Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland October 22 1917 December 15 2013 known professionally as Joan Fontaine was an EnglishAmerican actress who is best known for her starring roles in Hollywood films during the Golden Age She was born in Tokyo Japan in what was known as the International Settlement Her father was a British patent attorney with a lucrative practice in Japan but due to Joan and older sister Olivia de Havillands recurring ailments the family moved to California in the hopes of improving their health Mrs de Havilland and the two girls settled in Saratoga while their father went back to his practice in Japan Joans parents did not get along well and divorced soon afterward Mrs de Havilland had a desire to be an actress but her dreams were curtailed when she married but now she hoped to pass on her dream to Olivia and Joan While Olivia pursued a stage career Joan went back to Tokyo where she attended the American School In 1934 she came back to California where her sister was already making a name for herself on the stage Joan likewise joined a theater group in San Jose and then Los Angeles to try her luck there After moving to LA Joan adopted the name of Joan Burfield because she didnt want to infringe upon Olivia who was using the family surname She tested at MGM and gained a small role in No More Ladies 1935 but she was scarcely noticed and Joan was idle for a year and a half During this time she roomed with Olivia who was having much more success in films In 1937 this time calling herself Joan Fontaine she landed a better role as Trudy Olson in You Cant Beat Love 1937 and then an uncredited part in Quality Street 1937 Although the next two years saw her in better roles she still yearned for something better In 1940 she garnered her first Academy Award nomination for Rebecca 1940 Although she thought she should have won she lost out to Ginger Rogers in Kitty Foyle 1940 she was now an established member of the Hollywood set She would again be Oscarnominated for her role as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth in Suspicion 1941 and this time she won Joan was making one film a year but choosing her roles well In 1942 she starred in the wellreceived This Above All 1942 The following year she appeared in The Constant Nymph 1943 Once again she was nominated for the Oscar she lost out to Jennifer Jones in The Song of Bernadette 1943 By now it was safe to say she was more famous than her older sister and more fine films followed In 1948 she accepted second billing to Bing Crosby in The Emperor Waltz 1948 Joan took the year of 1949 off before coming back in 1950 with September Affair 1950 and Born to Be Bad 1950 In 1951 she starred in Paramounts Darling How Could You 1951 which turned out badly for both her and the studio and more weak productions followed Absent from the big screen for a while she took parts in television and dinner theaters She also starred in many wellproduced Broadway plays such as Forty Carats and The Lion in Winter Her last appearance on the big screen was The Witches 1966 and her final appearance before the cameras was Good King Wenceslas 1994 She is without a doubt a lasting movie icon
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