Olivia de Havilland
In honor of her 104th Birthday this month, I am excited to announce Dame Olivia de Havilland as July's featured Star. She's a fine lady and a fine actress. And … she’s a fighter, as you will see!
Born to English parents, Olivia de Havilland was initially raised in Japan before moving to California with her mother and sister (fellow actress Joan Fontaine) around the age of three. There she formally cultivated her early love for the arts.
As a teenager, de Havilland appeared in a number of local community and school theater productions. She continued these pursuits even after high school and into her initial college studies. While still in college, she starred as Puck in the Saratoga Community Theater’s production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. She was spotted and quickly hired as a second understudy for the role of Hermia in Max Reinhardt's production of Shakespeare's classic. When the understudy and lead actress both left the production to complete other projects, de Havilland assumed the role. Thanks to these two women, what was initially just a "hobby" would become a long and celebrated career.
When Warner Brothers decided to produce a film version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Reinhardt as its director, de Havilland was offered the role of Hermia and signed to a five-year contract. She received good reviews for her performance, but Warner Brothers did not continue to cast her in other interesting roles. Instead, she was frequently cast as the charming and beautiful heroine in romances and comedies. These early roles, although not as developed and challenging as she would have liked, helped de Havilland gain exposure and allowed her to learn her craft.
It was Curtiz’s The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) that helped establish de Havilland' as a “name.” Shot in gorgeous technicolor and with a who’s who when it came to the cast and crew, the film was a tremendous success, which is remembered even to this day. De Havilland starred as Maid Marian alongside nine-time co-star Errol Flynn. Now, while this was yet another role as the charming and beautiful heroine, de Havilland lent the part more than her natural beauty and appeal. Her Maid Marian was both three-dimensional and personal- her heroines having both a mind and a heart.** Unfortunately, Warner Brothers took this success to mean that they were doing the right thing and continued to star her in limited roles in period adventure films, romances, and comedies like Four’s a Crowd (1938) and Dodge City (1939). To her credit, none of these characters felt one and the same. She was ready to play more diverse characters of quality.
Gone with the Wind (1939) was her first big opportunity. De Havilland wanted to play the kind-hearted and more nuanced Melanie. Producer David O. Selznick wanted her for the part as well, but Jack L. Warner refused. De Havilland took things into her own hands and with the help of Warner's wife was lent out to MGM for the role. The film was a massive success. Melanie stood out among the film’s cast of characters and so did De Havilland's performance. In her "there was a warmth and gentleness that Warner's had never bothered about." (Thomson). She was nominated for her first of five Oscars. She hoped this would be a large turning point in her career, but Warner Brothers, unfortunately, continued to cast her in limiting roles as the “the girl.”
Once again De Havilland started to take things into her own hands. She refused several of the scripts being offered to her at the studio, and as a result, was frequently suspended. If she wanted to be effective as an actress, de Havilland felt that she could not continue accepting these roles even if it did mean a suspension.* The only quality roles that she was finding were from her loan outs to other studios. Her second Oscar nomination came from just such a film. In Hold Back the Dawn (1941), she played an honest and kind schoolteacher whose life changes when she meets a gigolo (Charles Boyer) who romances her in the hopes of getting a green card. She falls for him and her life is forever transformed. Thanks to her, his life is also forever changed when he falls for her too. More nuanced in character, it was parts like these from other studios that solidified her as someone with talent.
After her performances in Gone with the Wind (1939) and Hold Back the Dawn (1941), she knew she had an audience. So in 1943, De Havilland was ready for her seven-year contract at Warner for the time she was suspended for refusing roles. Undeterred, de Havilland went to court, winning the case which Bette Davis had lost in the '30s. De Havilland’s lawyer had found a loophole and used an established California law to make her case. What would come to be known as the De Havilland Law applied that existing law to the studios, limiting contracts to seven calendar years rather than years of work. This law was monumental. It reduced the forceful and controlling hand of the studios and allowed performers more autonomy when it came to shaping their careers and refining their craft. It would be particularly impactful during the war years when actors returning from the service would come back to years left in their contracts and for the same salary as when they had left. In a dangerous move that might have been career suicide, de Havilland's path as an actress and that of Hollywood itself was transformed. What might have continued to be a short-lived career of indifferent films and indifferent roles instead became just the opposite.*
The period following her monumental win was perhaps the peak of her artistic career. It brought a series of awards, nominations, and resounding accolades for outstanding performances. At the end of her contract with Warner Brothers, she made a two-picture deal with Paramount starring first in Mitchell Leisen's To Each His Own (1946). The film was quite challenging in that de Havilland’s role required a great deal of sensitivity and emotion. Moreover, it would require her to age some 30 years. She succeeded beautifully, winning her first Oscar for her nuanced performance. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that this was a fine actress.
Other highlights included her performances as mental patient Virginia Cunnigham in Anatole Litvak's (Sorry, Wrong Number) The Snake Pit (1948) and as a plain and seemingly unremarkable young woman, Catherine Sloper, in William Wyler’s (The Best Years of Our Lives) The Heiress (1949) for which she received her second Oscar. Her portrayals were far from simple and ordinary. She made Virginia human and appealing at a time when mental patients were considered anything but. She gave Catherine her heart and sincerity, and when she needed it, assurance and severity.
The '50s through the early '60s saw a more restful and yet varied period creatively for de Havilland. She returned to plays, including Romeo and Juliet, Candida, and Garson Kanin’s A Gift of Time with Henry Fonda, receiving wonderful reviews that all praised her for her subtlety and strength. Films such as Michael Curtiz's western The Proud Rebel (1958), Light in the Piazza (1962), and most notably My Cousin Rachel (1951) once again saw her ability to naturally blend the dissimilar sides of a character.
Like many actresses of this period, de Havilland found it difficult to find work later in her career. She received acclaim for her natural performances in films like Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte (1964). Instead, she mainly worked in television films and miniseries throughout the '60s and '80s. Her performances continued to be recognized, winning her a Golden Globe and garnering an Emmy nomination for her performance as the dowager Empress Maria in Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986). Sadly, in 1989 she largely retired from acting.
In my futile effort to sum up or even describe Miss de Havilland's contributions to cinema and her special qualities as an actress, I find that her dear friend, TCM host and film historian Robert Osborne put it best. "There’s something about Olivia de Havilland that has always set her apart from other actresses. Maybe it’s the combination of warmth, sensitivity and intelligence she conveys, or the way her good looks have always been further enhanced by the ever-present twinkle in her eyes or the wisdom you sense behind those orbs.” She made "the great agonies and joys of the human experience" look effortless.* She's a fine lady, ever the fighter, and a fine actress.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix-Pycyhua4
** Kass, Judith M. (1976). Olivia de Havilland. New York: Pyramid Publications
Core Films
*= my personal favorites
Captain Blood (1935)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Dodge City (1939)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
To Each His Own (1946)
The Snake Pit (1948)
The Heiress (1949)
My Cousin Rachel (1952)
Hush…Hush sweet Charlotte (1964)
For More
Books
Every Frenchman Has One by Olivia de Havilland: https://www.amazon.com/Every-Frenchman-Has-Olivia-Havilland/dp/0451497392
Biography; Olivia de Havilland: Lady Triumphant by Victoria Amador: https://www.amazon.com/Olivia-Havilland-Triumphant-Screen-Classics/dp/0813177278
