Decades ago she cemented her reputation as a groundbreaking leading woman in Hollywood, and despite her retirement and advanced age, nothing seems to slow down her forever youthful spirit.
Academy Award-winning actress Olivia de Havilland old the last July, and along with she is one of the last living stars from classic Hollywood, and she is still news because of her challenging attitude.turned 103 years102-year-old Kirk Douglas
Mostly known for her part in “Gone with the Wind” and because of a much-publicized “lifelong feud” with her late , De Havilland has led one of the most exciting careers in the media. Let’s look .sister Joan Fontaineback at her life
Olivia de Havilland was , Japan on July 1, 1916. Her destiny might have been shaped by her given name, which was reportedly inspired by the character of from William Shakespeare’s play “Twelfth Night.”born in Tokyothe same name
De Havilland and her younger sister Joan Fontaine, another legendary actress, are the daughters of a British patent attorney and a stag actress. Since both their parents were British citizens, the sisters were automatically entitled to be UK nationals.
Later, De Havilland also became a US citizen, moving to California in 1919. After her marriage to Pierre Galante she obtained a third nationality, becoming . She still .a French citizenlives in Paris
Growing up in California, De Havilland soon followed her mother’s vocation and started to appear on stage plays. Apparently, she was actually thinking to pursue a , but fate had something different in store for her.career in teaching
De Havilland was taking part in a community theater version of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” playing the , when she was “discovered” by Hollywood director Max Reinhardt, who asked him to join his stage troupe.role of Puck
The young actress then got to play Hermia in Reinhardt’s version of the play, presented at the Hollywood Bowl in 1933. Two years later on the big screen. De Havilland reprised the role of Hermia in the .she was debuting1935 film adaptation
De Havilland was in four films in her freshman year in the movies, the last of which was “Captain Blood.” marked the first time the actress shared the screen with Flynn, with whom she was going to co-star frequently.The pirate-themed picture
The chemistry between the two made them a popular onscreen pair and they worked together in a total of seven films, the most famous of which was “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (1938).
Many years after completing her last film with Flynn in 1941, a 92-year-old that the two had feelings for each other but never did anything about it. Flynn, also shared that he had indeed with her.De Havilland admittedfallen in love
While her films with Flynn gave her steady work and exposure in the industry, the adventure and action stories these movies told did little to showcase De Havilland’s acting skills.1939 changed everything for the star, when she landed her breakthrough role as Melanie Hamilton in “Gone with the Wind,” which earned her the first Academy Award nomination.the legendary film
Today, 80 years since the film was released, De Havilland is the of the cast, which is somehow ironic since her character was the only major one to die in the Civil War classic.only surviving member
In 1943, already a big star and household name, was frustrated with the way her studio, Warner Brothers, was handling her career, and she was relieved to know that the contract she had signed with the Hollywood giant was coming to an end.
But now that De Havilland was too valuable for the studio to let her go, they claimed she owned some time and was obliged to stay longer. Outraged, the actress filed a suit against the studio in court.
In 1945, the California Supreme Court of De Havilland, which resulted in the “De Havilland rule,” a law that forbids the studios to sign contracts longer than seven years with actors.ruled in favor
In 1946, after three years away from the cameras while in the middle of her legal battle, De Havilland made to the big screen with her Academy Award-winning performance in “To Each His Own.”a triumphant return
The film earned her the third Oscar nomination and her first win, as Best Actress in a Leading Role. Thus, De Havilland and her became to win Best Actress in the Academy Awards.sister Joan Fontainethe only sisters
In 1950, De Havilland got her second Academy Award as Best Actress for her part in “The Heiress.” She went on to become only the third Academy Award winner to reach the age of 100.
The role of Miriam in the psychological thriller “Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte” (1964), a sequel of sorts to “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” (1962), was the last major work to mention in De Havilland’s long and successful career.