Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland DBE (/də ˈhævɪlənd/; July 1, 1916 – July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. She was the last major surviving star from the Golden Age of Hollywood Cinema and the oldest living and earliest surviving Academy Award winner until her death in July 2020. Her younger sister was the actress Joan Fontaine.
De Havilland first came to prominence with Errol Flynn as a screen couple in adventure films such as Captain Blood (1935) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). One of her best-known roles is that of Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind (1939), for which she received her first of five Oscar nominations, the only one for Best Supporting Actress. De Havilland departed from ingénue roles in the 1940s and later distinguished herself for performances in Hold Back the Dawn (1941), To Each His Own (1946), The Snake Pit (1948), and The Heiress (1949), receiving nominations for Best Actress for each and winning for To Each His Own and The Heiress. She was also successful in work on stage and television. De Havilland lived in Paris from the 1950s and received honours such as the National Medal of the Arts, the Légion d’honneur, and the appointment to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
In addition to her film career, de Havilland continued her work in the theatre, appearing three times on Broadway, in Romeo and Juliet (1951), Candida (1952), and A Gift of Time (1962). She also worked in television, appearing in the successful miniseries Roots: The Next Generations (1979) and Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986), for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Movie or Series. During her film career, de Havilland also collected 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. She and her sister remain the only siblings to have won major acting Academy Awards and the only sisters to have won any Academy Awards.
15 best film
15.The Strawberry Blonde
Rita Hayworth, Olivia de Havilland
Released: 1941
Directed by: Raoul Walsh
Strawberry Blonde is a 1941 Warner Bros. feature film directed by Raoul Walsh, starring James Cagney and Olivia de Havilland, and featuring Rita Hayworth, Alan Hale, Jack Carson and..
14.Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna
Christian Bale, Omar Sharif
Released: 1986
Directed by: Marvin J. Chomsky
Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (NBC, 1986), also titled Anastasia: The Story of Anna, is an American-Austrian-Italian made-for-television biographical film broadcast in two parts. The film
13.They Died with Their Boots On
Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn
Released: 1941
Directed by: Raoul Walsh
This film is a 1941 American western film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Written by Æneas MacKenzie and Wally Kline, the film is a highly
12.The Male Animal
Henry Fonda, Olivia de Havilland
Released: 1942
Directed by: Elliott Nugent
The Male Animal is a Warner Brothers film starring Henry Fonda, Olivia de Havilland and Joan Leslie. The film was based on a hit 1940 Broadway play of the same name written by James
11.The Dark Mirror
Olivia de Havilland, Thomas Mitchell
Released: 1946
Directed by: Robert Siodmak
The Dark Mirror is a 1946 American psychological thriller film directed by Robert Siodmak, starring Olivia de Havilland as twins and Lew Ayres as their psychiatrist. The film marks Ayres’
10.Hold Back the Dawn
Olivia de Havilland, Paulette Goddard
Released: 1941
Directed by: Mitchell Leisen
Hold Back the Dawn is a 1941 romantic film in which a Romanian gigolo marries an American woman in Mexico in order to gain entry to the United States, but winds up falling in love with her.
9.Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Bette Davis, Joan Crawford
Released: 1964
Directed by: Robert Aldrich
Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte is a 1964 American thriller film directed and produced by Robert Aldrich, and starring Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, and Agnes Moorehead, as..
8.My Cousin Rachel
Richard Burton, Olivia de Havilland
Released: 1952
Directed by: Henry Koster
My Cousin Rachel is a 1952 American mystery-romance film directed by Henry Koster and starred Olivia de Havilland, Richard Burton, Audrey Dalton, Ronald Squire, George Dolenz and..
7.Captain Blood
Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn
Released: 1935
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Captain Blood is a 1935 American swashbuckling film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Ross Alexander. The film was made by First..
6.Airport ’77
Christopher Lee, James Stewart
Released: 1977
Directed by: Jerry Jameson
Airport ’77 is a 1977 disaster film and third movie in the Airport franchise. The film stars a number of veteran actors, including Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Joseph Cotten, Christopher..
5.To Each His Own
Olivia de Havilland, Roland Culver
Released: 1946
Directed by: Mitchell Leisen
To Each His Own is a 1946 American drama film. It was directed by Mitchell Leisen, and stars Olivia de Havilland, Mary Anderson, Roland Culver, and John Lund in his first on-screen
4.The Adventures of Robin Hood
Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn
Released: 1938
Directed by: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley
The Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American swashbuckler film directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude..
3.The Snake Pit
Olivia de Havilland, Celeste Holm
Released: 1948
Directed by: Anatole Litvak
The Snake Pit is a 1948 American drama film directed by Anatole Litvak and stars Olivia de Havilland, Mark Stevens, Leo Genn, Celeste Holm, Beulah Bondi, and Lee Patrick. Based on Mary..
2.The Heiress
Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift
Released: 1949
Directed by: William Wyler
The Heiress is a 1949 American drama film directed by William Wyler and starring Olivia de Havilland as Catherine Sloper, Montgomery Clift as Morris Townsend, and Ralph Richardson as Dr. Sloper…
1.Gone with the Wind
Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh
Released: 1939
Directed by: Sam Wood, George Cukor, Victor Fleming
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American epic historical romance film adapted from Margaret Mitchell’s Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel. It was produced by David O. Selznick of Selznick..
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