Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-12 of 12
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Olivia Mary de Havilland was born on July 1, 1916 in Tokyo, Japan to British parents, Lilian Augusta (Ruse), a former actress, and Walter Augustus de Havilland, an English professor and patent attorney. Her sister Joan, later to become famous as Joan Fontaine, was born the following year. Her surname comes from her paternal grandfather, whose family was from Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Her parents divorced when Olivia was just three years old, and she moved with her mother and sister to Saratoga, California.
After graduating from high school, where she fell prey to the acting bug, Olivia enrolled in Mills College in Oakland, where she participated in the school play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and was spotted by Max Reinhardt. She so impressed Reinhardt that he picked her up for both his stage version and, later, the Warner Bros. film version in 1935. She again was so impressive that Warner executives signed her to a seven-year contract. No sooner had the ink dried on the contract than Olivia appeared in three more films: The Irish in Us (1935), Alibi Ike (1935), and Captain Blood (1935), this last with the man with whom her career would be most closely identified: heartthrob Errol Flynn. He and Olivia starred together in eight films during their careers. In 1939 Warner Bros. loaned her to David O. Selznick for the classic Gone with the Wind (1939). Playing sweet Melanie Hamilton, Olivia received her first nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, only to lose 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 she played Emmy Brown in Hold Back the Dawn (1941), which resulted in her second Oscar nomination, this time for Best Actress. Again she lost, this time to her sister Joan for her role in Suspicion (1941). After that strong showing, Olivia now demanded better, more substantial roles than the "sweet young thing" slot into which Warners had been fitting her. The studio responded by placing her on a six-month suspension, all of the studios at the time operating under the policy that players were nothing more than property to do with as they saw fit. As if that weren't bad enough, when her contract with Warners was up, she was told that she needed to make up the time lost because of the suspension. Irate, she sued the studio, and for the length of the court battle she didn't appear in a single film. The result, however, was worth it. In a landmark decision, the court said that not only would Olivia not need to make up the time, but also that all performers would be limited to a seven-year contract that would include any suspensions handed down. This became known as the "de Havilland decision": no longer could studios treat their performers as chattel. Olivia returned to the screen in 1946 and made up for lost time by appearing in four films, one of which finally won her the Oscar that had so long eluded her: To Each His Own (1946), in which she played Josephine Norris to the delight of critics and audiences alike. Olivia was the strongest performer in Hollywood for the balance of the 1940s.
In 1948 she turned in another strong showing in The Snake Pit (1948) as Virginia Cunningham, a woman suffering a mental breakdown. The end result was another Oscar nomination for Best Actress, but she lost to Jane Wyman in Johnny Belinda (1948). As in the two previous years, she made only one film in 1949, but she again won a nomination and the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Heiress (1949). After a three-year hiatus, Olivia returned to star in My Cousin Rachel (1952). From that point on, she made few appearances on the screen but was seen on Broadway and in some television shows. Her last screen appearance was in The Fifth Musketeer (1979), and her last career appearance was in the TV movie The Woman He Loved (1988).
Her turbulent relationship with her only sibling, Joan Fontaine, was press fodder for many decades; the two were reported as having been permanently estranged since their mother's death in 1975, when Joan claimed that she had not been invited to the memorial service, which she only managed to hold off until she could arrive by threatening to go public. Joan also wrote in her memoir that her elder sister had been physically, psychologically, and emotionally abusive when they were young. And the iconic photo of Joan with her hand outstretched to congratulate Olivia backstage after the latter's first Oscar win and Olivia ignoring it because she was peeved by a comment Joan had made about Olivia's new husband, Marcus Goodrich, remained part of Hollywood lore for many years.
Nonetheless, late in life, Fontaine gave an interview in which she serenely denied any and all claims of an estrangement from her sister. When a reporter asked Joan if she and Olivia were friends, she replied, "Of course!" The reporter responded that rumors to the contrary must have been sensationalism and she replied, "Oh, right--they have to. Two nice girls liking each other isn't copy." Asked if she and Olivia were in communication and spoke to each other, Joan replied "Absolutely." When asked if there ever had been a time when the two did not get along to the point where they wouldn't speak with one another, Joan replied, again, "Never. Never. There is not a word of truth about that." When asked why people believe it, she replied "Oh, I have no idea. It's just something to say ... Oh, it's terrible." When asked if she had seen Olivia over the years, she replied, "I've seen her in Paris. And she came to my apartment in New York often." The reporter stated that all this was a nice thing to hear. Joan then stated, "Let me just say, Olivia and I have never had a quarrel. We have never had any dissatisfaction. We have never had hard words. And all this is press." Joan died in 2013.
During the hoopla surrounding the 50th anniversary of GWTW in 1989, Olivia graciously declined requests for all interviews as the last of the four main stars. She enjoyed a quiet retirement in Paris, France, where she resided for many decades, and where she died on 26 July, 2020, at the age of 104.
As well as being the last surviving major cast member of some of cinema's most beloved pre-war and wartime film classics (including The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Gone with the Wind (1939)), and one of the longest-lived major stars in film history, Olivia de Havilland was unquestionably the last surviving iconic figure from the peak of Hollywood's golden era during the late 1930s, and her passing truly marked the end of an era.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Gordon Masten was born on 30 August 1950 in Lacolle, Québec, Canada. He was an actor, known for The Day After Tomorrow (2004), The Santa Clause (1994) and The Quest (1996). He died on 26 July 2020 in Lacolle, Québec, Canada.- Alison Fiske was born on 2 August 1943 in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Mansfield Park (1983), Performance (1991) and Helen: A Woman of Today (1973). She was married to Stephen Fagan. She died on 26 July 2020 in Lewes, East Sussex, England, UK.
- Michael Mandell was born on 11 June 1959 in Logansport, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for I Love You Phillip Morris (2009), New Year's Eve (2011) and Person of Interest (2011). He died on 26 July 2020.
- Shirley Coates was born on 28 July 1927 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was an actress, known for Clown Princes (1939), How We Used to Live (1968) and Three Smart Boys (1937). She died on 26 July 2020 in Orange, California, USA.
- Mahlon Reyes was born on 31 August 1981. He died on 26 July 2020 in Whitefish, Montana, USA.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Claudia Giannotti was born on 19 February 1937 in Campobasso, Molise, Italy. She was an actress, known for Nel mondo di Alice (1974), Ritratto di signora (1975) and Stunt Squad (1977). She died on 26 July 2020 in Turin, Piedmont, Italy.- Hans-Jochen Vogel was born on 3 February 1926 in Göttingen, Germany. He was an actor, known for Olympia - Olympia (1971), Pro & Contra (1968) and Urlaubszeitloser Bericht (1960). He was married to Liselotte Sonnenholzner. He died on 26 July 2020 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
- Thom Koutsoukos was an actor, known for The Fall Guy (1981), CHiPs (1977) and Taxi (1978). He died on 26 July 2020.
- Bill English was born on 27 January 1929 in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. He was married to Roberta. He died on 26 July 2020 in California, USA.
- Music Department
Sigfredo Ariel was born on 31 October 1962 in Santa Clara, Cuba. Sigfredo is known for Buena Vista Social Club (1999). Sigfredo died on 26 July 2020 in Havana, Cuba.- Editor
- Editorial Department
Chris Needs was born in 1954 in Cwmafan, Port Talbot, Wales, UK. He was an editor, known for Ear Say (1984), Board Stupid (1995) and Harry Hill: Man Alive (1997). He was married to Gabe Cameron. He died on 26 July 2020 in the UK.