Olivia de Havilland Biography

Olivia Mary de Havilland was born on July 1, 1916, in Tokyo, Empire of Japan, to English parents. Her father, Walter Augustus de Havilland, was an English professor at the Imperial University in Tokyo. Walter later became a patent attorney. Her mother, Lillian Augusta, was a former stage actress. Olivia had a younger sister named Joan, who went on to become a prominent actress.

Her parents did not have a happy marriage as her father was not loyal to her mother. They separated when the girls were young. Subsequently, Olivia moved to the United States with her mother and sister.

She made her debut in amateur theatre, playing a role in Alice in Wonderland in 1933. Although she had interest in dramatics, she aspired to become a school teacher. Following her graduation from high school in 1934, she was offered a scholarship to ‘Mills College’ in Oakland.

Around the same time, she also got an opportunity to play ‘Hermia’ in a stage production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Her performance as ‘Hermia’ led to a movie contract. When she was forced to choose between teaching and acting, she signed a five-year contract with Warner Bros. in 1934.

Olivia de Havilland made her movie debut in the film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1935. While the film was not successful, she got noticed for her beauty and acting skills.

In the mid-1930s, she was paired with Errol Flynn for the first time in the action-adventure tale Captain Blood (1935). The pairing turned out to be a success and the duo went on to become one of the most popular on-screen couples in Hollywood. They acted together in eight films.

In the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, she played ‘Melanie Hamilton’, a gentle and kind woman. She earned an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for her portrayal of ‘Melanie’.

Soon, the talented actress got tired of being typecast and wanted to play different kinds of roles. In the 1941 comedy drama, The Strawberry Blonde, she played an outspoken advocate for women's rights, a role that was much appreciated by the film critics.

She played a variety of film roles during the 1940s and 1950s. Some of the notable roles she portrayed were in films like To Each His Own (1946), The Well-Groomed Bride (1946), The Snake Pit (1948), The Heiress (1949), My Cousin Rachel (1952), Not as a Stranger (1955), The Ambassador's Daughter (1956), and The Proud Rebel (1958).

During the 1980s, she began focusing on television and remained active doing TV roles. Her popular television projects include television film Murder Is Easy (1982), biographical drama film The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana (1982), and the 1986 ABC miniseries North and South, Book II. In 1988, she appeared in the romantic television drama The Woman He Loved.

In 2010, she almost made her big screen comeback after a hiatus of 22 years when James Ivory planned a film adaptation of The Aspern Papers. Unfortunately, the project never materialized.

Olivia de Havilland won her first Academy Award for her portrayal of a young unwed mother in the romantic comedy film To Each His Own. Her poignant performance was much appreciated and the film was both a critical and commercial success.

Her role as Catherine Sloper—a rich heiress who struggles with an indifferent father and falls in love with a fortune hunter—in the drama film The Heiress earned her much acclaim. She won several awards for her performance, including an ‘Academy Award’, ‘Golden Globe Award’, and ‘New York Film Critics Circle Award’.

Olivia de Havilland won the Academy Award for ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’ twice; she first won the award in 1946 for To Each His Own and then in 1949 for The Heiress.

Her role as Catherine Sloper in The Heiress earned her the Golden Globe Award for ‘Best Motion Picture Actress’ and New York Film Critics Circle Award for ‘Best Actress’ in 1949.

In 1986, she won the ‘Golden Globe Award’ for ‘Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role’ for her performance in Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna. The same role also earned her the ‘Primetime Emmy Award’ for ‘Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries’.

In 2008, she was presented with the ‘National Medal of Arts’. The medal, which is conferred to an artist on behalf of the American people, was given to her by the then-President George W. Bush.

Prior to getting married, Olivia de Havilland had dated several men like Howard Hughes, James Stewart, and John Huston. Her first marriage was to Marcus Goodrich, a Navy veteran, screenwriter, and novelist, in 1946. The marriage, which produced a son, ended in divorce in 1953.

She tied the knot for the second time in 1955. Her second husband Pierre Galante was an executive editor for the French journal Paris Match. The couple had one daughter. This marriage too ended in divorce in 1979, but the two remained close until Galante’s death in 1998.

Olivia de Havilland died of natural causes in her sleep on 26 July 2020, at the age of 104, at her home in Paris, France.

Olivia de Havilland held a pilot's license and enjoyed flying her own plane in her free time.

She was fluent in multiple languages, including French, and often translated scripts for her co-stars on set.

Olivia de Havilland was a talented painter and enjoyed creating art in her spare time.

She was known for her love of animals and was a dedicated advocate for animal rights throughout her life.

Olivia de Havilland was one of the first Hollywood actresses to successfully challenge the studio system, leading to changes in labor laws for actors in the industry.