Olivia de Havilland (1916-2020)
Sunday, July 26, 2020 at 4:07PM by Nathaniel R
We have long dreaded this day coming so it's with heavy hearts that we share that the iconic Olivia de Havilland has passed away. We have celebrated her several times here at The Film Experience, most notably in 2016 with a multi-film retrospective for her Centennial. Having been a true screen immortal for the past (gulp) 80 years, it was hard to picture this woman as an actual mortal. Pictures of her happily bicycling in Paris in her centenarian years were popular around the web but all things eventually end. The Oscar winner, who had just celebrated her 104th birthday on July 1st, died peacefully yesterday in her Parisian home...
De Havilland's entire life had long since become the stuff of legend. A true international woman, she was born in Japan to British parents, became world famous by way of Hollywood, and later adopted France as her home country. Olivia's Hollywood breakthrough came in her very first year at the movies. In 1935 she appeared in the Best Picture nominated A Midsummer Nights' Dream and opposite Errol Flynn in the hit swashbuckler Captain Blood (1935). Erroll and Olivia became one of the public's favourite movie duos, appearing in seven more films together. Their peak together was inarguably 1938's still beloved Best Picture nominee The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).
Her stardom was instant and cultural immortality followed quickly thereafter, by way of her pitch perfect performance as kind hearted "Melanie Hamilton" in Gone With the Wind (1939). Many famous films and much Oscar love followed. By the time she was 33 she'd won two Best Actress Oscars for To Each His Own (1946) and The Heiress (1949) from five nominations (the others were for Gone With the Wind, Hold Back the Dawn, and one that meant a lot to her personally, The Snake Pit). Other key movies in her filmography include Anthony Adverse (1936), It's Love I'm After (1937), The Strawberry Blonde (1941), In This Our Life (1942), The Dark Mirror (1946), My Cousin Rachel (1952), and Light in the Piazza (1962). In the mid 60s she joined the Hagsploitation craze in Hollywood with a sharp against-type supporting turn in Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte (1964) and headlined the underappreciated but super-watchable thriller Lady in a Cage (1964).
After that brief resurgence her career quieted, with a smattering of small movie roles and TV guest spots, most famously the all star disaster movie Airport 77 (1977), and two miniseries North and South, Book II (1986) and her Emmy nominated and Golden Globe winning work in Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986). She retired in the late 80s to Paris, France where she's lived ever since.
Though her screen persona was somewhat genteel and her most celebrated role (The Heiress) empathetically passive, actual history paints an entirely different portrait of this screen goddess. Her long intimate friendship with the indominatable Bette Davis, her infamous rivalry with her younger sister Joan Fontaine (who won an Oscar first), and her landmark industry-changing lawsuit (which freed actors from the then opressive long-term studio contracts), and her 2017 lawsuit against the miniseries Feud, all suggest that her vulnerable and soft screen presence was, at least in part, a beautiful illusion. She was as steely, in her own way, as contemporaries like Davis, Stanwyck, and Crawford, who all visibly projected fierceness as brand and, in some cases, as warning.
Olivia de Havilland may have been an instant legend but she earned that immortality over and over again. And so we must say goodbye to the last remaining Golden Age superstar. Hollywood's most mythic period is now only a cultural memory, with none of the key participants left to offer a living one. But what myths they all made together.
Reader Comments (32)
Olivia de Havilland was one of those people who seemed to be eternal. So this news seems unreal. RIP
What a glorious life and legacy, thank you Dame Olivia de Havilland!
As the last legend of movies golden age, she'll be forever remembered for her iconic roles and integral part of Hollywood's history.
Beautifully written. Many thanks to Olivia de Havilland for all of her amazing performances over the years.
Such grace and class: I will never forget her presenting at the 75th Oscars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyOYokyiCF8
Lovely tribute.
It is a sad day for we film lovers of all stripe and a loss to history but how fortunate she was to survive to such a great age with all her facilities intact, still be feisty and active and when her time came to make her exit to pass peacefully in her sleep.
What a legacy both before and behind the camera she has left behind. And we lucky people will always have her films to remember her special gifts.
Jared Leto has posted a beautiful tribute to her on his Twitter account. It’s worth a look. Rip you classy lady
The Heiress was the first film I ever saw with an Oscar-winning actress performance. My only criticism was that they kept referring to her as ugly and I thought she was just about the most beautiful women I had ever seen. Still do.
Despite their acrimonious relationship, even Joan Fontaine said that all of Hollywood owed her sister a debt of gratitude because of her lawsuit which freed actors from onerous studio contracts. I'm grateful not just because it led to some of de Havilland's best roles (The Heiress is probably my favorite of her performances), but because it was a really risky move (it could have ended her career) that ended up benefitting the whole industry for years to come.
A true legend in cinema and certainly one of the best. Who the fuck called her ugly? Those motherfuckers should get their heads examined. Plus, in all honesty. I thought she was way hotter than Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind and her character was one I kept rooting for and was too good to be with Mr. Ashley who has the personality of a wet blanket.
Glad you placed her screen print from "The Heiress" up there. My favorite performance of hers and a magnificent film. "Yes, I can be very cruel. I have been taught by masters." "Bolt the door, Maria."
Thank you for posting this wonderful tribute. Olivia has long been my favourite actress of the Golden Era of Hollywood, so this was tough news today. At 104(!!), it was hardly unexpected, but I find myself far less sad than I assumed I would be. She led a remarkable and long life, went peacefully, and has left a legacy that deserves respect and is being celebrated on her passing.
Her film career really deserves a closer look and appreciation. Many are focusing on Gone With The Wind and The Adventures of Robin Hood, and their impact in film history merits it (even with the understandable GWTW issues). But there are so many other gems in her filmography that should be remembered. Some of my favourites include The Dark Mirror, The Heiress, The Strawberry Blonde, and The Proud Rebel.
As Nathaniel points out, the strength she projected beneath every character was clearly part of her own personal character. Just one example was during World War Two, she flew into war zones in the south Pacific to visit the troops and she frequently spoke with the forgotten soldiers in the psychiatric wards of American hospitals. Those experiences made her work that much harder to make sure mental health issues in The Snake Pit were presented accurately and sympathetically.
Although there are other actors of the Era still with us, none of them or their film careers are of the stature of a film legend. So with Olivia's passing, it feels like a milestone in film history has also been passed. It was inevitable and somehow fits with 2020 - a tough year by any measure. But thankfully this year will end, but we will have Olivia's films and the great films of that great Era with us for a long long time!
I visited NYC for my 40th birthday, and had the good fortune of watching The Heiress at the Quad Cinema, with a room full of excited, empowered moviegoers. She's an icon.
Nicely written tribute,your obv a big fan.
A legend.
She made some truly wonderful films. My favorite is The Heiress. May she RIP.
Didn't she win the Globe for Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986)? We can forgive you tarnishing Jessica Tandy's legacy because you are unable to be impartial, but de Havilland is a bridge too far.
A lovely tribute to an elegant representative of that bygone era. My first and perhaps favourite film of Olivia de Havilland was the glorious Robin Hood.
As many have said here, it was a gutsy move to challenge the studios over the infamous 7 year contract. Considering the impact for all actors, SAG should have some sort of permanent award they give out in her honour.
What a lady.
RIP dear Ms. De Havilland. That photo you mention of Ms. De Havilland riding a bike was taken back in I believe 2006.
A lovely tribute. My friend texted me the sad news. We had long celebrated her longevity. R.I.P. to a great star.
"We can forgive you tarnishing Jessica Tandy's legacy because you are unable to be impartial, but de Havilland is a bridge too far." Mel, what does that mean?
Just got done with my first viewing of "The Heiress" and WOW. Makes "Now, Voyager" look like absolute fluff.
Renting "The Heiress" right now. Bonus Monty Cliff.
Mel - lol. oops. you're right. She did win the Globe. Fixed.
Oh Flora, please don’t read the next post. The disillusionment is not worth it.
Beautiful write up.
Rest in peace legend🖤
What a career 👌🏻 she’s going to be missed
If you ask me she gave one of the greatest performances of all time in the heiress
Not my comment. Couldn't care less about Jared Leto.
"She was as steely, in her own way, as contemporaries like Davis, Stanwyck, and Crawford, who all visibly projected fierceness as brand and, in some cases, as warning."
I love that so much, warning, so true! thank you, Nathaniel. RIP Olivia.
One of the few deserved Best Actress winners for the spectacularly effective The Heiress, which turns into a horror film in its last reel. The best adaptation of Henry James after The Innocents.
Nathaniel is always so respectful and fair. I would love to see him as a host on TCM. What a pair he and Ben would make! Robert Osborne would be proud.
I watched LADY IN A CAGE last night and she gives a committed and deep performance in a very histrionic and entertaining film. She was only in her mid 40s when she made the film. Hollywood really doesn’t treat its aging actresses well.
This is really awful news. 2020 is just the worst.