| Olivia Mary De Havilland was born to Walter and Lillian Ruse de havilland on July 1, 1916 in Tokyo, Japan. Walter was a professor of law at the Waseda University in Tokyo. Her sister, Joan, later to be Joan Fontaine, was born the following year. Her parents divorced when Olivia was just three years old and Lillian returned to America. She settled with her daughters in Saratoga, California, and later married George Fontaine.. | | 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", that she was spotted by a talent scout who represented Max Reinhardt. Reinhardt was planning a national tour of the play to begin at the Hollywood Bowl. De Havilland traveled to Hollywood to audition and was selected as second understudy to the actress playing Hermia. Before opening night the actress and her first understudy were called to make a movie, leaving Olivia to undertake the role. She was so impressive in the production that a producer at Warner Brothers convinced Jack Warner to fly out from New York to see de Havilland. She, again, was so impressive that Warner executives signed her to a seven year contract.Olivia began playing opposite newcxomer Errol Flynn in films such asCaptain BloodandThe Charge of the Light Brigade. Flynn and Olivia were to star in a string of eight "hero rescues damsel" productions together during their careers.In 1939, Warner Bros. loaned her to David O. Selznick for the famed production called GWTW. Playing the sweet Melanie Hamilton, Olivia received her first nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role, only losing 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, Olivia played Emmy Brown inHold Back the Dawn, which resulted in her second nomination for an Oscar, this time for Best Actress. This time she lost to her sister, Joan, for her role inSuspicionAfter strong showing forHold Back the Dawn, Olivia now demanded better acting roles instead of the being typecast in "sweet" roles. The studio responded by placing her under a six month suspension. All the studios at the time were under the assumption that players were nothing more than property to do with as they saw fit. If that wasn't bad enough, when her contract with the studio was up, Warner said Olivia would have to make up the lost time because of the suspension. Irate, Olivia sued the studio. During the time of the court battle, Olivia didn't appear in a single film. The result, however, was worth the wait. In a landmark decision, the courts said that not only did Olivia not have to make up the time, but all performers were to be limited to a seven year contract which would include any suspensions handed down. This became known as the De Havilland Law. Now studios couldn't treat their performers as mere cattle.Returning to screen in 1946, Olivia responded by appearing in four films. One in particular won her that elusive Oscar. It wasTo Each His Ownwhere she played Josephine Norris to the delight of critics and audiences alike. Olivia was the strongest performer in Hollywood for the balance of the 1940's. In 1948, she turned in another strong showing inThe Snake Pitas Virginia Cunningham, a woman suffering a mental breakdown. The end result was another Oscar nomination for Best Actress. She lost to Jane Wyman inJohnny Belinda. As in the two previous years, she made only one film in 1949, but again won a nomination and the Academy Award for Best Actress inThe Heiress. After a three year hiatus, Olivia returned in 1952 to star inMy Cousin Rachel. From that point on she made few appearances on the silver screen, but was seen on Broadway and some television shows.Her last screen appearance wasThe Fifth Musketeerin 1979. Her last appearance anywhere was in the TV movieThe Woman He Loved. During the hoopla surrounding the 50th anniversary of GWTW in 1989, she graciously declined requests for all interviews as the only surviving member of the four main stars. Today she enjoys a quiet retirement at the age of 83. |
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