Profile of the Day: Olivia de Havilland

Olivia De Havilland

Happy birthday, Olivia de Havilland! Today the actress turns 100.

She was born on July 1, 1916 in Tokyo, Japan to English parents, Walter Augustus de Havilland and Lilian Augusta Ruse. De Havilland moved to California as a child with her mother and sister, Joan Fontaine, after her parents’ divorced. The sisters never got a long as children and as adults, their rivalry became one of the most famous and long-lasting feuds in Hollywood.

De Havilland made her big screen debut in the 1935 film adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She next starred opposite Errol Flynn in several films, including The Adventures of Robin Hood. She is probably best remembered for her role as Melanie Wilkes in Gone With the Wind, for which he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She would later win two Oscars for Best Actress, one of few actors to do so.

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Image: Wikimedia Commons