The Life and Death of Olivia de Ha and Joan Fontaine (Sisters)

Ajouté : 2026-06-03

[00:00:05]Olivia de Havilland was born on July 1st, 1916 in Tokyo, Japan. She was an actress and an author. She appeared in 49 films in her 50-year career. Her younger sister named Joan Fontaine was also a great actress. They had a lifelong sibling rivalry. Both of her parents were British who met each other while living in Japan. She won two Academy Awards, two Emmys, and two Golden Globes. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 when she was 100 years old. She was the first female president of the Cannes Film Festival jury. One of her most well-known parts was in the epic movie called Gone with the Wind. She played Melanie Hamilton who was Scarlett O'Hara's sister-in-law and friend. She was the last surviving cast member. Of course, she dated Howard Hughes. Olivia also dated Jimmy Stewart. Her first film role was in the 1935 movie called A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 1945, the de Havilland rule was created after she successfully took Warner Brothers to court. The law basically says that studios cannot hold an actor to a contract longer than 7 years. She was in several movies with Errol Flynn including The Adventures of Robin Hood, They Died with Their Boots On, and Captain Blood. They had love for each other, but they couldn't act on it because Errol was already married. Some of her other films included The Snake Pit, The Heiress, Hold Back the Dawn, and Airport '77 just to name a few. She released her memoir in 1962 called Every Frenchman Has One. She was married two times and had two children. She died in 2020 from natural causes. She was 104 years old.

[00:01:39]Joan Fontaine was born on October 22nd, 1917 in Tokyo, Japan. Her birth name was Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland. She was an actress. Her older sister was also a great actress named Olivia de Havilland who had her major role in Gone with the Wind. They had a lifelong sibling rivalry and were estranged for decades.

[00:01:59]I read that Olivia used to bully Joan and Joan believed Olivia was her mother's favorite child. Joan won an Academy Award for her role in the 1941 Alfred Hitchcock movie called Suspicion, beating out her sister Olivia who was nominated for Hold Back the Dawn.

[00:02:13]They're the only siblings to have won lead acting Academy Awards. [music] After Olivia won one in 1946, her parents were British and living in Japan for her father's job. Her parents were separated and divorced after Joan, Olivia, and her mother moved to California. After joining a theater group in San Jose, she moved to Los Angeles and lived with Olivia. Their careers started taking off. Joan's first movie role was in the 1935 film called No More [music] Ladies. Some of her other films included You Can't Beat Love, The Emperor Waltz, Jane Eyre, Above All, The Women, Rebecca, A Damsel in Distress, Island in the Sun, and The Constant Nymph, just to name a few. She was also in a lot of plays and some TV movies and shows later on. She released her autobiography in 1978 called No Bed of Roses. She was an accomplished chef, a licensed pilot, [music] and an interior designer. She was married four times and had two children. She died in December of 2013 from natural causes.

[00:03:11]Unfortunately, the sisters never reconciled. Joan once said, "I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia did, and if I die first, she'll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it." Joan was 96 years old.