The story of the life of the last live actress from “Gone With the Wind”

Olivia de Havilland is an English-American actress, one of the most popular and sought-after Hollywood actresses of the 1930s and 1940s, owner of two "Oscars" for Best Actress (1947, 1950), two Golden Globes and a prestigious award at the Venice Film Festival (Volpie Cup for Best Actress).

Photo: London Evening Standard /Wikimedia Commons, public domain

She is one of the last living actresses from Hollywood's golden era, as well as the last survivor of the cast of the cult film Gone with the Wind, released in 1939, where she played the role of Melanie Hamilton/Wilkes.

Now the film star is 101 years old, she acted in films until she was 70 years old, her last role was the role of Aunt Bessie Merriman in the film “The Woman He Loved.” After this, Olivia ended her 53-year acting career, and for the last three decades she has lived an ordinary quiet life, periodically appearing on television.

However, she was not forgotten. On her 101st birthday, the Queen of Great Britain gave her a knighthood - Knight Commander. This is the second highest rank that can be achieved in the Order of the British Empire, writes Aikaramba.

The actress admitted that she is very proud of this and extremely pleased with such a gift. By the way, she is the oldest holder of this order and the only one in the entire history of the empire who was given this title at such a respectable age.

Childhood and the way to acting

Olivia Mary de Havilland was born July 1 1916 years in Tokyo in the family of theater actress and lawyer, writes British.

In 1917, she had a sister Joan Fontaine. After the formation of their acting career, the rivalry between them went so far that they stopped not only seeing each other, but also talking to each other.

Her younger sister, Joan Fontaine, is also a long-liver. She passed away at the age of 96. The sisters have been rivals all their lives, and their opposition has gone so far that at some point they completely burned all the bridges.

After her parents divorced in 1919, Olivia moved with her mother and sister to Californian Saratoga city, where she graduated from school.

Her acting career started in the early 1930s. Olivia's debut was the role of Hermia in the production of "A dream in a summer night". In 1935, she decided to change her theatrical career to film.

Film career

The Shakespearean film adaptation, in which she first appeared on screen, was not successful, but the young actress was noticed. In the film “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” Havilland played with Errol Flynn, and they were called “the most romantic couple in Hollywood.” The actress created the image of a woman, next to whom every man dreams of being a gentleman, a knight, a protector - it was this quality that became decisive in the approval of the casting of “Gone with the Wind” (1939). The role of Melanie became the actress’s calling card for many years, although Olivia never received an Oscar for it.

Among her early films are such adventure films as “Captain Blood's Odyssey" (1935), "Light Horse Charge" (1936), "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938)

In 1941, de Havilland took American citizenship. At the beginning of 1940, Olivia was unhappy with the roles that the studio offered her Warner Bros., believing that she has already grown out of the roles of power maidens and is capable of more dramatic work. Because of this, she had a scandal with the studio, which eventually led to the trial. According to the actor's contract of those years, the actor had to remain dependent on the film studio for another six months after the termination of the contract, and had almost no chance to get the role somewhere else. De Havilland, together with the Film Actors Guild, won the process and thereby weakened the influence of the studio and achieved greater creative freedom for actors from the dictates of producers. It has become one of the most significant and far-reaching legal rulings in history. Hollywood.

At the end of 1940, the actress was nominated three times on Oscar for Best Actress and became its owner twice. In 1947, she received an award for her role in the film “To Each His Own,” and in 1950, for her role in “The Heiress.”

Her film career continued until the late 1970s, and during this time she appeared in many famous films, including My Cousin Rachel (1952), That Lady (1955), and The Proud Rebel (1958). , "Light in the Square" (1962), "Hush, hush, dear Charlotte." (1964), "Airport 77 ″ (1977) and The Fifth Musketeer (1979).

After her film career ended, de Havilland continued to act on television and was nominated for "Emmy", and also became the owner of “Golden Globe" for the role of the dowager empress Maria Fedorovna in film "Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna".

In 2004, de Havilland took part in the filming of a documentary film dedicated to the 65th anniversary of Gone with the Wind.

In 2008, the president of the United States George W. Bush handed to Olivia de Havilland US National Art Medal. 9 September 2010, the actress was awarded the degree of gentleman Order of the Legion of Honorwhose signs she received from the hands of the President of France Nicolas Sarkozy.

The actress currently lives in Paris, where she celebrated her 100th birthday, as well as her 101st birthday. But her favorite pastime all these years remained, however, purely British. Olivia de Havilland is an avid fan of crossword puzzles, which she has spent her entire life solving.

Personal life

Of course, the beauty did not suffer from a lack of attention of men. In 1940, Olivia had a novel with a director By john houstonan actor James Stewart and engineer and producer Howard Hughes. In 1946, de Havilland married novelist Marcus Goodrich, whose marriage lasted until the 1953 year. From him in 1949, she gave birth to a son, Benjamin, whom she lost in 1991, due to illness.

From 1955 to 1979, she was married to French journalist Pierre Galante, from whom she gave birth to a daughter, Giselle, in 1956. After the divorce, they had friendly relations, and in 1998, Olivia was even his carer in Pariswhen Pierre was dying from hand.

Conflict with sister

For most of her life, Olivia was in conflict with her sister Joan, also a long-lived woman, who died at the age of 96. At first they were in conflict, and at some point the bridges were burned altogether, writes Ivi.

“I was the first to get married, the first to win an Oscar, and if I die first, Olivia will be furious - I’ll beat her here too,” Jane claimed. And she really left first.

Olivia was born first, the baby was very pretty - the Princess - the mother's pride and hope, named after the Shakespearean name Olivia. A year later, when the feelings between the parents began to wane, a second daughter was born - Simpleton, named Joan, a sickly child who caused more trouble than joy.

After the break with her husband, the girls' mother planned to return to England - but the doctors convinced her that her sickly younger daughter needed a warmer climate, so she took the girls to California, and instead of a career, took up their upbringing. However, she openly gave a clear preference for the Princess.

Olivia grew beautiful, and her mother did not spare anything for her: a good college, beautiful dresses, brilliant education and upbringing. There was not enough money for the younger one: she was wearing her sister's clothes, and could only count on a medium-sized Catholic guesthouse.

The Princess treated the Simpleton condescendingly. At the age of 9, she made a humorous will, where she left her beauty to “poor Joan” because “it’s still better than nothing.” Although in reality Joan was very pretty.

Mother also always sided with the Princess. When, after another quarrel, the elder sister cut her old dresses with scissors - so that they would not get Joan, she wouldn’t fall, Joan would sew them on nights, because no one was going to buy others.

Tired of this, Joan fled to her father in Japan. Having lived with him 2 of the year, she returned to America - and saw from the billboard the beautiful face of her sister - in the arms of Errol Flynn himself. The princess took the first step into the cinema easily, as everything was easy in life: a cameo role, a meeting with an agent, a contract - and almost immediately - the role of the romantic heroine of Arabella Bishop, the bride of Captain Blood.

Olivia's beauty and amazing femininity, which favorably set off the prowess of the “real man” Flynn, pleased America. Flynn and de Havilland became the most romantic movie couple in Hollywood. Among Hollywood beauties, Olivia has found her niche - a breathtakingly feminine aristocrat, full of gentle charm, next to whom even a dork will want to be a gentleman.

This is what made David Selznick make the seemingly insane decision to offer Olivia the role of Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind. Crazy, since half of the contenders for the role of Scarlett at that time (before Vivien Leigh) were significantly inferior to the “colorless” Melanie in beauty. But Haviland was not only a lovely woman, but also an experienced and talented actress. She “shaded out” her luxurious natural features as best she could - only her huge, radiant, love-filled eyes were impossible to “shade out.”

The role of Melanie was the new high point in Olivia’s career, her business card and her mother’s pride.

Seeing her sister’s success, Joan also went into film, went through several auditions, and got the job. Her mother asked her “not to interfere with her sister,” so Joan decided to perform under her stepfather’s last name, Fontaine. Four years later, Joan received the leading role in Hitchcock's film Rebecca. She played excellently, and the inspired Hitchcock then offered her another role - in his new film Suspicion, for which Joan received an Oscar.

The presentation of awards in 1942 was then on the lips of reporters and gossips for a long time. Two sisters - de Havilland and Fontaine - were both nominated for Oscars, and the award was won by The Simpleton. Olivia, as befits a sister and a lady, wanted to congratulate Joan, but she pushed her away and flew to the stage to receive the Oscar. A couple of years later, history repeated itself: now the Princess had won the award, and Joan was ready to extend her hand to congratulate her. Olivia simply didn't notice her.

After the war, both sisters' careers began to decline. True, Olivia managed to receive a second Oscar. She brilliantly played something she had never been in her life - an ugly girl with a kind heart, hopelessly in love with someone who only loves her money. “The Heiress” was a real triumph for the Princess. Olivia later married the publisher of Paris Match and plunged into the social life of France.

Joan continued to roll, but realized that it was time look for yourself in other areas. She completed pilot courses and received a license, participated in aeronautics competitions — and even won them, practiced horse riding, golf, sport fishing, and received the specialty chef and designer.

The sisters spoke extremely rarely, but pretended that everything was in order between them.

The fragile world collapsed in 1975 year. In the arms of the Princess, the mother of the sisters died. Joan did not go to the funeral, and no one still knows why: the Princess considered that she was not busy, and the simple one - that she had been deprived of her sacred right to say goodbye to her mother. Since then, the sisters did not communicate.

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