Olivia de Havilland, a double Oscar winner and one in every of Tinseltown’s final remaining Classical Hollywood cinema stars, died Sunday at her residence in Paris of pure causes, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She was 104.
A celebrated actress and formidable main girl who loomed bigger than life in almost 50 movies, de Havilland obtained her onscreen begin as one half of the Errol Flynn/de Havilland dynamic duo in hits comparable to 1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood. A 12 months later, she co-starred in Gone with the Wind, taking part in the position of Melanie Hamilton Wilkes, Scarlett O’Hara’s sister-in-law, and earned her first Oscar nod. Over the span of her profession, de Havilland would win two Academy Awards and garner a complete of 5 nominations. Her two Oscar victories got here from main roles in 1946’s To Each His Own and the 1949 interval drama, The Heiress.
De Havilland additionally labored in theater, appeared on Broadway and loved a handful of tv roles together with one on the celebrated 1977 miniseries Roots. Later in life, de Havilland can be honored with a Nationwide Medal of Arts in 2008 by then President George W. Bush and a Damehood on the tender age of 100 in 2017 from Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen’s promotion made de Havilland the oldest particular person to ever be bestowed with a Dame Commander distinction.
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Born in Japan to a British father and mom, the latter of whom was additionally an actress, de Havilland attended highschool in Santa Clara County, California, and graduated with honors in 1934. She studied drama at Mills Faculty and attended college on a scholarship. Her youthful sister, who later adopted the stage identify Joan Fontaine, additionally grew to become an Oscar-winning actress.
A 12 months into school, Warner Bros. signed de Havilland for a co-starring position in Max Reinhardt’s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Evening’s Dream. Within the mid-1940s, de Havilland fought a authorized battle in opposition to Warner Bros., and received, after studio heads sidelined her profession over a contract dispute. Her authorized triumph, which eradicated studio contracts that exceeded seven years, marked a major turning level for movie actors’ rights.