Olivia de Havilland
Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland DBE (/də ˈhævɪlənd/; July 1, 1916 – July 26, 2020) was a British and American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988.[1] She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. At the time of her death in 2020 at age 104, she was the oldest living and earliest surviving Academy Award winner and was widely considered as being the last surviving major star from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. Her younger sister was Oscar-winning actress Joan Fontaine.
Dame
Olivia de Havilland
July 26, 2020 (aged 104)
Olivia Fontaine, Livvie
- United Kingdom (by birthright)
- United States (from 1941)
- France (after 1955)
Actress
1933–2010
2
- Walter de Havilland (father)
- Lilian Fontaine (mother)
- Joan Fontaine (sister)
- Hereward de Havilland (cousin)
- Geoffrey de Havilland (cousin)
De Havilland first came to prominence with Errol Flynn as a screen couple in adventure films such as Captain Blood (1935) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). One of her best-known roles is that of Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind (1939), for which she received her first of five Oscar nominations, the only one for Best Supporting Actress. De Havilland departed from ingénue roles in the 1940s and later distinguished herself for performances in Hold Back the Dawn (1941), To Each His Own (1946), The Snake Pit (1948), and The Heiress (1949), receiving nominations for Best Actress for each and winning for To Each His Own and The Heiress. She was also successful in work on stage and television. De Havilland lived in Paris from the 1950s and received honours such as the National Medal of the Arts, the Légion d'honneur, and the appointment to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire at the age of 101.
In addition to her film career, de Havilland continued her work in the theatre, appearing three times on Broadway, in Romeo and Juliet (1951), Candida (1952), and A Gift of Time (1962). She also worked in television, appearing in the successful miniseries Roots: The Next Generations (1979) and Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986), for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Movie or Series. During her film career, de Havilland also collected two New York Film Critics Circle Awards, the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress, and the Venice Film Festival Volpi Cup. For her contributions to the motion picture industry, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She and her sister remain the only siblings to have won major acting Academy Awards.
Career[edit]
1935–1937: Early films[edit]
De Havilland made her screen debut in Reinhardt's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935),[28] which was filmed at Warner Brothers studios from December 19, 1934, to March 9, 1935.[29] During the production, de Havilland picked up film acting techniques from the film's co-director William Dieterle and camera techniques from cinematographer Hal Mohr, who was impressed with her questions about his work. By the end of filming, she had learned the effect of lighting and camera angles on how she appeared on screen and how to find her best lighting.[30] Following premieres in New York City and Beverly Hills, the film was released on October 30, 1935.[29] Despite the publicity campaign, the film generated little enthusiasm with audiences.[28] While the critical response was mixed, de Havilland's performance was praised by The San Francisco Examiner critic.[31] In his review in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Winston Burdett wrote that she "acts graciously and does greater justice to Shakespeare's language than anyone else in the cast".[32] Two minor comedies followed, Alibi Ike (1935) with Joe E. Brown and The Irish in Us (1935) with James Cagney.[33] In both films, she played the sweet and charming love interest—a role into which she would later become typecast.[34] After the experience of being a Reinhardt player, de Havilland felt disappointed being assigned these routine heroine roles.[28][35] In March, de Havilland and her mother moved into an apartment at the Chateau des Fleurs at 6626 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood.[36]
Personal life[edit]
Relationships[edit]
Although known as one of Hollywood's most exciting on-screen couples,[229] de Havilland and Errol Flynn were never involved in a romantic relationship.[245] Upon first meeting her at Warner Bros. in August 1935, 26-year-old Flynn was drawn to the 19-year-old actress with "warm brown eyes" and "extraordinary charm".[246] In turn, de Havilland fell in love with him,[245][Note 13] but kept her feelings inside. Flynn later wrote, "By the time we made The Charge of the Light Brigade, I was sure that I was in love with her."[246] Flynn finally professed his love on March 12, 1937, at the coronation ball for King George VI at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, where they slow danced together to "Sweet Leilani" at the hotel's Coconut Grove nightclub.[247] "I was deeply affected by him," she later remembered, "It was impossible for me not to be."[248] The evening ended on a sobering note, however, with de Havilland insisting that despite his separation from his wife Lili Damita, he needed to divorce her before their relationship could proceed.[248] Flynn re-united with his wife later that year,[249] and de Havilland never acted on her feelings for Flynn.[245][Note 14]
In July 1938, de Havilland began dating business tycoon, aviator, and filmmaker Howard Hughes,[250] who had just completed his record-setting flight around the world in 91 hours.[12] In addition to escorting her about town, he gave the actress her first flying lessons.[250] She later said, "He was a rather shy man ... and yet, in a whole community where the men every day played heroes on the screen and didn't do anything heroic in life, here was this man who was a real hero."[12]
In December 1939, she began a romantic relationship with actor James Stewart. At the request of Irene Mayer Selznick, the actor's agent asked Stewart to escort de Havilland to the New York premiere of Gone with the Wind at the Astor Theater on December 19, 1939. Over the next few days, Stewart took her to the theatre several times and to the 21 Club.[251] They continued to see each other back in Los Angeles, where Stewart provided occasional flying lessons and romance.[252] According to de Havilland, Stewart proposed marriage to her in 1940, but she felt that he was not ready to settle down.[252] Their relationship ended in late 1941 when de Havilland began a romantic relationship with film director John Huston while making In This Our Life.[253] "John was a very great love of mine", she would later admit, "He was a man I wanted to marry."[254][Note 15]