CINEFILER

Olivia de Havilland

Born
July 1, 1916
Died
July 26, 2020
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland DBE (July 1, 1916 - July 25, 2020) was a British-American actress, whose career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films, and was one of the leading movie stars during the golden age of Classical Hollywood. She is best known for her early screen performances in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Gone with the Wind (1939), and her later award-winning performances in To Each His Own (1946), The Snake Pit (1948), and The Heiress (1949). Born in Tokyo to British parents, de Havilland and her younger sister, actress Joan Fontaine, moved with their mother to California in 1919. They were brought up by their mother Lilian, a former stage actress who taught them drama, music, and elocution. Olivia de Havilland made her screen debut in Reinhardt's A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1935. During her career, she often played demure ingénues opposite popular leading men, including Errol Flynn, with whom she made nine films. They became one of Hollywood's most popular romantic on-screen pairings. She achieved her initial popularity in romantic comedy films, such as The Great Garrick (1937), and in Westerns, such as Dodge City (1939). Her natural beauty and refined acting style made her particularly effective in historical period dramas, such as Anthony Adverse (1936), and romantic dramas, such as Hold Back the Dawn (1941). In her later career, she was most successful in dramas, such as Light in the Piazza (1962), and unglamorous roles in psychological dramas including Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964). In addition to her film career, de Havilland continued her work in the theatre, appearing three times on Broadway. She also worked in television, appearing in the successful miniseries, Roots: The Next Generations (1979), and television feature films, such as Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. During her film career, de Havilland won two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, 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. For her lifetime contribution to the arts, she received the National Medal of Arts from President George W. Bush, and was appointed a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. De Havilland and Joan Fontaine are the only siblings to have won Academy Awards in a lead acting category. A lifelong rivalry between the two actresses resulted in an estrangement that lasted over three decades. De Havilland lived in Paris since 1956, and celebrated her 100th birthday on July 1, 2016. In June 2017, two weeks before her 101st birthday, de Havilland was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to drama. She was the oldest woman ever to receive the honour. In a statement, she called it "the most gratifying of birthday presents".
Known For
Gone with the Wind
(1939)
Melanie Hamilton
The Adventures of Robin Hood
(1938)
Maid Marian
Airport '77
(1977)
Emily Livingston
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
(1964)
Miriam Deering
The Dark Mirror
(1946)
Terry / Ruth Collins
The Swarm
(1978)
Maureen Schuester
Dodge City
(1939)
Abbie Irving
In This Our Life
(1942)
Roy Timberlake
The Heiress
(1949)
Catherine Sloper
The Strawberry Blonde
(1941)
Amy Lind
They Died with Their Boots On
(1941)
Elizabeth Bacon
The Charge of the Light Brigade
(1936)
Elsa Campbell
Captain Blood
(1935)
Arabella Bishop
My Cousin Rachel
(1952)
Rachel Sangalletti Ashley
The Adventurers
(1970)
Deborah Hadley
Santa Fe Trail
(1940)
Kit Carson Holliday
Full Filmography
Acting
Captain Blood
(1935)
Arabella Bishop
A Midsummer Night's Dream
(1935)
Hermia
Alibi Ike
(1935)
Dolly Stevens
The Irish in Us
(1935)
Lucille Jackson
A Dream Comes True
(1935)
Herself (uncredited)
Anthony Adverse
(1936)
Angela Guiseppe
The Charge of the Light Brigade
(1936)
Elsa Campbell
The Making of a Great Motion Picture
(1936)
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
(1936)
Self
It's Love I'm After
(1937)
Marcia West
The Great Garrick
(1937)
Germaine de la Corbe
Call It a Day
(1937)
Catherine 'Cath' Hilton
A Day at Santa Anita
(1937)
Olivia de Havilland (uncredited)
The Adventures of Robin Hood
(1938)
Maid Marian
Four's a Crowd
(1938)
Lorri Dillingwell
Out Where the Stars Begin
(1938)
Serena Ferris (archive footage)
Hard to Get
(1938)
Margaret "Maggie" Richards
Gold Is Where You Find It
(1938)
Serena Ferris
Gone with the Wind
(1939)
Melanie Hamilton
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
(1939)
Lady Penelope Gray
Dodge City
(1939)
Abbie Irving
Wings of the Navy
(1939)
Irene Dale
Raffles
(1939)
Gwen
Santa Fe Trail
(1940)
Kit Carson Holliday
My Love Came Back
(1940)
Amelia Cornell
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
(1940)
Self
They Died with Their Boots On
(1941)
Elizabeth Bacon
Hold Back the Dawn
(1941)
Emmy Brown
The Strawberry Blonde
(1941)
Amy Lind
In This Our Life
(1942)
Roy Timberlake
The Male Animal
(1942)
Ellen Turner
Breakdowns of 1942
(1942)
Self
Princess O'Rourke
(1943)
Princess Maria
Thank Your Lucky Stars
(1943)
Self
Government Girl
(1943)
Elizabeth 'Smokey' Allard
Show-Business at War
(1943)
Self
Stars on Horseback
(1943)
Breakdowns of 1944
(1944)
Self
The Dark Mirror
(1946)
Terry / Ruth Collins
Devotion
(1946)
Charlotte Brontë
To Each His Own
(1946)
Miss Josephine 'Jody' Norris
The Well Groomed Bride
(1946)
Margie Dawson
The Snake Pit
(1948)
Virginia Stuart Cunningham
The Heiress
(1949)
Catherine Sloper
My Cousin Rachel
(1952)
Rachel Sangalletti Ashley
Not as a Stranger
(1955)
Kristina Hedvigson / Kristina Marsh
That Lady
(1955)
Ana de Mendoza
The Ambassador's Daughter
(1956)
Joan Fisk
The Proud Rebel
(1958)
Linnett Moore
Libel
(1959)
Lady Margaret Anne Loddon
Light in the Piazza
(1962)
Meg Johnson
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
(1964)
Miriam Deering
Lady in a Cage
(1964)
Mrs. Cornelia Hilyard
Noon Wine
(1966)
Ellie Thompson
The Adventurers
(1970)
Deborah Hadley
The Screaming Woman
(1972)
Laura Wynant
Pope Joan
(1972)
Mother Superior
Airport '77
(1977)
Emily Livingston
The Swarm
(1978)
Maureen Schuester
Inside 'the Swarm'
(1978)
Self
The Fifth Musketeer
(1979)
Anne d'Autriche
Murder Is Easy
(1982)
Honoria Waynflete
The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana
(1982)
Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother
Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano
(1983)
Self
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
(1983)
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Night of 100 Stars II
(1985)
Self
The Woman He Loved
(1988)
Aunt Bessie Merryman
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
(1988)
Self - Cast Member in 'Gone with the Wind' (archive footage)
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
(1995)
Self
Melanie Remembers: Reflections by Olivia de Havilland
(2004)
Herself
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
(2005)
Self - Actress (also archive footage)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
(2009)
Self (archive footage)
The Rebellious Olivia de Havilland
(2021)
Self - Actress
Data provided by TMDB