Olivia de Havilland, the two-time Oscar-winning actress who starred in films like Gone With the Wind and The Snake Pit, has died at the age of 104.
The actress’ publicist confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that de Havilland died Sunday of natural causes in Paris, France, where she lived for the past 60 years.
The last surviving star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, de Havilland won Best Actress Academy Awards for her roles in 1946’s To Each His Own and 1949’s The Heiress. de Havilland was nominated for three other Oscars, including Best Supporting Actress for her most widely known role, Melanie in the 1939 epic Gone With the Wind.
de Havilland was also the older sister of actress Joan Fontaine, who won the Best Actress Academy Award in 1941 for Suspicion, beating out her own sister; de Havilland was nominated in the same category that year for Hold Back the Dawn, and the actresses’ Hollywood sibling rivalry led to years of estrangement and tabloid fodder. However, Fontaine and de Havilland remain the only siblings to both win lead acting honors at the Academy Awards.
“A two-time Best Actress Oscar winner, Olivia de Havilland was a mainstay of Hollywood’s Golden Age and an immeasurable talent. Here’s to a true legend of our industry,” the Academy tweeted Sunday.
In addition to Gone With the Wind and her Oscar-winning and nominated roles, de Havilland also starred in The Adventures of Robin Hood, Captain Blood, They Died With Their Boots On and My Cousin Rachel. Following her Forties heyday, de Havilland stepped away from Hollywood, only occasionally taking roles over the next few decades; those films include Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Airport ’77, The Swarm and her final on-screen appearance, 1979’s The Fifth Musketeer.
In 2017, de Havilland sued the producers of Feud: Bette and Joan over her portrayal in the miniseries; the actress was a longtime friend and co-star of Bette Davis. A California court ultimately rejected the defamation case.
“To Each His Own,” “The Heiress,” “Gone with the Wind” and so many others. A two-time Best Actress Oscar winner, Olivia de Havilland was a mainstay of Hollywood’s Golden Age and an immeasurable talent. Here's to a true legend of our industry. pic.twitter.com/VYMMNknh4v
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) July 26, 2020
