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".
2021
as Self - Actress
2009
as Self (archive footage)
2005
as Self - Actress (also archive footage)
2004
as Herself
1995
as Self
1988
as Self - Cast Member in 'Gone with the Wind' (archive footage)
1988
as Aunt Bessie Merryman
1986
as Dowager Empress Maria
1985
as Mrs. Neal
1985
as Self
1983
as Self
1983
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1983
as Self
1982
as Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother
1982
as Honoria Waynflete
1979
as Anne d'Autriche
1979
as Mrs. Warner
1978
as Maureen Schuester
1978
as Self
1977
as Aunt Hilly
1977
as Emily Livingston
1973
as Self
1972
as Mother Superior
1972
as Laura Wynant
1970
as Deborah Hadley
1966
as Ellie Thompson
1966
as Ellie Thompson
1964
as Miriam Deering
1964
as Mrs. Cornelia Hilyard
1964
as Self
1962
as Meg Johnson
1959
as Lady Margaret Anne Loddon
1958
as Linnett Moore
1956
as Joan Fisk
1955
as Kristina Hedvigson / Kristina Marsh
1955
as Ana de Mendoza
1954
as Self
1953
as Self
1952
as Rachel Sangalletti Ashley
1950
as Self - Mystery Guest
1949
as Catherine Sloper
1948
as Virginia Stuart Cunningham
1946
as Terry / Ruth Collins
1946
as Margie Dawson
1946
as Charlotte Brontë
1946
as Miss Josephine 'Jody' Norris
1944
as Self
1943
as Elizabeth 'Smokey' Allard
1943
as Princess Maria
1943
as Self
1943
as Self
1943
1942
as Self
1942
as Roy Timberlake
1942
as Ellen Turner
1941
as Elizabeth Bacon
1941
as Emmy Brown
1941
as Amy Lind
1940
as Kit Carson Holliday
1940
as Self
1940
as Amelia Cornell
1939
as Lady Penelope Gray
1939
as Gwen
1939
as Abbie Irving
1939
as Melanie Hamilton
1939
as Irene Dale
1938
as Margaret "Maggie" Richards
1938
as Lorri Dillingwell
1938
as Serena Ferris (archive footage)
1938
as Maid Marian
1938
as Serena Ferris
1937
as Germaine de la Corbe
1937
as Marcia West
1937
as Olivia de Havilland (uncredited)
1937
as Catherine 'Cath' Hilton
1936
as Elsa Campbell
1936
as Self
1936
as Angela Guiseppe
1936
1935
as Herself (uncredited)
1935
as Arabella Bishop
1935
as Hermia
1935
as Lucille Jackson
1935
as Dolly Stevens