General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHappy Birthday Olivia DeHavilland - 100 Years Young Today
?w=395Celebrating her 100th birthday today (1 July), Olivia de Havilland is the last surviving superstar from Hollywood's Golden Age. The two-time Oscar-winning actress was renowned for her genteel manners on-screen, but off-screen she had the chutzpah to take on one of the largest studios of the day, in a legal battle that changed how Hollywood operated forever.
Born in Tokyo in 1916 to British parents, her family moved to California while she was still a child. De Havilland demonstrated a flair for drama early on, appearing as Puck in the Saratoga Community Theatre production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The performance led to her being cast in the Warner Bros 1935 film adaptation of Shakespeare's play, with De Havilland playing Hermia. It was the launchpad for an illustrious career in Hollywood that spawned a legendary and prolific onscreen pairing with Errol Flynn.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/hollywoods-most-enduring-star-olivia-de-havilland-celebrates-100th-birthday-1568368?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=rss&utm_content=%2Frss%2Fyahoous%2Fnews&yptr=yahoo
Lance Bass esquire
(671 posts)100...U Go Girl
maveric56
(137 posts)Isn't she JoanFontaine's sister?
eppur_se_muova
(36,317 posts)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_de_Havilland
Fontaine and her elder sister Olivia de Havilland are the only set of siblings to have won lead acting Academy Awards.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Fontaine
Quantess
(27,630 posts)Chicago1980
(1,968 posts)liberalla
(9,277 posts)closeupready
(29,503 posts)on several levels. K&R
Iggo
(47,597 posts)Damn, woman!
Hey-oh!
I had the exact response - she does look great
Iggo
(47,597 posts)keithbvadu2
(37,044 posts)Ilsa
(61,712 posts)SCantiGOP
(13,878 posts)She of "I don't know nothing bout birthing no babies."
Gone With the Wind had not been shown since the 30s, and one of my very earliest memories was my parents taking me and my brother to a movie in Augusta GA and standing in a long line to see GWTW at its first showing in 20 years. The actress who played Prissy lived in the area and she came out on the stage in front of the screen during intermission. She still had the high-pitched voice but she was, well, about the size of Mammy by then.
Hate to admit that until I got out of my small town in SC and went off to college I thought the depiction of race relations in the South in that movie were accurate: that the slaves were all happy and secure with their place in society. I hit college in 1969 just as the Revolution was making its way to the South, and one of the first people I made friends with was a very angry young black man who I am still friends with to this day. He quickly gave me a whole different perspective on race than what I had grown up with.
BumRushDaShow
(129,987 posts)what Carol Burnett and Vicki Lawrence had to say about that movie though -
(I remember watching that skit when the show aired)
Siwsan
(26,327 posts)That curtain rod dress will never be forgotten.
Rhiannon12866
(206,767 posts)My whole family always watched Carol Burnett, and I have to agree that on a show with so many classic moments, this has to be the funniest ever, remember even my parents were in stitches at the time!
Number9Dream
(1,565 posts)Loved her in those old swashbucklers. What a beauty!
NewJeffCT
(56,829 posts)would love when they ran them on TV - Errol Flynn was the dashing, swashbuckling hero the shy young me admired, and Ms De Havilland was perfect opposite him.
niyad
(113,930 posts)she still looks incredible.
Greybnk48
(10,182 posts)And she looks like she still enjoys life. Good for her.
MynameisBlarney
(2,979 posts)She looks very happy and healthy in that pic, and she looks nowhere close to 100.
DianaForRussFeingold
(2,552 posts)Thank You, joeybee12. I started watching TCM when flipping through the
channels trying to find something good to watch...Love those classic movies!
Tribute: http://www.tcm.com/
Mendocino
(7,527 posts)nobody of her stature remains, at least none that I can think of. I believe her best performances beside GWTW were in The Snakepit and The Heiress.
Happy Birthday!
BumRushDaShow
(129,987 posts)but I wasn't sure whether they were celebrating her "would have been" birthday!
Congrats to that amazing milestone to her!
I remember when she played in the Roots sequel (Roots: The Next Generations) alongside Henry Fonda and others as part of a late 1970s "all-star cast" (including Marlon Brando in his only television role).
struggle4progress
(118,379 posts)Ex Lurker
(3,816 posts)knowing she outlived her sister.
whathehell
(29,110 posts)She and Joan Fontaine?....that being said, it seems creepy to get "satisfaction" out of another's death, especially that of a sibling.
lpbk2713
(42,774 posts)Gone With the Wind is on TCM tonight starting at 9:15 Eastern.
She plays an excellent role.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Loved her in GWTW. I also loved watching Scarlett not win in the end too. But yeah, great actress.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)kimbutgar
(21,278 posts)I feel sorry for her though that she never reconciled with her sister Joan Fontaine.
100 years! I am still getting used to being 60!
Happy birthday Olivia.
lapucelle
(18,405 posts)about her that changed my opinion forever.
At the 1939 Academy Awards, both Olivia and Hattie McDaniels were nominated as "Best Supporting Actress".
When Olivia lost to Hattie, it was reported that she stormed out of the dinner ranting, "I can't believe that they gave it to that n----- instead of me".
Here's more about the infamous sisterly feud.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/joan-fontaine-olivia-de-havilland-666087
nonpareil
(71 posts)In the 1930's the Oscar winners were announced in advance, so Olivia would not have been at all surprised that she didn't win. And I can't imagine her using such language.
The story I have always heard is that she was very disappointed that she didn't win since it was a very important part in the most important film of the year and she was great in it. Selznick sat down with her and pointed out to the historical significance of Hattie Mc Daniels' win, and that she was still young and there was surely an Oscar in her future and she accepted it as graciously as she could. She seems like a competitive person and that that was the root of the feud with her sister as well as her disappointment over the Oscar.
BumRushDaShow
(129,987 posts)was that she eventually won an Oscar 7 years later. But imagine someone who was over 10 years her elder - Henry Fonda, whose own filmography was remarkable, yet he didn't win an Oscar (Best Actor) until 1981 for "On Golden Pond" - and I remember that was huge news at the time emphasizing the ridiculous Oscar drought for a man of his caliber.
Mendocino
(7,527 posts)link?
Mendocino
(7,527 posts)Iggo
(47,597 posts)Mendocino
(7,527 posts)went on vacation or perhaps their PC blew up...could happen...no, still alive and posting.
Iggo
(47,597 posts)Mendocino
(7,527 posts)or any other proof for this allegation, do the right thing and apologize or at least delete.
TheFarseer
(9,328 posts)Seriously though, happy birthday.
BumRushDaShow
(129,987 posts)although from the same generation as de Havilland & Fontaine age-wise, neither of the Gabor sisters had film careers until the 1950s - probably considered to be the beginning of the end of the so-called "golden era".