Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland DBE July 1 1916 July 25 2020 was a BritishAmerican 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 awardwinning 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 Reinhardts A Midsummer Nights 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 Hollywoods most popular romantic onscreen 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 dhonneur 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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