Happy Birthday Olivia DeHavilland - 100 Years Young Today

[joeybee12]

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Celebrating her 100th birthday today (1 July), Olivia de Havilland is the last surviving superstar from Hollywood's Golden Age. The two-time Oscar-winning actress was renowned for her genteel manners on-screen, but off-screen she had the chutzpah to take on one of the largest studios of the day, in a legal battle that changed how Hollywood operated forever.

Born in Tokyo in 1916 to British parents, her family moved to California while she was still a child. De Havilland demonstrated a flair for drama early on, appearing as Puck in the Saratoga Community Theatre production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The performance led to her being cast in the Warner Bros 1935 film adaptation of Shakespeare's play, with De Havilland playing Hermia. It was the launchpad for an illustrious career in Hollywood that spawned a legendary and prolific onscreen pairing with Errol Flynn.




http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/hollywoods-most-enduring-star-olivia-de-havilland-celebrates-100th-birthday-1568368?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=rss&utm_content=%2Frss%2Fyahoous%2Fnews&yptr=yahoo

[Lance Bass esquire]

1. Dang ..not to sound cliche. I thought she died years ago.

100...U Go Girl

[maveric56]

3. I did too.

Isn't she JoanFontaine's sister?

[eppur_se_muova]

7. And both cousins of Geoffrey deHavilland, aviation pioneer ...

Actresses Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine are de Havilland's cousins; his father, Charles, and their father, Walter, were half-brothers. A younger brother, Hereward also became a noted aviator.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_de_Havilland

Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013), known professionally as Joan Fontaine ...

Fontaine and her elder sister Olivia de Havilland are the only set of siblings to have won lead acting Academy Awards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Fontaine

[Quantess]

2. Living to 100 years is remarkable!

[Chicago1980]

14. As long as you have your faculties.

[liberalla]

4. She looks wonderful!

[closeupready]

5. I recently saw "Lady In A Cage" - it was an interesting film

on several levels. K&R

[Iggo]

6. She's still kickin'?

Damn, woman!

Hey-oh!

[malaise]

17. LOL

I had the exact response - she does look great

[Iggo]

20. Take longer than a hundy to fade that much gorgeous.

[keithbvadu2]

8. from Gone With the Wind

[Ilsa]

15. Three fantastic actresses! nt

[SCantiGOP]

19. I saw Prissy once

She of "I don't know nothing bout birthing no babies."
Gone With the Wind had not been shown since the 30s, and one of my very earliest memories was my parents taking me and my brother to a movie in Augusta GA and standing in a long line to see GWTW at its first showing in 20 years. The actress who played Prissy lived in the area and she came out on the stage in front of the screen during intermission. She still had the high-pitched voice but she was, well, about the size of Mammy by then.

Hate to admit that until I got out of my small town in SC and went off to college I thought the depiction of race relations in the South in that movie were accurate: that the slaves were all happy and secure with their place in society. I hit college in 1969 just as the Revolution was making its way to the South, and one of the first people I made friends with was a very angry young black man who I am still friends with to this day. He quickly gave me a whole different perspective on race than what I had grown up with.

[BumRushDaShow]

22. Consider

what Carol Burnett and Vicki Lawrence had to say about that movie though -

(I remember watching that skit when the show aired)

[Siwsan]

31. I think that was probably the funniest thing she did. And she did a whole lot of funny

That curtain rod dress will never be forgotten.

[Rhiannon12866]

34. I saw that skit first run, too!

My whole family always watched Carol Burnett, and I have to agree that on a show with so many classic moments, this has to be the funniest ever, remember even my parents were in stitches at the time!

[Number9Dream]

9. The Adventures of Robin Hood; Captain Blood; etc.

Loved her in those old swashbucklers. What a beauty!

[NewJeffCT]

16. Those were two of my favorites as a kid

would love when they ran them on TV - Errol Flynn was the dashing, swashbuckling hero the shy young me admired, and Ms De Havilland was perfect opposite him.

[niyad]

10. a very happy birthday to her.

she still looks incredible.

[Greybnk48]

11. She's still beautiful!

And she looks like she still enjoys life. Good for her.

[MynameisBlarney]

12. Awesome!

She looks very happy and healthy in that pic, and she looks nowhere close to 100.

[DianaForRussFeingold]

13. WOW! Great actress, not just GWTW!

Thank You, joeybee12. I started watching TCM when flipping through the
channels trying to find something good to watch...Love those classic movies!

Tribute: http://www.tcm.com/

[Mendocino]

18. A grand dame of Hollywood,

nobody of her stature remains, at least none that I can think of. I believe her best performances beside GWTW were in The Snakepit and The Heiress.

Happy Birthday!

[BumRushDaShow]

21. Heard this on the radio this morning

but I wasn't sure whether they were celebrating her "would have been" birthday!

Congrats to that amazing milestone to her!

I remember when she played in the Roots sequel (Roots: The Next Generations) alongside Henry Fonda and others as part of a late 1970s "all-star cast" (including Marlon Brando in his only television role).

[struggle4progress]

23. .

[Ex Lurker]

24. She's probably having a day of quiet satisfaction

knowing she outlived her sister.

[whathehell]

28. They didn't get along, did they?

She and Joan Fontaine?....that being said, it seems creepy to get "satisfaction" out of another's death, especially that of a sibling.

[lpbk2713]

25. Just a GWTW heads up here.

Gone With the Wind is on TCM tonight starting at 9:15 Eastern.

She plays an excellent role.

[bravenak]

26. Looking GOOD!

Loved her in GWTW. I also loved watching Scarlett not win in the end too. But yeah, great actress.

[RKP5637]

27. WOW!!! K&R !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n/t

[kimbutgar]

29. She was a great actress in her day

I feel sorry for her though that she never reconciled with her sister Joan Fontaine.

100 years! I am still getting used to being 60!

Happy birthday Olivia.

[lapucelle]

30. Olivia DeHavilland is beautiful womanl and a gifted actress, but I once read a story

about her that changed my opinion forever.

At the 1939 Academy Awards, both Olivia and Hattie McDaniels were nominated as "Best Supporting Actress".

When Olivia lost to Hattie, it was reported that she stormed out of the dinner ranting, "I can't believe that they gave it to that n----- instead of me".

Here's more about the infamous sisterly feud.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/joan-fontaine-olivia-de-havilland-666087

[nonpareil]

32. What is your source for that assertion?

In the 1930's the Oscar winners were announced in advance, so Olivia would not have been at all surprised that she didn't win. And I can't imagine her using such language.

The story I have always heard is that she was very disappointed that she didn't win since it was a very important part in the most important film of the year and she was great in it. Selznick sat down with her and pointed out to the historical significance of Hattie Mc Daniels' win, and that she was still young and there was surely an Oscar in her future and she accepted it as graciously as she could. She seems like a competitive person and that that was the root of the feud with her sister as well as her disappointment over the Oscar.

[BumRushDaShow]

36. The end result of course

was that she eventually won an Oscar 7 years later. But imagine someone who was over 10 years her elder - Henry Fonda, whose own filmography was remarkable, yet he didn't win an Oscar (Best Actor) until 1981 for "On Golden Pond" - and I remember that was huge news at the time emphasizing the ridiculous Oscar drought for a man of his caliber.

[Mendocino]

37. "I once read a story"

link?

[Mendocino]

38. Still waiting

[Iggo]

40. You and me both.

[Mendocino]

41. I thought maybe that they

went on vacation or perhaps their PC blew up...could happen...no, still alive and posting.

[Iggo]

39. It was reported where?

[Mendocino]

42. If you can't produce a link

or any other proof for this allegation, do the right thing and apologize or at least delete.

[TheFarseer]

33. Zsa Zsa Gabor doesn't count as Hollywood's golden age?

Seriously though, happy birthday.

[BumRushDaShow]

35. The technicality may be that

although from the same generation as de Havilland & Fontaine age-wise, neither of the Gabor sisters had film careers until the 1950s - probably considered to be the beginning of the end of the so-called "golden era".