1917-10-22 ( 107 years old ) in Tokyo, Japan
Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013), known professionally as Joan Fontaine, was an English-American 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 Havilland's 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. Joan's 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 L.A., Joan adopted the name of Joan Burfield because she didn't 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 Can't 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 Oscar-nominated 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 well-received 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 Paramount's 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 well-produced 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.
Movies
Becoming Cary Grant
2017-05-23
Before the Fact: Suspicious Hitchcock
2004-09-07
Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies
2000-06-27
Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood
1999-01-23
Good King Wenceslas
1994-11-26
Dark Mansions
1986-08-23
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
1985-03-03
All By Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story
1982-09-10
The Users
1978-10-01
The Witches
1966-11-21
Tender Is the Night
1962-01-19
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
1961-12-31
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
1961-07-12
A Certain Smile
1958-07-31
Until They Sail
1957-10-08
Island in the Sun
1957-06-12
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
1956-09-13
Serenade
1956-03-23
Casanova's Big Night
1954-04-07
The Bigamist
1953-12-03
Flight to Tangier
1953-11-20
Decameron Nights
1953-01-13
Ivanhoe
1952-07-31
Something to Live For
1952-03-07
Othello
1951-11-28
Darling, How Could You!
1951-08-08
September Affair
1950-10-18
Born to Be Bad
1950-09-28
The Art Director
1949-11-12
Kiss the Blood Off My Hands
1948-10-30
You Gotta Stay Happy
1948-10-28
The Emperor Waltz
1948-07-02
Letter from an Unknown Woman
1948-04-28
Ivy
1947-06-26
From This Day Forward
1946-03-02
The Affairs of Susan
1945-07-08
Frenchman's Creek
1944-09-20
Jane Eyre
1943-12-24
The Constant Nymph
1943-06-23
Breakdowns of 1942
1942-12-31
This Above All
1942-05-12
Suspicion
1941-11-14
Rebecca
1940-03-23
The Women
1939-09-01
Man of Conquest
1939-05-15
Gunga Din
1939-01-26
The Duke of West Point
1938-12-29
Sky Giant
1938-07-22
Blond Cheat
1938-06-17
Maid's Night Out
1938-03-03
A Damsel in Distress
1937-11-19
Music for Madame
1937-10-08
You Can't Beat Love
1937-06-25
The Man Who Found Himself
1937-04-02
Quality Street
1937-03-26
A Million to One
1936-12-31
No More Ladies
1935-06-14
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