Olivia de Havilland
Birth : 1916-07-01, Tokyo, Japan
Death : 2020-07-26
History
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".
Self - Actress
The legendary British-American actress Olivia de Havilland (1916-2020), who conquered Hollywood in the thirties, challenged the film industry when, in 1943, she took on the all-powerful producer Jack Warner in court, forever changing the ruthless working conditions that restricted the essential rights and freedom of artists.
Self (archive footage)
Documentary looking at the life and career of 1930s film star Leslie Howard. It features exclusive home movie footage, including footage from the Gone with the Wind set. The film includes extensive interviews with Howard's daughter, Leslie Ruth "Doodie" Howard, and contributions from friends and colleagues.
Self (archive footage)
This documentary focuses on 1939, considered to be Hollywood's greatest year, with film clips and insight into what made the year so special.
Self - Actress (also archive footage)
A documentary about the life of Errol Flynn, with recollections from friends and family.
Herself
This documentary is featured in the 4-disc Collector's Edition DVD set, released in 2004, for Gone with the Wind (1939).
Self
Based on the first centenary of the largest exporter of films in the world, that is Hollywood, is the story told by its protagonists, actors and writers and other people who made life in this business, interspersing images of famous movies.
(archive footage)
This documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests, insightful interviews and rare film footage.
Aunt Bessie Merryman
In 1936, Edward VIII abdicated in order to marry the woman he loved, Wallis Simpson, a twice divorced American. These events caused a scandal around the world and Wallis has since been demonised as the woman who stole the King of England.
Dowager Empress Maria
Story of Anna Anderson, who claimed to be Anastasia Romanov, the only surviving daughter of the Czar and Czarina of Russia.
Self
This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited from a seven-hour live entertainment marathon that was taped February 17, 1985, at New York's Radio City Music Hall, this sequel to the 1982 "Night of 100 Stars" special features 288 celebrities.
Self
A documentary about and an interview with Hollywood actress Bette Davis about her life and career from the late 1920s to the 1980s on stage and mostly before the camera.
Herself (archive footage)
Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas, wardrobe tests, documentary material, and archival footage make up this star-studded voyeuristic look at the Golden age of Hollywood during the 30s, 40, and 50.
Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother
The second Charles and Diana movie, with two virtual unknowns in the leads: Christopher Baines had acted on the British stage and on the BBC, but Catherine Oxenberg, a U.S.-born, British-raised professional model, here made her acting debut. Of particular interest was the casting of Dana Wynter as Queen Elizabeth, Stewart Granger as Prince Philip, Olivia de Havilland as the Queen Mother, and Ray Milland as a general factotum around the Palace.
Honoria Waynflete
American computer whiz Luke Williams meets elderly Lavinia Fullerton on a London-bound train. She reveals she's discovered the identity of a serial killer in her village and is going to report it to Scotland Yard. When she's murdered after disembarking the train. Williams vows to pursue the case himself
Anne d'Autriche
King Louis XIV has without his knowledge a twin brother, Philippe, but when he is told, he immediately locks up his brother in the Bastille. The king wants to increase his popularity and stages an assassination against himself where Philippe is dressed as king Louis. But Philippe manages to escape the assassination and everybody believes him to be the real king...
Maureen Schuester
Scientist Dr. Bradford Crane and army general Thalius Slater join forces to fight an almost invisible enemy threatening America; killer bees that have deadly venom and attack without reason. Disaster movie-master Irwin Allen's film contains spectacular special effects, including a train crash caused by the eponymous swarm.
Emily Livingston
Flight 23 has crashed in the Bermuda Triangle after a hijacking gone wrong. Now the surviving passengers must brave panic, slow leaks, oxygen depletion, and more while attempting a daring plan, all while 200 feet underwater.
Mother Superior
Based on the medieval legend of Pope Joan, who was made Pope for a brief period around 855 A.D. The movie presents her existence as fact, though it is questionable that Pope Joan really did exist, and portrays her relationships with other notables of the time.
Laura Wynant
A wealthy former mental patient goes home to her estate to rest and recuperate. While walking the grounds one day she hears the screams of a woman coming from underneath the ground. Her family, however, refuses to believe her story, and sees the incident as an opportunity to prove the woman's mind has snapped so they can take control of her money.
Deborah Hadley
The wealthy playboy son of an assassinated South American diplomat discovers that his father was murdered on orders of the corrupt president of the country- a man who was his father's friend and who, in fact, his father had helped put into power. He returns from living a jet-set life in Europe to lead a revolution against the government, only to find out that things aren't quite as black and white as he'd assumed.
Ellie Thompson
A dark tragedy about a farmer's futile act of homicide that takes place on a small dairy farm in southern Texas during the 1890s. Sam Peckinpah directed this original adaptation of the Katherine Anne Porter novel for ABC, and the project became an hour-long presentation for ABC Stage 67, premiering on Nov. 23, 1966.
Miriam Deering
An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.
Mrs. Cornelia Hilyard
A woman trapped in a home elevator is terrorized by a group of vicious hoodlums.
Self
A collection of behind the scenes and home movies from the golden age of Hollywood.
Meg Johnson
A young American woman traveling in Italy with her mother is slender, blonde, beautiful and there is something charmingly naive about her. Fabrizio Naccarelli seems to always know where the mother and daughter will sightsee next. Signor Naccarelli is just as concerned about where this will lead as Mrs. Johnson is. Then she starts thinking that perhaps her daughter can be a wife of a wealthy young man in a society where all she has to do is look beautiful. What happens if Signor Naccarelli finds out who his prospective daughter-in-law really is?
Lady Margaret Anne Loddon
A California commercial pilot sees a telecast in London of an interview with Sir Mark Lodden at his home. The Canadian is convinced that the baronet is a fraud, and he is actually a look-alike actor named Frank Welney.
Linnett Moore
Searching for a doctor who can help him get his son to speak again--the boy hadn't uttered a word since he saw his mother die in the fire that burned down the family home--a Confederate veteran finds himself facing a 30-day jail sentence when he's unfairly accused of starting a brawl in a small town. A local woman pays his fine, providing that he works it off on her ranch. He soon finds himself involved in the woman's struggle to keep her ranch from a local landowner who wants it--and whose sons were responsible for the man being framed for the fight.
Joan Fisk
While on leave in Paris, a G.I. pursues an ambassador's daughter. Meanwhile she's out to prove to her father that soldiers can be gentlemen, too.
Kristina Hedvigson
Lucas Marsh, an intern bent upon becoming a first-class doctor, not merely a successful one. He courts and marries the warm-hearted Kristina, not out of love but because she is highly knowledgeable in the skills of the operating room and because she has frugally put aside her savings through the years. She will be, as he shrewdly knows, a supportive wife in every way. She helps make him the success he wants to be and cheerfully moves with him to the small town in which he starts his practice. But as much as he tries to be a good husband to the undemanding Kristina, Marsh easily falls into the arms of a local siren and the patience of the long-sorrowing Kristina wears thin.
Ana de Mendoza
In 1570, widowed Princess Ana de Mendoza becomes the love object of a deadly rivalry between her cousin Don Inigo, King Philip II of Spain and his secretary of state Antonio Perez.
Rachel Sangalletti Ashley
A young man plots revenge against the woman he believes murdered his cousin, but his plans are shaken when he comes face to face with the enigmatic beauty.
Catherine Sloper
Dull and plain Catherine lives with her emotionally distant father, Dr. Sloper, in 1840s New York. Her days are empty — filled with little more than needlepoint. Enter handsome Morris Townsend, a dashing social climber with his eye on the spinster's heart and substantial inheritance.
Virginia Stuart Cunningham
Virginia Cunningham is confused upon finding herself in a mental hospital, with no memory of her arrival at the institution. Tormented by delusions and unable to even recognize her husband, Robert, she is treated by Dr. Mark Kik, who is determined to get to the root of her mental illness. As her treatment progresses, flashbacks depict events in Virginia's life that may have contributed to her instability.
Terry / Ruth Collins
A sister and her disturbed twin are implicated in a murder and a police detective must figure out which one's the killer.
Margie Dawson
A man and a woman fight over the last bottle of champagne left in San Francisco--she wants it for a wedding, and he wants to use it to christen a ship.
Charlotte Brontë
In Victorian England, literary siblings Emily and Charlotte Brontë vie for the affection of the Rev. Arthur Nicholls. Along with their sister Anne, Emily and Charlotte also try to help their tormented brother Branwell, a gifted artist whose life is being destroyed by alcohol.
Miss Josephine 'Jody' Norris
During World War I, small-town girl Josephine Norris has an illegitimate son by an itinerant pilot. After a scheme to adopt him ends up giving him to another family, she devotes her life to loving him from afar.
Self
The Warner Bros. annual blooper reel for 1944.
Elizabeth 'Smokey' Allard
An aviation engineer and a government secretary are thrown together by the war effort.
Princess Maria
A down-to-earth pilot charms a European princess on vacation in the United States.
Self
An Eddie Cantor look-alike organizes an all-star show to help the war effort.
Self
A multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.
A profile of blacksmith George Garfield, among whose Hollywood clients were the horses of Joel McCrea and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams.
Roy Timberlake
An unhappy, self-centered woman runs off with her sister's husband, wreaking havoc and ruining the lives of those around her.
Ellen Turner
The trustees of Midwestern University have forced three teachers out of their jobs for being suspected communists. Trustee Ed Keller has also threatened mild mannered English Professor Tommy Turner, because he plans to read a controversial piece of prose in class. Tommy is upset that his wife Ellen also suggested he not read the passage. Meanwhile, Ellen's old boyfriend, the football player Joe Ferguson, comes to visit for the homecoming weekend. He takes Ellen out dancing after the football rally, causing Tommy to worry that he will lose her to Joe.
Self
This is a collection of bloopers and film manipulation by The Warner Studio Club for an annual dinner for the staff at Warner Brothers.
Elizabeth Bacon
The story follows General George Armstrong Custer's adventures from his West Point days to his death. He defies orders during the Civil War, trains the 7th Cavalry, appeases Chief Crazy Horse and later engages in bloody battle with the Sioux nation.
Emmy Brown
Romanian-French gigolo Georges Iscovescu wishes to enter the USA. Stopped in Mexico by the quota system, he decides to marry an American, then desert her and join his old partner Anita, who's done likewise. But after sweeping teacher Emmy Brown off her feet, he finds her so sweet that love and jealousy endanger his plans.
Amy Lind
Biff Grimes is desperately in love with Virginia, but his best friend Hugo marries her and manipulates Biff into becoming involved in his somewhat nefarious businesses. Hugo appears to have stolen Biff's dreams, and Biff has to deal with the realisation that having what he wants and wanting what another has can be very different things.
Kit Carson Holliday
As a penalty for fighting fellow classmates days before graduating from West Point, J.E.B. Stuart, George Armstrong Custer and four friends are assigned to the 2nd Cavalry, stationed at Fort Leavenworth. While there they aid in the capture and execution of the abolitionist, John Brown following the Battle of Harper's Ferry.
Self
This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including Shirley Temple and Walt Disney, plus acceptance speeches for films released in 1939 with recipients and presenters including Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Hattie McDaniel, Fay Bainter, Mickey Rooney, Thomas Mitchell, Sinclair Lewis, and more, with host Bob Hope.
Amelia Cornell
Amelia is a gifted violinist who is in danger of quitting the Brissac Academy of Music. Julius arranges to have a scholarship given to her through his employee Tony so that Julius can escort Amelia to every musical event in the city. The trouble begins when he cannot meet her one night and Tony goes in his place. Tony believes that Julius and Amelia are a couple and then son Paul thinks that Tony and Amelia are a couple as he is sending her the money. The worst part is that Amelia might leave classical music for swing music with classmates Dusty, Joy and the band.
Melanie Hamilton
The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era.
Gwen
Man about town and First Class cricketer A.J. Raffles keeps himself solvent with daring robberies. Meeting Gwen from his schooldays and falling in love all over again, he spends the weekend with her parents, Lord and Lady Melrose. A necklace presents an irresistible temptation, but also in attendance is Scotland Yard's finest, finally on the trail.
Lady Penelope Gray
This period drama frames the tumultuous affair between Queen Elizabeth I and the man who would be King of England.
Abbie Irving
In this epic Western, Wade Hatton, a wagon master turned sheriff, tames a cow town at the end of a railroad line.
Irene Dale
Jerry tries to out compete his older brother Cass, a lieutenant Naval aviator. Cass is both tough on and protective of his brother, but Jerry can give it right back.
Margaret "Maggie" Richards
When spoiled young heiress Maggie Richards tries to charge some gasoline at an auto camp run by Bill Davis, he makes her work out her bill by making beds. Resolving to get even, she pretends to have forgiven him, and sends him to her father to get financing for a plan Bill has. What happens next was not part of her original revenge plan.
Lorri Dillingwell
A publicist falls for his most difficult client's daughter.
Serena Ferris (archive footage)
When the ballerina star of a musical feature walks off in a huff, aided by the fit-throwing director, her understudy steps in and a star is born.
Maid Marian
Robin Hood fights nobly for justice against the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne while striving to win the hand of the beautiful Maid Marian.
Serena Ferris
Colonel Ferris, a wealthy farmer in northern California, is strongly opposed to hydraulic mining, a new method developed during the gold rush of the 1870's, which is flooding the area's prosperous farmlands. Despite Ferris' political stance, Jared Whitney, a mining engineer from the East, becomes friends with the colonel's son Lance and falls in love with his daughter Serena. Family tensions deepen when the colonel's brother Ralph gives up farming to go to San Francisco to work for his wife Rosanna's father, Harrison McCooey, a leader in the mining venture. When Lance follows Ralph, the colonel, focusing his anger on Jared, forbids him to see Serena.
Germaine de la Corbe
A British actor insults a French acting group only to fall victim to a prank that might destroy his career.
Marcia West
An infatuated debutante renews a Shakespearean actor's running feud with his leading lady.
Olivia de Havilland (uncredited)
Orphaned horse-trainer's little daughter has reciprocated bond with horse, which needs her presence to win races.
Catherine 'Cath' Hilton
The various members of the middle-class Hilton family have a series of romantic misadventures during one eventful spring day.
Elsa Campbell
In 1853, as the British and Russian empires compete to gain and maintain their place in the dreadful Great Game of political intrigues and alliances whose greatest prize is the domination of India and the border territories, Major Geoffrey Vickers must endure several betrayals and misfortunes before he can achieve his revenge at the Balaclava Heights, on October 25, 1854, the most glorious day of the Crimean War.
Self
Viewers are provided a visit to Ken Maynard's private circus; Bette Davis poses for her portrait; Frank McHugh plays with his children; a visit to the West Side Tennis Club affords glimpses of many stars.
Angela Guiseppe
Based on the novel by Hervey Allen, this expansive drama follows the many adventures of the eponymous hero, Anthony Adverse. Abandoned at a convent by his heartless nobleman father, Don Luis, Anthony is later mentored by his kind grandfather, John Bonnyfeather, and falls for the beautiful Angela Giuseppe. When circumstances separate Anthony and Angela and he embarks on a long journey, he must find his way back to her, no matter what the cost.
Narrated documentary of the making of Anthony Adverse (1936), featuring many clips from the actual film.
Herself (uncredited)
A promotional short to hype the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935).
Arabella Bishop
Dr. Peter Blood, unjustly convicted of treason and exiled from England, becomes a notorious pirate.
Hermia
A film adaptation by Max Reinhardt of his popular stage productions of Shakespeare's comedy. Four young people escape Athens to a forest where the king and queen of the fairies are quarreling, while meanwhile a troupe of amateur actors rehearses a play. When the fairy Puck uses a magic flower to make people fall in love, the whole thing becomes a little bit confused...
Lucille Jackson
A boxer and his policeman brother feud over a police captain's daughter.
Dolly Stevens
Idiosyncratic new recruit Francis "Ike" Farrell tries to help the Cubs to the pennant with his pitching and hitting.
