De Havilland << duh HAV uh luhnd >>, Olivia (1916-2020), was a motion-picture actress whose roles ranged from innocent young women to psychologically disturbed individuals and manipulative older women. She is probably best known for her portrayal of Melanie Hamilton, the gentle cousin of the spirited Southern belle Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). De Havilland received an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress for the role. She won Academy Awards as best actress for her performances in the dramas To Each His Own (1946) and The Heiress (1949). De Havilland was also nominated as best actress for her performances in the drama Hold Back the Dawn (1941) and the psychological thriller The Snake Pit (1948).
Olivia Mary de Havilland was born on July 1, 1916, in Tokyo, to British parents. She moved with her family to California when she was a child. While performing in a school presentation of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Mills College (now Mills College at Northeastern University) in Oakland, California, de Havilland was spotted by the Austrian-born theatrical producer and director Max Reinhardt. Impressed with de Havilland’s performance, Reinhardt cast her in both his theater production and the 1935 film version of the Shakespeare comedy. She co-starred in several popular movies with the Australian-born actor Errol Flynn, including the war romance The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), the action films Captain Blood (1935) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), and the Western They Died with Their Boots On (1941). De Havilland’s other notable films include the thriller The Dark Mirror (1946) and the horror films Hush…Hush Sweet Charlotte and Lady in a Cage (both 1964).
De Havilland also is known for defending actors’ rights against motion-picture studios at a time when studios had much control over actors. As a result of a lawsuit that de Havilland brought against Warner Bros. in the 1940’s, motion-picture studios could no longer extend actors’ contracts as a penalty for turning down roles.
De Havilland was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2017 for her service to drama. Her sister, Joan Fontaine, was also a motion-picture actress. De Havilland died on July 26, 2020, in Paris, France.
