 Backstory (TV Series documentary) 1998 The Best of Hollywood (TV Movie documentary) Herself - Interview Actress 'The Snake Pit' (uncredited) 1994-1995 Biography (TV Series documentary) Virginia Stuart Cunningham 1973 The World at War (TV Mini-Series documentary) Herself Personal Details Other Works: Stage: Appeared in George Bernard Shaw 's play, "Candida," at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, MA, with Katherine Squire in the cast. See more » Publicity Listings: 1 Biographical Movie | 6 Print Biographies | 1 Portrayal | 10 Interviews | 16 Articles | 3 Pictorials | 5 Magazine Cover Photos | See more » Alternate Names: Olivia De Havilland | Olivia DeHavilland | Olivia de Haviland | Olivia deHavilland Height: Did You Know? Personal Quote: [on Clark Gable ] Clark Gable was highly professional. He was a bigger star than we can create today.

I was just a mini-star when we did Gone with the Wind (1939). I was afraid to talk to him. People can't understand it now, but we were in awe. Clark Gable didn't open supermarkets. See more » Trivia: Is mentioned in Helge Schneider 's book "Die Memoiren des Rodriguez Faszanatas". See more » Trademark: Small, delicate frame See more » Nickname: Legendary Actress Joan Fontaine Dies at 96 | Hollywood Reporter Legendary Actress Joan Fontaine Dies at 96 4:32 PM PST 12/15/2013 by Mike Barnes COMMENTS Courtesy Everett Collection The star of the Hitchcock classics "Suspicion" and "Rebecca" famously won an Oscar in 1942 over her bitter rival -- her older sister, Olivia de Havilland. Joan Fontaine, the polished actress who achieved stardom in the early 1940s with memorable performances in the Alfred Hitchcock films Suspicion -- for which she earned the best actress Oscar over her bitter rival, sister Olivia de Havilland -- and Rebecca, has died. She was 96.

The Hollywood Reporter awards analyst Scott Feinberg spoke with Fontaine's assistant, Susan Pfeiffer, who confirmed the actress' death of natural causes Sunday at her home in Carmel, Calif. Fontaine earned a third best actress Oscar nomination for her role in The Constant Nymph (1943). She also was notable as Charlotte Bronte's eponymous heroine in Jane Eyre (1944) opposite Orson Welles; in the romantic thriller September Affair (1950) with Joseph Cotten; in Ivanhoe (1952) with Robert Taylor; and in Island in the Sun (1957), where she plays a high-society woman in love with an up-and-coming politician (Harry Belafonte). It was Hitchcock, with his penchant for "cool blondes," who brought Fontaine to the forefront when he cast her as the second Mrs. de Winter in Rebecca (1940), the director's American debut. Her performance as the new wife of Laurence Olivier in a household haunted by the death of his first wife earned her an Academy Award nomination for best actress.

A year later, Hitchcock placed her opposite Cary Grant in Suspicion, and she won the Oscar for her turn as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth, a shy English woman who begins to suspect her charming new husband of trying to kill her. She thus became the only actor to win an Oscar in a Hitchcock film. Among those Fontaine beat out at the 1942 Academy Awards was her older sister, de Havilland, up for Hold Back the Dawn (1941). Biographer Charles Higham wrote that as Fontaine came forward to accept her trophy, she rejected de Havilland's attempt to congratulate her and that de Havilland was offended. (There may have been another similar incident after de Havilland won her first Oscar for To Each His Own in 1947.) The sisters, who never really got along since childhood, finally stopped speaking to each other in the mid-'70s. De Havilland, a two-time Oscar winner, is 97 and living in Paris. PHOTOS: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2013 Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland was born in Tokyo on Oct.

22, 1917, to British parents. Her father was a patent attorney who had a thriving practice in Japan. Due to the ill health of both her and Olivia, their mother, Lilian, moved them to California and pushed them into acting. While de Havilland pursued acting, Fontaine returned to Tokyo and attended the American School. Ultimately, their parents divorced and Fontaine returned to the U.S. at age 17 to live in San Jose, Calif. As de Havilland was already having some success as an actress, Fontaine joined a local theater group and moved to L.A. She received a screen test at MGM and was given a bit part in No More Ladies (1935), credited as Joan Burfield. After changing her last name to Fontaine (from her stepfather, George Fontaine) to avoid confusion with her sister, she signed with RKO and garnered small parts in several movies, including The Women and Gunga Din, both released in 1939.

Capitalizing on her emotional turns in Rebecca and Suspicion, Fontaine appeared in several romantic films in the '40s, including Constant Nymph (where she falls for composer Charles Boyer), Frenchman's Creek (1944), The Affairs of Susan (1945), From This Day Forward (1945) and Ivy (1947). Fontaine moved into more mature roles in the movies and starred on Broadway opposite Anthony Perkins in Tea and Sympathy in 1954. Her last movie appearance was in The Witches (1966). Fontaine made regular TV appearances in the late '50s and early '60s and served as a panelist on the game show To Tell the Truth from 1962-65. In 1986, she co-starred in the TV movie Dark Mansions and the miniseries Crossings. Her last credited performance came in the 1994 telefilm Good King Wenceslas. Fontaine was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1980 for her guest-starring stint in the soap opera Ryan's Hope and served as jury president at the 1982 Berlin International Film Festival.

In 1978, she published her autobiography, No Bed of Roses, which detailed her feud with de Havilland. Off the screen, Fontaine was a licensed pilot, an accomplished interior decorator and a Cordon Bleu-level chef who was married and divorced four times. In the '40s, she and William Dozier, the second of her four husbands, formed Rampart Productions, which oversaw her 1948 film Letter From an Unknown Woman, Billy Wilder's The Emperor Waltz (1948) starring Bing Crosby and Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948) with Burt Lancaster. In 1939, Fontaine married British actor Brian Aherne, and they divorced in 1945. She was married to Batman TV show producer Dozier from 1946-51, to producer Collier Young from 1952-61 and to journalist Alfred Wright Jr. from 1964-69. Duane Byrge contributed to this report.

Twitter: @mikebarnes4 The lifelong feud with her sister that Hollywood starlet took to her grave: How Oscar-winner Joan Fontaine failed to heal bitter rift with Olivia de Havilland before dying aged 96 | Daily Mail Online The lifelong feud with her sister that Hollywood starlet took to her grave: How Oscar-winner Joan Fontaine failed to heal bitter rift with Olivia de Havilland before dying aged 96 Icon passes away in her sleep after saying she wanted to die 'in bed - alone' Won Academy Award in 1941 for her role in Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion Embroiled in lifelong feud with sister and fellow actress Olivia De Havilland Would compete for their mother's attention, men and Hollywood film roles Said to have stopped speaking in 1975 after their mother died of cancer Fontaine once said: 'I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia did, and if I die first, she'll undoubtedly be livid' 100 Years Of Olivia De Havilland Handling Sexism, Her Sister, And Scarlett O'Hara : NPR 100 Years Of Olivia De Havilland Handling Sexism, Her Sister, And Scarlett O'Hara Embed Embed 1

00 Years Of Olivia De Havilland Handling Sexism, Her Sister, And Scarlett O'Hara 100 Years Of Olivia De Havilland Handling Sexism, Her Sister, And Scarlett O'Hara Embed Embed Olivia de Havilland — the last surviving cast member from Gone with the Wind — turns 100 on July 1.

Thibault Camus/AP hide caption toggle caption Thibault Camus/AP Olivia de Havilland — the last surviving cast member from Gone with the Wind — turns 100 on July 1. Thibault Camus/AP Enlarge this image De Havilland's career spanned more than five decades. Thanks to a lawsuit she filed against Warner Bros., she even has a landmark judicial ruling named after her — the de Havilland law limits the terms studios can impose up on actors. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Hulton Archive/Getty Images De Havilland's career spanned more than five decades. Thanks to a lawsuit she filed against Warner Bros., she even has a landmark judicial ruling named after her — the de Havilland law limits the terms studios can impose up on actors. Hulton Archive/Getty Images Actress Olivia de Havilland, the last surviving star of the most popular film of all time, retired from showbiz decades ago, apparently feeling that 49 films, two best actress Oscars, and a best-selling memoir were accomplishment enough for one career.

Friday in Paris, she celebrates her 100th birthday, which seems a good moment to reflect on the mix of sparkle and resilience that marked her public life. She got her start onscreen as a sweet Hermia in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, graduated to being a sweet ingenue in a slew of forgettable comedies, and then someone had the bright idea of casting her opposite Errol Flynn. He was a swashbuckler, and standing opposite him, de Havilland got feisty. They made eight pictures altogether, including the one that made her a star: The Adventures of Robin Hood, in which she played a sly, spunky Maid Marian. De Havilland looked like she had stepped out of a storybook, but she also gave the character intelligence and dignity. That clicked with audiences but did her no good at all with the brothers Warner, who kept casting her as ditzes. Article continues after sponsorship Olivia de Havilland shows off her two best actress Oscars in March 1950. She won the first for To Each His Own (1946) and the second for The Heiress (1949).

AP hide caption toggle caption AP Olivia de Havilland shows off her two best actress Oscars in March 1950. She won the first for To Each His Own (1946) and the second for The Heiress (1949). AP Happily, a rival studio asked if it could borrow her as a foil for its ditz — Vivien Leigh, who had just been cast as vain, self-centered Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind. Leigh would flutter, they figured, and de Havilland's down-to-earth Melanie would anchor the story. And she did. An angel to Scarlett's hellcat, Melanie believed the best about everyone, and de Havilland made her belief credible by grounding the character with generosity, humility, self-sacrifice — all the qualities Scarlett lacked. No one could have been more saintly. Off-screen, though, de Havilland was now able to be more assertive. Having proved she could do substantial roles, she started turning down sweet-young-thing parts, and Warner Bros. responded by placing her on a six-month suspension, then refusing to release her from her contract until she had made up the six months.

She sued, and not only won but got a landmark judgment — known as the de Havilland decision — that limited the terms studios could impose on actors. The victory came at a price: She didn't make a film for three years. But when she finally did, she won her first Oscar as an unwed mother forced to give up her child in To Each His Own. Oscar voters seemed to like the suffering de Havilland. She followed up that win with back-to-back best actress nominations for having a mental breakdown in The Snake Pit and a romantic breakdown in The Heiress. She won a second best actress Oscar for the latter. But by Hollywood standards, she was now an old lady of 33. Roles came less frequently back then to actresses as they approached their 40s. And when de Havilland complicated the equation by moving to France, and turning down the part of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, her star wattage began to dim. De Havilland smiles as she has her hair and makeup done in 1958. Express/Getty Images Not that she disappeared. Television beckoned with some of those meaty roles she had wanted.

And when Joan Crawford fell ill and had to drop out of Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte, de Havilland got to torment Bette Davis in what turned out to be the plummiest of plum old-lady roles. She and Davis played dueling cousins, but 1960s audiences, primed by gossip columnists, thought they saw glimmers of a real-life relative when de Havilland's eyes flashed daggers. She and her baby sister, Joan Fontaine, had supposedly been feuding since childhood, a notion nurtured by studio publicists. Fontaine won an Oscar first, and married first ... and once quipped, "If I die first, she'll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it." They both claimed publicly there wasn't an actual feud, though Fontaine kept the pot boiling with anecdotes in her autobiography and with catty replies when interviewers brought up childhood spats — say a physical altercation that resulted in Fontaine's breaking a collarbone. "I'm sure it wasn't entirely intentional," Fontaine said to interviewers, with a laugh. De Havilland did not take the bait, then or ever.

She smiled sweetly when the subject of her sister came up and took her cues from ... well, from Melanie, more or less. Scarlett, after all, had been just awful to her, and what did she say? "Oh Scarlett, you've been so good to me. No sister could've been sweeter." No sister indeed. De Havilland was 22 when she said that line, still learning about life as her character was giving up the ghost. She was the only star to die in Gone With the Wind, so perhaps it's fitting that she should be the star who gets to shine on in seeming perpetuity, a storied figure from Hollywood's golden age. Correction July 1, 2016

Question: Which film actress was the sister of Olivia de Havilland?
Answer: JOAN FONTAINE