Olivia de Havilland

Born: 1916-07-01

Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland DBE (July 1, 1916 - July 25, 2020) was a British-American actress, whose career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films, and was one of the leading movie stars during the golden age of Classical Hollywood. She is best known for her early screen performances in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Gone with the Wind (1939), and her later award-winning performances in To Each His Own (1946), The Snake Pit (1948), and The Heiress (1949). Born in Tokyo to British parents, de Havilland and her younger sister, actress Joan Fontaine, moved with their mother to California in 1919. They were brought up by their mother Lilian, a former stage actress who taught them drama, music, and elocution. Olivia de Havilland made her screen debut in Reinhardt's A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1935. During her career, she often played demure ingénues opposite popular leading men, including Errol Flynn, with whom she made nine films. They became one of Hollywood's most popular romantic on-screen pairings. She achieved her initial popularity in romantic comedy films, such as The Great Garrick (1937), and in Westerns, such as Dodge City (1939). Her natural beauty and refined acting style made her particularly effective in historical period dramas, such as Anthony Adverse (1936), and romantic dramas, such as Hold Back the Dawn (1941). In her later career, she was most successful in dramas, such as Light in the Piazza (1962), and unglamorous roles in psychological dramas including Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964). In addition to her film career, de Havilland continued her work in the theatre, appearing three times on Broadway. She also worked in television, appearing in the successful miniseries, Roots: The Next Generations (1979), and television feature films, such as Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. During her film career, de Havilland won two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two New York Film Critics Circle Awards, the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress, and the Venice Film Festival Volpi Cup. For her contributions to the motion picture industry, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. For her lifetime contribution to the arts, she received the National Medal of Arts from President George W. Bush, and was appointed a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. De Havilland and Joan Fontaine are the only siblings to have won Academy Awards in a lead acting category. A lifelong rivalry between the two actresses resulted in an estrangement that lasted over three decades. De Havilland lived in Paris since 1956, and celebrated her 100th birthday on July 1, 2016. In June 2017, two weeks before her 101st birthday, de Havilland was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to drama. She was the oldest woman ever to receive the honour. In a statement, she called it "the most gratifying of birthday presents".


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Gone with the Wind

as Melanie Hamilton
Released: 1939-12-15

The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical...

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The Adventures of Robin Hood

as Maid Marian
Released: 1938-05-13

Robin Hood fights nobly for justice against the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne while striving to win...

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Airport '77

as Emily Livingston
Released: 1977-03-11

Flight 23 has crashed in the Bermuda Triangle after a hijacking gone wrong. Now the surviving...

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Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte

as Miriam Deering
Released: 1964-12-15

An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness...

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The Dark Mirror

as Terry / Ruth Collins
Released: 1946-10-17

A sister and her disturbed twin are implicated in a murder and a police detective must figure...

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The Swarm

as Maureen Schuester
Released: 1978-07-14

Scientist Dr. Bradford Crane and army general Thalius Slater join forces to fight an almost...

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Dodge City

as Abbie Irving
Released: 1939-04-08

In this epic Western, Wade Hatton, a wagon master turned sheriff, tames a cow town at the end of...

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In This Our Life

as Roy Timberlake
Released: 1942-05-08

An unhappy, self-centered woman runs off with her sister's husband, wreaking havoc and ruining...

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The Heiress

as Catherine Sloper
Released: 1949-10-06

Dull and plain Catherine lives with her emotionally distant father, Dr. Sloper, in 1840s New...

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The Strawberry Blonde

as Amy Lind
Released: 1941-02-21

Biff Grimes is desperately in love with Virginia, but his best friend Hugo marries her and...

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They Died with Their Boots On

as Elizabeth Bacon
Released: 1941-11-20

The story follows General George Armstrong Custer's adventures from his West Point days to his...

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The Charge of the Light Brigade

as Elsa Campbell
Released: 1936-10-20

In 1853, as the British and Russian empires compete to gain and maintain their place in the...

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Captain Blood

as Arabella Bishop
Released: 1935-12-26

Dr. Peter Blood, unjustly convicted of treason and exiled from England, becomes a notorious pirate.

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My Cousin Rachel

as Rachel Sangalletti Ashley
Released: 1952-12-25

A young man plots revenge against the woman he believes murdered his cousin, but his plans are...

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The Adventurers

as Deborah Hadley
Released: 1970-03-25

The wealthy playboy son of an assassinated South American diplomat discovers that his father was...

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Santa Fe Trail

as Kit Carson Holliday
Released: 1940-12-20

As a penalty for fighting fellow classmates days before graduating from West Point, J.E.B....

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The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

as Lady Penelope Gray
Released: 1939-11-11

This period drama frames the tumultuous affair between Queen Elizabeth I and the man who would...

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The Snake Pit

as Virginia Stuart Cunningham
Released: 1948-11-04

Virginia Cunningham is confused upon finding herself in a mental hospital, with no memory of her...

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To Each His Own

as Miss Josephine 'Jody' Norris
Released: 1946-03-12

During World War I, small-town girl Josephine Norris has an illegitimate son by an itinerant...

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Lady in a Cage

as Mrs. Cornelia Hilyard
Released: 1964-06-10

A woman trapped in a home elevator is terrorized by a group of vicious hoodlums.

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A Midsummer Night's Dream

as Hermia
Released: 1935-10-09

Four young people escape Athens to a forest where the king and queen of the fairies are...

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Gold Is Where You Find It

as Serena Ferris
Released: 1938-02-12

Colonel Ferris, a wealthy farmer in northern California, is strongly opposed to hydraulic...

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The Proud Rebel

as Linnett Moore
Released: 1958-07-01

Searching for a doctor who can help him get his son to speak again--the boy hadn't uttered a...

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Four's a Crowd

as Lorri Dillingwell
Released: 1938-08-04

A public relations man falls for his most difficult client's granddaughter.

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Night of 100 Stars II

as Self
Released: 1985-03-10

This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited...

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Raffles

as Gwen
Released: 1939-11-11

Man about town and First Class cricketer A.J. Raffles keeps himself solvent with daring...

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The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies

as Self
Released: 1995-06-05

Based on the first centenary of the largest exporter of films in the world, that is Hollywood,...

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Hard to Get

as Margaret "Maggie" Richards
Released: 1938-11-05

When spoiled young heiress Maggie Richards tries to charge some gasoline at an auto camp run by...

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Devotion

as Charlotte Brontë
Released: 1946-04-05

In Victorian England, literary siblings Emily and Charlotte Brontë vie for the affection of the...

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Hold Back the Dawn

as Emmy Brown
Released: 1941-09-26

Romanian-French gigolo Georges Iscovescu wishes to enter the USA. Stopped in Mexico by the quota...

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Princess O'Rourke

as Princess Maria
Released: 1943-10-23

A down-to-earth pilot charms a European princess on vacation in the United States.

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Wings of the Navy

as Irene Dale
Released: 1939-02-11

Jerry tries to out compete his older brother Cass, a lieutenant Naval aviator. Cass is both...

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1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2009-07-02

This documentary focuses on 1939, considered to be Hollywood's greatest year, with film clips...

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Not as a Stranger

as Kristina Hedvigson / Kristina Marsh
Released: 1955-07-01

Lucas Marsh, an intern bent upon becoming a first-class doctor, not merely a successful one. He...

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Murder Is Easy

as Honoria Waynflete
Released: 1982-01-02

American computer whiz Luke Williams meets elderly Lavinia Fullerton on a London-bound train....

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The Fifth Musketeer

as Anne d'Autriche
Released: 1979-04-06

King Louis XIV has without his knowledge a twin brother, Philippe, but when he is told, he...

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Show-Business at War

as Self
Released: 1943-05-21

A multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.

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Anthony Adverse

as Angela Guiseppe
Released: 1936-08-26

Based on the novel by Hervey Allen, this expansive drama follows the many adventures of the...

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The Screaming Woman

as Laura Wynant
Released: 1972-01-29

A wealthy former mental patient goes home to her estate to rest and recuperate. While walking...

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Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: 1983-02-25

Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas,...

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Pope Joan

as Mother Superior
Released: 1972-08-16

Based on the medieval legend of Pope Joan, who was made Pope for a brief period around 855 A.D....

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The Adventures of Errol Flynn

as Self - Actress (also archive footage)
Released: 2005-04-05

A documentary about the life of Errol Flynn, with recollections from friends and family.

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Thank Your Lucky Stars

as Self
Released: 1943-09-25

An Eddie Cantor look-alike organizes an all-star show to help the war effort.

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Government Girl

as Elizabeth 'Smokey' Allard
Released: 1943-11-05

An aviation engineer and a government secretary are thrown together by the war effort.

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The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind

as Self - Cast Member in 'Gone with the Wind' (archive footage)
Released: 1988-10-01

This documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests,...

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The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana

as Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother
Released: 1982-09-20

The second Charles and Diana movie, with two virtual unknowns in the leads: Christopher Baines...

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That Lady

as Ana de Mendoza
Released: 1955-05-11

In 1570, widowed Princess Ana de Mendoza becomes the love object of a deadly rivalry between her...

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Noon Wine

as Ellie Thompson
Released: 1966-11-23

A dark tragedy about a farmer's futile act of homicide that takes place on a small dairy farm in...

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Libel

as Lady Margaret Anne Loddon
Released: 1959-10-23

A California commercial pilot sees a telecast in London of an interview with Sir Mark Lodden at...

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The Woman He Loved

as Aunt Bessie Merryman
Released: 1988-04-03

In 1936, Edward VIII abdicated in order to marry the woman he loved, Wallis Simpson, a twice...

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A Day at Santa Anita

as Olivia de Havilland (uncredited)
Released: 1937-05-22

Orphaned horse-trainer's little daughter has reciprocated bond with horse, which needs her...

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A Dream Comes True

as Herself (uncredited)
Released: 1935-12-31

A promotional short to hype the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935).

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Breakdowns of 1944

as Self
Released: 1944-12-31

Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1944.

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Call It a Day

as Catherine 'Cath' Hilton
Released: 1937-04-17

The various members of the middle-class Hilton family have a series of romantic misadventures...

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It's Love I'm After

as Marcia West
Released: 1937-10-08

An infatuated debutante renews a Shakespearean actor's running feud with his leading lady.

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Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

as Self
Released: 1940-07-31

This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including...

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Stars on Horseback

as uncredited
Released: 1943-04-23

A profile of blacksmith George Garfield, among whose Hollywood clients were the horses of Joel...

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The Male Animal

as Ellen Turner
Released: 1942-03-12

The trustees of Midwestern University have forced three teachers out of their jobs for being...

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The Ambassador's Daughter

as Joan Fisk
Released: 1956-07-26

While on leave in Paris, a G.I. pursues an ambassador's daughter. Meanwhile she's out to prove...

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Breakdowns of 1942

as Self
Released: 1942-12-31

Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1942.

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Out Where the Stars Begin

as Serena Ferris (archive footage)
Released: 1938-05-28

When the ballerina star of a musical feature walks off in a huff, aided by the fit-throwing...

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Light in the Piazza

as Meg Johnson
Released: 1962-02-07

A young American woman traveling in Italy with her mother is slender, blonde, beautiful and...

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Alibi Ike

as Dolly Stevens
Released: 1935-06-15

Idiosyncratic new recruit Francis "Ike" Farrell tries to help the Cubs to the pennant with his...

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My Love Came Back

as Amelia Cornell
Released: 1940-07-13

Amelia is a gifted violinist who is in danger of quitting the Brissac Academy of Music. Julius...

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The Great Garrick

as Germaine de la Corbe
Released: 1937-10-30

A British actor insults a French acting group only to fall victim to a prank that might destroy...

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Inside 'the Swarm'

as Self
Released: 1978-01-01

A behind-the-scenes/Making of documentary short focused on Irwin Allen's all-star disaster flick...

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Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano

as Self
Released: 1983-11-02

A documentary about and an interview with Hollywood actress Bette Davis about her life and...

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The Well Groomed Bride

as Margie Dawson
Released: 1946-05-17

A man and a woman fight over the last bottle of champagne left in San Francisco--she wants it...

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The Irish in Us

as Lucille Jackson
Released: 1935-07-31

A boxer and his policeman brother feud over a police captain's daughter.

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Melanie Remembers: Reflections by Olivia de Havilland

as Herself
Released: 2004-11-09

This documentary is featured in the 4-disc Collector's Edition DVD set, released in 2004, for...

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The Making of a Great Motion Picture

as uncredited
Released: 1936-04-15

Narrated documentary of the making of Anthony Adverse (1936), featuring many clips from the...

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The Rebellious Olivia de Havilland

as Self - Actress
Released: 2021-07-02

The legendary British-American actress Olivia de Havilland (1916-2020), who conquered Hollywood...

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The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

as Self
First aired: 1962-10-01

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight...

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The Mike Douglas Show

as Self
First aired: 1961-12-11

The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that...

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The Love Boat

as Aunt Hilly
First aired: 1977-09-24

Passengers who search for romantic nights aboard a beautiful ship travelling to tropical or...

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The Merv Griffin Show

as Self
First aired: 1962-10-01

The Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran...

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What's My Line?

as Self - Mystery Guest
First aired: 1950-02-02

Four panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while...

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The Ed Sullivan Show

as Self (archive footage)
First aired: 1948-06-20

The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June...

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The Ed Sullivan Show

as Self
First aired: 1948-06-20

The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June...

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North and South

as Mrs. Neal
First aired: 1985-11-03

The story of the enduring friendship between Orry Main of South Carolina and George Hazard of...

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ABC Stage 67

as Ellie Thompson
First aired: 1966-09-14

ABC Stage 67 is the umbrella title for a series of 26 weekly shows that included dramas, variety...

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Roots: The Next Generations

as Mrs. Warner
First aired: 1979-02-18

Roots: The Next Generations is a television miniseries, introduced in 1979, continuing, from...

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The Hollywood Palace

as Self
First aired: 1964-01-04

The Hollywood Palace is an hour-long American television variety show that was broadcast weekly...

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The American Film Institute Salute to ...

as Self
First aired: 1973-04-02

In 1973 the American Film Institute initiated its Life Achievement Award, to be presented to a...

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Anastasia - The Mystery of Anna

as Dowager Empress Maria
First aired: 1986-12-07

Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna is a 1986 TV movie, starring Amy Irving, Rex Harrison, Olivia de...

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The Oscars

as Self
First aired: 1953-03-19

An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The...

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