“Gone With the Wind” actress Olivia de Havilland died last Sunday at her home in Paris, she was 104 years old. She built an illustrious film career, punctuated by a successful fight to loosen the grip of the big studio grip on contract actors. She was the last surviving star of the movie “Gone With the Wind” and one of the last surviving stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age era.
She was born Olivia Mary de Havilland, in Tokyo, Japan, July 1, 1916, of English parents. Her mother was a trained actress and her father was an English professor and managed a firm of patent lawyers while in Tokyo.
As an actress De Havilland’s refined manner brought a touch of class to Hollywood. She was not like many of the rough cut actors and actresses who made it to the big screen at the time.
Her grace and beauty made her an American icon and shining star. She was a favorite for audiences and critics.
Her sister, Joan, was born a little over a year later. She was a sickly child and was on the way to England with her mother, but stopped in Saratoga, California, and stayed.
In 1925, Olivia’s mother married the second time to George M. Fontaine. Joan took her new step father’s name and when Olivia’s sister became an actress too, she was known as Joan Fontaine. This only continued an intense sibling rivalry.
Following her 1934 high school graduation in Saratoga, Olivia began training for a career as an English teacher. While pursuing her education, she also pursued her interest in acting.
Immediately following high school she joined an acting group named the Saratoga Community theater and their production of a “Midsummer Night’s Dream”. An assistant of director Max Reinhardt happened to be in the audience that night and noticed her. He was impressed with her acting and she was invited as an understudy in Reinhardt’s production of “Midsummer Night’s Dream” to play Hermia.
We’ve all heard of having a ‘lucky day’, well, this was Olivia’s. The actress playing Hermia in Reinhardt’s production decided to drop out one week before opening day. Thus, previous understudy Olivia de Havilland was shoved into the leading role of the production.
De Havilland proved to be so good at her role that she stayed the run of the entire production when it went on tour. Not long after, the movie company Warner Brothers Studios contacted Reinhardt to make a movie production of his “Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
Reinhardt said he had the perfect cast of performers. That included de Havilland, even though, Esquire Magazine Editor, Ian Nathan, said “she still was pursuing a career as an English teacher”.
Warner Brothers was so convinced de Havilland was right for the part they offered her a contract at 18 years old. She made her Warner Brothers movie debut in Reinhardt’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream”, in 1935.
Film critic Neil Norman said her debut was an “enormous success”. He further commented that the greatest thing about de Havilland was that at age 18 she expressed an incredible “acting intelligence”. He again commented that she had a very “noticeable performance,” as an actor.
This was her first acting success. Film critic, Derek Malcolm, said this movie performance put her “on her way”.
In 1935, she was cast with newcomer and future super star Errol Flynn, in the movie “Captain Blood”. At that time, she and Flynn were basically unknown acting entities, but they exploded with excitement, chemistry and charisma on the screen.
During the filming of “The Charge of the Light Brigade” in 1936, de Havilland renegotiated her agreement with Warner Brothers and signed a seven-year contract on April 14, 1936. She garnered the stout starting salary of $500 per week. In 2020, that’s the equivalent of over $9,200 per week! Not bad for a twenty something!
De Havilland and Errol Flynn worked together in eight movies where she was his “love interest”. There was also an off screen love interest between the two that was never consummated due to his marital status and her insistence on faithfulness while he was married.
She began a long collaboration with the director Michael Curtiz, encompassing nine films, many of which included the swashbuckling hero Errol Flynn. De Havilland and Flynn would eventually make eight movies together. These movie hits included: “Captain Blood”, “The Adventures of Robin Hood”, “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, “Sante Fe Trail”, “Dodge City”, “Four’s a Crowd”, “The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex”, and “They Died With Their Boots On”. Every film Flynn and de Havilland made together were huge box office hits.
British Council Film Program Manager, Wendy Mitchell, said that de Havilland was “creatively stifled” by always being cast as a “love interest” next to Flynn. She said “she became frustrated with these parts and sought more adventurous roles”.
Critic, Derek Malcolm, said, “she wanted to be more than the girlfriend of Errol Flynn all the time”.
David O. Selznick offered de Havilland a role in the epic 1939 film of the old south, “Gone With the Wind”. The movie sprang from the book of the same name by Margaret Mitchell. She convinced Warner Brothers to let her do the project and was on loan to Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer (MGM) studios.
In her movie role as Melanie in the MGM production of “Gone With the Wind” (GWTW) she was a major contributor to the success of the movie. This movie saw her traditional role as a “love interest” change into a complex character and a major actress.
De Havilland played Melanie Hamilton Wilkes, the belle and then wife of Leslie Howard’s character Ashley Wilkes, In the role she brought intelligence and grace to her portrait of a woman whose shy, forgiving, almost too kindly nature stood in sharp contrast to the often venomous jealousy of her high-spirited sister-in-law, Scarlet O’Hara, played by Vivian Leigh.
Critic Neil Norman said that in GWTW de Havilland “blossomed and bloomed into the actress she was and would become”. For this role she received her first Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
When she returned to work at Warner Brothers she was dissatisfied with scripts they offered her. She turned them all down as uninteresting. This resulted in Warner Brothers saying her contract was held as still active and valid even after her seven year contract duration was fulfilled due to not working in active films.
In 1942, she sued Warner Brothers over the contract dispute. This was a major move by an actor at that time because the studios ran the industry. In fact, the movie companies controlled actors and actresses like slave chattel. She won the case.
The court case created a precedent that helped all actors, and became known as the ‘de Havilland Decision’. The California Law overturned was similar to old indentured servantry laws. The decision prevented a “court from enforcing specific performance of an exclusive personal services contract beyond the term of seven calendar years from the commencement of service.”
The court victory came at a personal cost. De Havilland found that no studio would hire her for over two years following her case victory. During that time she toured military hospitals and military bases to help with the war effort.
In 1946 she married Marcus Goodrich, a Texas-born novelist, screenwriter, journalist and navy veteran. She also was cast in her first role in two years, “To Each His Own”. This was a unique film told in total flashback. It was also the first film where she won an Oscar Award.
In 1948 she starred in “The Snake Pit”. This was a story about the mental health institutions in America at the time. This was a much more gritty and strong role for de Havilland. Critics called it “an extraordinary performance”. The film was so powerful that it helped bring about change in the mental health institutions across America. She was nominated for a best-actress Oscar for this movie but did not win.
She helped bring the play “The Heiress” to the big screen in 1949. She would earn her second Oscar Award for this movie. Critic Derek Malcolm, said the film “proved she was as good a dramatic actress as anyone else in Hollywood, and probably better.” Critic Neil Norman said “it is one of the best acts of film I’ve ever seen”. It was one of de Havilland’s favorite roles. “The films I loved,” she said in 1964, “the great loves, are ‘The Snake Pit,’ ‘The Heiress’ and, of course, ‘Gone With the Wind.’”
In 1949, her first son, Benjamin Goodrich, was born. She stepped away from the big screen at that time. Even though a big star, she took her role as a mother seriously and stayed home with her son. In 1991, her son died of Hodgkin’s disease.
In 1952 she starred in “My Cousin Rachel,” where she played the bride of an older man. The movie also featured Richard Burton, in his Hollywood debut.
De Havilland earned her fame and was recognized as a top star of the movies in December 9, 1952, when she received a star in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
In 1953, she divorced her husband Benjamin Goodrich.
Two years later in 1955, she married her second husband, a Frenchman named Pierre Galante. Galante was the author of military histories and at one point editor of the magazine Paris Match. The couple had met in France in 1955, and moved to Paris, where they had a daughter, Giselle.
She had taken herself out of the hard nosed acting business where she soon faded from the Hollywood scene. She was content to be a wife and mother. However, the movies kept calling. In 1962, she and Pierre Galante separated and they divorced in 1979. She stayed in Paris the rest of her life.
She starred opposite her life long friend Bette Davis in the 1964 movie, “Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte”. She played the villain in this Southern Gothic, bordering horror, movie. This movie was a great departure from her typically warm and sympathetic roles and thrust her into a tough and hard nosed type character.
Yet, she was highly selective in her choice of movie roles. Over the next twelve years she appeared in only two feature films.
De Havilland’s life in Paris was separate and in stark contrast to the Hollywood actress scene. She was part of an arts and rich cultural community and she had the option of doing films for her own pleasure or not. She was no longer an aspiring or even career actress actively seeking roles.
At the time television was on the rise. It was an attractive alternative to many older actors and actresses where it offered many good parts.
Later in her acting career she starred in “Airport 77” with Jack Lemon and Jimmy Stewart. Surprisingly it was a huge commercial success. Almost accidentally it brought her back into the limelight even though probably not her best acting performance.
In 1978 she starred in her last theatrical role. She continued working in television and received a Golden Globe Award for her 1986 performance in, “Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna”. Film critic Neil Norman said that it was “the swan song of a remarkable actress.” He said the film is worth watching just to see her.
In 1988, Olivia de Havilland made her last screen performance. She remained in Paris and retired from acting. Thereafter she was writing her autobiography.
In 2003, at the 75th Academy Awards, she made a rare appearance as a presenter in Hollywood. She received a four minute standing ovation. Not the only one she would receive in many venues.
She received many awards from around the world for her artistic standing. She was an actress who didn’t appear to have a superstar ego like so many today, and that is another trait that separates her from the crowd.
Film critic Neil Norman, said, “I can’t remember her giving a bad performance, but I can remember many good ones”.
De Havilland was often described as a “classy” actress. She represented an era of Hollywood that has died out. The grande dame of the golden age of Hollywood has passed on to her reward in the hereafter. She has left us, and we will have, many fond memories of her and the movies she enriched.
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