Olivia's younger sister was Joan Fontaine.
On stage in 1933.
Juicy tidbit: In July 1938, de Havilland began dating business tycoon, aviator, and filmmaker Howard Hughes, who had just completed his record-setting flight around the world in 91 hours. In addition to escorting her about town, he gave the actress her first flying lessons. She later said, "He was a rather shy man ... and yet, in a whole community where the men every day played heroes on the screen and didn't do anything heroic in life, here was this man who was a real hero."
More juicy tidbits:
In December 1939, she began a romantic relationship with actor James Stewart. At the request of Irene Mayer Selznick, the actor's agent asked Stewart to escort de Havilland to the New York premiere of Gone with the Wind at the Astor Theater on December 19, 1939. Over the next few days, Stewart took her to the theatre several times and to the 21 Club. They continued to see each other back in Los Angeles, where Stewart provided occasional flying lessons and romance. According to de Havilland, Stewart proposed marriage to her in 1940, but she felt that he was not ready to settle down. Their relationship ended in late 1941 when de Havilland began a romantic relationship with film director John Huston while making In This Our Life. "John was a very great love of mine", she would later admit, "He was a man I wanted to marry."
Some people's kids...
Quite the hussy.
ReplyDeleteAnd her antics would probably would put today's Hollywood hussy's to shame.
DeleteAnd Jimmy Stewart, he went off to war in '42. Flew B-24s. Clark Gable went over to England in '43 with the 351st Bombardment Group. You can see him on You Tube in "Air Combat"
ReplyDeleteAfter the love of his life, Carole Lombard died, he enlisted, and was an waist gunner with a death wish, until the brass forcibly yanked him out of the air and made him a PR pony.
DeleteI would contend that this just goes to show that the MAJORITY of them don't know what they want and are never happy with what they have.
ReplyDeleteAnd, she was first cousins with this guy:
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_de_Havilland
Olivia was the better-looking of the pair.
ReplyDeleteAnd "dating" was a polite 1938 euphemism for what was going on.
Howard Hughes' list of actresses bagged would have put later-day poseurs like Heffner or Beatty to shame.
A TV film in 2017 made the mistake of impugning Olivia de Havilland by suggesting certain events and statements were made by her. Well, OK, dead people can't sue.
ReplyDeleteOne problem was, she wasn't dead. Aged 101, she sued. She didn't win but she dragged them through several appellate courts. Feisty to the end.