Olivia De Havilland, Late 2019
Posted on 07/09/2020 7:39:06 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Olivia De Havilland, Late 2019
There are few veterans of Hollywood's Golden Age who are still around, much less still making headlines. But Olivia de Havilland, who turns 104 Wednesday (US time), was always a rule-breaker.
She's part of the current furore over Gone With the Wind, since she is the only surviving star of the 1939 epic.
In 2017, she also sued FX Networks over her depiction in the miniseries Feud: Bette and Joan, from exec producer Ryan Murphy. After a series of appeals, the court ultimately decided against de Havilland. The ruling represents a rare defeat for her, but serves as a reminder that the actress is not going to take any nonsense from anyone.
Olivia de Havilland, British actress, circa 1945. (Getty)
READ MORE: Gone With the Wind hits number one on Amazon best-sellers chart after HBO Max drops movie
In 1944, she tackled the studio system, by filing suit against Warner Bros. Her victory helped bring an end to the studio system, and redefined the business of moviemaking.
At 19, de Havilland made her film debut in the 1935 A Midsummer Night's Dream; WB signed her to a seven-year contract, which was standard for actors.
WB put her in such films as Captain Blood and The Adventures of Robin Hood, both with Errol Flynn. But she wasn't always happy with the studio's assignments and WB suspended her multiple times.
When de Havilland's contract expired, Warner Bros. claimed it was owed an additional six months of work, for the time off during suspension. She countered that the contract was for seven years, not for the time actually spent working. Superior Court Judge Charles S. Burnell agreed with her, saying otherwise the contract was a form of "peonage."
I would imagine Betty Davis is like that.. I was born in 1968 but I have seen so many of her movies. She’s a great actress
Wow. The last star from Hollywood’s golden era. May God grant her many (more) years!
Gone with the Wind was a great movie!
Tear her down, she once played a plantation owners daughter. Racist!!
(s)
Wow, what a profound statement and so much better phrased than I could have put it, but I know exactly what you mean. I’ve been blessed to meet more than one person like that in my life so far.
I guess that's a subjective opinion, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that, because I don't agree.
She does indeed. My great grandmother died at 105 in a water skiing accident. I’m kidding, it was motorcycle crash - she never learned how to swim. They say she actually died of a broken heart because she outlived her sons (one of whom was my grandfather who died at 83).
There should be a sequel to “Gone With The Wind”, with Olivia in it, and titled: “Not Gone Yet”.
Stunning!
“Of the 4 main stars Melanie is the one that dies at the end of GWTW. In real life the exact opposite. Leslie Howard died very shortly after in WWII. Gable and Leigh in the 1960s.”
Leslie Howard was killed in 1943 when the plane in which he was flying was shot down by the Luftwaffe. There is very good evidence that he was a British Intelligence operative.
She’s not a slave owner but she played one in the movies.
“I know. Olivia was never exactly beautiful,”
I thought she was beautiful in the mid 1930s; I also thought her sister was gorgeous in “Rebecca.”
My brother-in-law was born in Tokyo after WWII.
I thought so. She did a number of films with Errol Flynn from 1935 to 1941 and she was a beauty in most of them if not all. Dodge City stands out in my mind.
She’ll never work in this woke town again.
It says a lot about the current state of our country that had she stared in a skin flick instead of “Gone With the Wind” you could still see her movie today on TV.
I would totally hit that...
Read recently that Mom preferred older sis Olivia and insisted Joan use “Fontaine” when acting to avoid name confusion with her sis. Sibling rivalry exacerbated by jealousy, resentment....
Legend.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
