Olivia de Havilland
Acting
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Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland DBE (/dəˈhævɪlənd/; born July 1, 1916) is 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 has 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 is the oldest woman ever to receive the honour. In a statement, she called it "the most gratifying of birthday presents".
Filmography of
Olivia de Havilland
Herself (archive footage)
... 2015
Herself
... 2009
Herself - Actress (also archive footage)
... 2005
... 2004
... 1988
Aunt Bessie Merryman
... 1988
Dowager Empress Maria
... 1986
... 1983
Herself (archive footage)
... 1983
Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother
... 1982
Honoria Waynflete
... 1982
Anne d'Autriche
... 1979
Maureen
... 1978
Emily Livingston
... 1977
Mother Superior
... 1972
Laura Wynant
... 1972
Deborah Hadley
... 1970
Ellie Thompson
... 1966
Miriam Deering
... 1964
Mrs. Cornelia Hilyard
... 1964
... 1963
Meg Johnson
... 1962
Lady Margaret Anne Loddon
... 1959
Linnett Moore
... 1958
Joan Fisk
... 1956
Kristina Hedvigson
... 1955
Ana de Mendoza
... 1955
Rachel Sangalletti Ashley
... 1952
Catherine Sloper
... 1949
Virginia Stuart Cunningham
... 1948
Terry / Ruth Collins
... 1946
Margie Dawson
... 1946
Charlotte Brontë
... 1946
Miss Josephine 'Jody' Norris
... 1946
Herself
... 1944
Elizabeth 'Smokey' Allard
... 1943
Princess Maria
... 1943
Herself
... 1943
Herself
... 1943
... 1943
Roy Timberlake
... 1942
Ellen Turner
... 1942
Herself (uncredited)
... 1942
Elizabeth Bacon
... 1941
Emmy Brown
... 1941
Amy Lind
... 1941
Kit Carson Holliday
... 1940
Herself
... 1940
Amelia Cornell
... 1940
Melanie Hamilton
... 1939
Gwen
... 1939
Lady Penelope Gray
... 1939
Abbie Irving
... 1939
Irene Dale
... 1939
Margaret "Maggie" Richards
... 1938
Lorri Dillingwell
... 1938
Serena Ferris (archive footage)
... 1938
Maid Marian
... 1938
Serena Ferris
... 1938
Germaine de la Corbe
... 1937
Marcia West
... 1937
Olivia de Havilland (uncredited)
... 1937
Catherine 'Cath' Hilton
... 1937
Elsa Campbell
... 1936
... 1936
Angela Guiseppe
... 1936
... 1936
Herself (uncredited)
... 1935
Arabella Bishop
... 1935
Hermia
... 1935
Lucille Jackson
... 1935
Dolly Stevens
... 1935