0 Comments on Olivia de Havilland
Trending
Top
New
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland

Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland DBE (July 1, 1916 - July 25, 2020) was a British-American actress, whose career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films, and was one of the leading movie stars during the golden age of Classical Hollywood. She is best known for her early screen performances in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) ... more

Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland DBE (July 1, 1916 - July 25, 2020) was a British-American actress, whose career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films, and was one of the leading movie stars during the golden age of Classical Hollywood. She is best known for her early screen performances in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Gone with the Wind (1939), and her later award-winning performances in To Each His Own (1946), The Snake Pit (1948), and The Heiress (1949).

Born in Tokyo to British parents, de Havilland and her younger sister, actress Joan Fontaine, moved with their mother to California in 1919. They were brought up by their mother Lilian, a former stage actress who taught them drama, music, and elocution.

Olivia de Havilland made her screen debut in Reinhardt's A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1935. During her career, she often played demure ingénues opposite popular leading men, including Errol Flynn, with whom she made nine films. They became one of Hollywood's most popular romantic on-screen pairings.

She achieved her initial popularity in romantic comedy films, such as The Great Garrick (1937), and in Westerns, such as Dodge City (1939). Her natural beauty and refined acting style made her particularly effective in historical period dramas, such as Anthony Adverse (1936), and romantic dramas, such as Hold Back the Dawn (1941).

In her later career, she was most successful in dramas, such as Light in the Piazza (1962), and unglamorous roles in psychological dramas including Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964). In addition to her film career, de Havilland continued her work in the theatre, appearing three times on Broadway. She also worked in television, appearing in the successful miniseries, Roots: The Next Generations (1979), and television feature films, such as Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

During her film career, de Havilland won two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two New York Film Critics Circle Awards, the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress, and the Venice Film Festival Volpi Cup. For her contributions to the motion picture industry, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. For her lifetime contribution to the arts, she received the National Medal of Arts from President George W. Bush, and was appointed a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

De Havilland and Joan Fontaine are the only siblings to have won Academy Awards in a lead acting category. A lifelong rivalry between the two actresses resulted in an estrangement that lasted over three decades. De Havilland lived in Paris since 1956, and celebrated her 100th birthday on July 1, 2016.

In June 2017, two weeks before her 101st birthday, de Havilland was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to drama. She was the oldest woman ever to receive the honour. In a statement, she called it "the most gratifying of birthday presents".

close
Starred In [58]
More Information
Gone with the Wind
(1939)
Drama, Romance, War
The spoiled daughter of a well-to-do plantation owner is forced to use every means at her disposal to claw her way out of poverty, following Maj. Gen. William Sherman's destructive "March to the Sea,” during the American Civil War.
Runtime:
233 min
Director:
Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood
Cast:
Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Thomas Mitchell, Leslie Howard
8.1
90%
97
More Information
The Adventures of Robin Hood
(1938)
Action, Adventure, Romance
Robin Hood fights nobly for justice against the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne while striving to win the hand of the beautiful Maid Marian.
Runtime:
102 min
Director:
Michael Curtiz, William Keighley
Cast:
Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, Patric Knowles
7.9
100%
97
More Information
Captain Blood
(1935)
Action, Adventure, History, Romance
Dr. Peter Blood, unjustly convicted of treason and exiled from England, becomes a notorious pirate.
Runtime:
119 min
Director:
Michael Curtiz
Cast:
Errol Flynn, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Lionel Atwill
7.7
100%
89
More Information
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
(1964)
Drama, Horror, Mystery
An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.
Runtime:
133 min
Director:
Robert Aldrich
Cast:
Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Agnes Moorehead, Joseph Cotten, Joseph Cotten
7.6
82%
N/A
More Information
The Heiress
(1949)
Drama, History, Romance
Dull and plain Catherine lives with her emotionally distant father, Dr. Sloper, in 1840s New York. Her days are empty -- filled with little more than needlepoint. Enter handsome Morris Townsend, a dashing social climber with his eye on the spinster's heart and substantial inheritance.
Runtime:
115 min
Director:
William Wyler
Cast:
Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, Miriam Hopkins, Vanessa Brown
8.3
100%
N/A
More Information
The Snake Pit
(1948)
Drama, Mystery
Virginia Cunningham is confused upon finding herself in a mental hospital, with no memory of her arrival at the institution. Tormented by delusions and unable to even recognize her husband, Robert, she is treated by Dr. Mark Kik, who is determined to get to the root of her mental illness. As her treatment progresses, flashbacks depict ...
Runtime:
108 min
Director:
Anatole Litvak
Cast:
Olivia de Havilland, Mark Stevens, Leo Genn, Celeste Holm, Glenn Langan
7.7
100%
N/A
More Information
They Died with Their Boots On
(1941)
Drama, History, Romance, War, Western
The story follows General George Armstrong Custer's adventures from his West Point days to his death. He defies orders during the Civil War, trains the 7th Cavalry, appeases Chief Crazy Horse and later engages in bloody battle with the Sioux nation.
Runtime:
140 min
Director:
Raoul Walsh
Cast:
Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Arthur Kennedy, Charley Grapewin, Gene Lockhart
7.2
82%
N/A
More Information
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
(1939)
Drama, History, Romance
This period drama frames the tumultuous affair between Queen Elizabeth I and the man who would be King of England.
Runtime:
106 min
Director:
Michael Curtiz
Cast:
Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Donald Crisp, Alan Hale
7.1
78%
N/A
More Information
Dodge City
(1939)
Action, Western
In this epic Western, Wade Hatton, a wagon master turned sheriff, tames a cow town at the end of a railroad line.
Runtime:
104 min
Director:
Michael Curtiz
Cast:
Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Ann Sheridan, Bruce Cabot, Frank McHugh
7.1
100%
N/A
More Information
Airport '77
(1977)
Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Flight 23 has crashed in the Bermuda Triangle after a hijacking gone wrong. Now the surviving passengers must brave panic, slow leaks, oxygen depletion, and more while attempting a daring plan, all while 200 feet underwater.
Runtime:
114 min
Director:
Jerry Jameson
Cast:
Jack Lemmon, Jack Lemmon, Lee Grant, Brenda Vaccaro, Joseph Cotten
5.7
N/A
36
More Information
In This Our Life
(1942)
Drama, Romance
An unhappy, self-centered woman runs off with her sister's husband, wreaking havoc and ruining the lives of those around her.
Runtime:
97 min
Director:
John Huston
Cast:
Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, George Brent, Dennis Morgan, Frank Craven
7.5
N/A
N/A
More Information
The Charge of the Light Brigade
(1936)
Adventure, Drama, War
In 1853, as the British and Russian empires compete to gain and maintain their place in the dreadful Great Game of political intrigues and alliances whose greatest prize is the domination of India and the border territories, Major Geoffrey Vickers must endure several betrayals and misfortunes before he can achieve his revenge at the Ba...
Runtime:
111 min
Director:
Michael Curtiz
Cast:
Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Patric Knowles, Henry Stephenson, Nigel Bruce
7.1
83%
N/A
More Information
A Midsummer Night's Dream
(1935)
Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
A film adaptation by Max Reinhardt of his popular stage productions of Shakespeare's comedy. Four young people escape Athens to a forest where the king and queen of the fairies are quarreling, while meanwhile a troupe of amateur actors rehearses a play. When the fairy Puck uses a magic flower to make people fall in love, the whole thin...
Runtime:
143 min
Director:
William Dieterle, Max Reinhardt
Cast:
Ian Hunter, Ian Hunter, Verree Teasdale, Verree Teasdale, Hobart Cavanaugh
6.9
91%
N/A
More Information
The Dark Mirror
(1946)
Thriller
A sister and her disturbed twin are implicated in a murder and a police detective must figure out which one's the killer.
Runtime:
85 min
Director:
Robert Siodmak
Cast:
Olivia de Havilland, Lew Ayres, Thomas Mitchell, Richard Long, Charles Evans
7.1
N/A
N/A
More Information
The Strawberry Blonde
(1941)
Comedy, Music, Romance
Biff Grimes is desperately in love with Virginia, but his best friend Hugo marries her and manipulates Biff into becoming involved in his somewhat nefarious businesses. Hugo appears to have stolen Biff's dreams, and Biff has to deal with the realisation that having what he wants and wanting what another has can be very different things.
Runtime:
97 min
Director:
Raoul Walsh
Cast:
James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland, Rita Hayworth, Jack Carson, Alan Hale
7.4
100%
N/A
More Information
Santa Fe Trail
(1940)
Action, Western
As a penalty for fighting fellow classmates days before graduating from West Point, J.E.B. Stuart, George Armstrong Custer and four friends are assigned to the 2nd Cavalry, stationed at Fort Leavenworth. While there they aid in the capture and execution of the abolitionist, John Brown following the Battle of Harper's Ferry.
Runtime:
110 min
Director:
Michael Curtiz
Cast:
Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Olivia de Havilland, Alan Hale, Ronald Reagan
6.3
63%
N/A
More Information
To Each His Own
(1946)
Drama
During World War I, small-town girl Josephine Norris has an illegitimate son by an itinerant pilot. After a scheme to adopt him ends up giving him to another family, she devotes her life to loving him from afar.
Runtime:
122 min
Director:
Mitchell Leisen
Cast:
Olivia de Havilland, Mary Anderson, Roland Culver, Phillip Terry, Bill Goodwin
7.8
N/A
N/A
More Information
Lady in a Cage
(1964)
Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A woman trapped in a home elevator is terrorized by a group of vicious hoodlums.
Runtime:
94 min
Director:
Walter Grauman
Cast:
Olivia de Havilland, James Caan, Jennifer Billingsley, Rafael Campos, William Swan
6.9
20%
N/A
More Information
It's Love I'm After
(1937)
Comedy
An infatuated debutante renews a Shakespearean actor's running feud with his leading lady.
Runtime:
90 min
7.8
N/A
N/A
More Information
Hold Back the Dawn
(1941)
Drama, Romance
Romanian-French gigolo Georges Iscovescu wishes to enter the USA. Stopped in Mexico by the quota system, he decides to marry an American, then desert her and join his old partner Anita, who's done likewise. But after sweeping teacher Emmy Brown off her feet, he finds her so sweet that love and jealousy endanger his plans.
Runtime:
116 min
Director:
Mitchell Leisen
Cast:
Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland, Paulette Goddard, Victor Francen, Walter Abel
7.5
100%
N/A
More Information
My Cousin Rachel
(1952)
Drama, Mystery, Romance
A young man plots revenge against the woman he believes murdered his cousin, but his plans are shaken when he comes face to face with the enigmatic beauty.
Runtime:
98 min
7.2
N/A
N/A
More Information
Thank Your Lucky Stars
(1943)
Comedy, Music
An Eddie Cantor look-alike organizes an all-star show to help the war effort.
Runtime:
127 min
7.3
N/A
N/A
More Information
Not as a Stranger
(1955)
Drama, Romance
Lucas Marsh, an intern bent upon becoming a first-class doctor, not merely a successful one. He courts and marries the warm-hearted Kristina, not out of love but because she is highly knowledgeable in the skills of the operating room and because she has frugally put aside her savings through the years. She will be, as he shrewdly knows...
Runtime:
135 min
6.8
N/A
N/A
More Information
Light in the Piazza
(1962)
Drama, Romance
A young American woman traveling in Italy with her mother is slender, blonde, beautiful and there is something charmingly naive about her. Fabrizio Naccarelli seems to always know where the mother and daughter will sightsee next. Signor Naccarelli is just as concerned about where this will lead as Mrs. Johnson is. Then she starts think...
Runtime:
102 min
Director:
Guy Green
Cast:
Olivia de Havilland, Rossano Brazzi, Yvette Mimieux, George Hamilton, Isabel Dean
7.0
N/A
N/A
More Information
Anthony Adverse
(1936)
Action, Drama, Romance
Based on the novel by Hervey Allen, this expansive drama follows the many adventures of the eponymous hero, Anthony Adverse. Abandoned at a convent by his heartless nobleman father, Don Luis, Anthony is later mentored by his kind grandfather, John Bonnyfeather, and falls for the beautiful Angela Giuseppe. When circumstances separate An...
Runtime:
141 min
Director:
Mervyn LeRoy
Cast:
Fredric March, Olivia de Havilland, Donald Woods, Anita Louise, Edmund Gwenn
6.5
13%
N/A
More Information
Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna
(1986)
Drama, Mystery, TV Movie, Thriller
Story of Anna Anderson, who claimed to be Anastasia Romanov, the only surviving daughter of the Czar and Czarina of Russia.
Runtime:
200 min
Director:
Marvin J. Chomsky
Cast:
Amy Irving, Olivia de Havilland, Omar Sharif, Rex Harrison, Christian Bale
7.0
N/A
N/A
More Information
The Male Animal
(1942)
Comedy, Romance
The trustees of Midwestern University have forced three teachers out of their jobs for being suspected communists. Trustee Ed Keller has also threatened mild mannered English Professor Tommy Turner, because he plans to read a controversial piece of prose in class. Tommy is upset that his wife Ellen also suggested he not read the passag...
Runtime:
101 min
6.9
N/A
N/A
More Information
Princess O'Rourke
(1943)
Comedy, Romance
A down-to-earth pilot charms a European princess on vacation in the United States.
Runtime:
94 min
Director:
Norman Krasna
Cast:
Olivia de Havilland, Robert Cummings, Charles Coburn, Jack Carson, Jane Wyman
6.9
N/A
N/A
More Information
The Proud Rebel
(1958)
Western
Searching for a doctor who can help him get his son to speak again--the boy hadn't uttered a word since he saw his mother die in the fire that burned down the family home--a Confederate veteran finds himself facing a 30-day jail sentence when he's unfairly accused of starting a brawl in a small town. A local woman pays his fine, provid...
Runtime:
103 min
6.9
N/A
N/A
More Information
Libel
(1959)
Drama, Mystery
A California commercial pilot sees a telecast in London of an interview with Sir Mark Lodden at his home. The Canadian is convinced that the baronet is a fraud, and he is actually a look-alike actor named Frank Welney.
Runtime:
100 min
7.1
N/A
N/A
More Information
Four's a Crowd
(1938)
Comedy, Romance
Robert will do anything to get the big account that has eluded him. His public relations business makes public angels of rich scoundrels. Jean needs someone to save the paper and she wants Robert. When he finds out that Pat is dating Lorri, John Dillingwell's granddaughter, he gets involved. Robert begins to make John the most hated ma...
Runtime:
92 min
Director:
Michael Curtiz
Cast:
Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell, Patric Knowles, Walter Connolly
6.5
N/A
N/A
More Information
Devotion
(1946)
Drama
In Victorian England, literary siblings Emily and Charlotte Brontë vie for the affection of the Reverend Arthur Nichols. Along with their sister Anne, Emily and Charlotte also try to help their tormented brother Branwell, a gifted artist whose life is being destroyed by alcohol.
Runtime:
107 min
6.7
N/A
N/A
More Information
Murder Is Easy
(1982)
Mystery, Thriller
American computer whiz Luke Williams meets elderly Lavinia Fullerton on a London-bound train. She reveals she's discovered the identity of a serial killer in her village and is going to report it to Scotland Yard. When she's murdered after disembarking the train. Williams vows to pursue the case himself
Runtime:
95 min
Cast:
Bill Bixby, Lesley-Anne Down, Helen Hayes, Olivia de Havilland, Timothy West
6.1
N/A
N/A
More Information
The Great Garrick
(1937)
Comedy, Romance
A British actor insults a French acting group only to fall victim to a prank that might destroy his career.
Runtime:
89 min
Director:
James Whale
Cast:
Brian Aherne, Olivia de Havilland, Edward Everett Horton, Melville Cooper, Lionel Atwill
6.9
N/A
N/A
More Information
The Screaming Woman
(1972)
Horror, TV Movie, Thriller
A wealthy former mental patient goes home to her estate to rest and recuperate. While walking the grounds one day she hears the screams of a woman coming from underneath the ground. Her family, however, refuses to believe her story, and sees the incident as an opportunity to prove the woman's mind has snapped so they can take control o...
Runtime:
73 min
Director:
Jack Smight
Cast:
Olivia de Havilland, Ed Nelson, Laraine Stephens, Joseph Cotten, Walter Pidgeon
7.4
N/A
N/A
More Information
Raffles
(1939)
Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Drama, History, Romance, Thriller
Man about town and First Class cricketer A.J. Raffles keeps himself solvent with daring robberies. Meeting Gwen from his schooldays and falling in love all over again, he spends the weekend with her parents, Lord and Lady Melrose. A necklace presents an irresistible temptation, but also in attendance is Scotland Yard's finest, finally ...
Runtime:
72 min
Director:
Sam Wood
Cast:
David Niven, Olivia de Havilland, Dame May Whitty, Dudley Digges, Douglas Walton
6.3
N/A
N/A
More Information
The Irish in Us
(1935)
Comedy
A boxer (James Cagney) and his policeman brother (Pat O'Brien) feud over a police captain's daughter (Olivia de Havilland).
Runtime:
84 min
Director:
Lloyd Bacon
Cast:
James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Olivia de Havilland, Frank McHugh, Allen Jenkins
6.2
N/A
N/A
More Information
Hard to Get
(1938)
Comedy, Romance
When spoiled young heiress Maggie Richards tries to charge some gasoline at an auto camp run by Bill Davis, he makes her work out her bill by making beds. Resolving to get even, she pretends to have forgiven him, and sends him to her father to get financing for a plan Bill has. What happens next was not part of her original revenge plan.
Runtime:
82 min
Director:
Ray Enright
Cast:
Dick Powell, Olivia de Havilland, Charles Winninger, Allen Jenkins, Bonita Granville
6.8
N/A
N/A
More Information
The Swarm
(1978)
Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
Scientist Dr. Bradford Crane and army general Thalius Slater join forces to fight an almost invisible enemy threatening America; killer bees that have deadly venom and attack without reason. Disaster movie-master Irwin Allen's film contains spectacular special effects, including a train crash caused by the eponymous swarm.
Runtime:
116 min
Director:
Irwin Allen
Cast:
Michael Caine, Katharine Ross, Richard Widmark, Richard Chamberlain, Olivia de Havilland
4.4
13%
N/A
More Information
The Ambassador's Daughter
(1956)
Comedy, Romance
While on leave in Paris, a G.I. pursues an ambassador's daughter. Meanwhile she's out to prove to her father that soldiers can be gentlemen, too.
Runtime:
103 min
Director:
Norman Krasna
Cast:
Olivia de Havilland, John Forsythe, Myrna Loy, Adolphe Menjou
5.9
N/A
N/A