Origins & Early Life

Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916 – July 26, 2020) was a British, American, and French actress. She appeared in 49 feature films throughout her career, with the major works of her cinematic career spanning from 1935 to 1988. Before her death in 2020 at the age of 104, she was the oldest living and earliest surviving Academy Award winner and was one of the last surviving major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. Her younger sister, with whom she had a noted rivalry that was well documented in the media, was the Oscar-winning actress Joan Fontaine.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

De Havilland first came to prominence with Errol Flynn as a screen couple in adventure films such as Captain Blood (1935) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). One of her best-known roles is that of Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind (1939), for which she received the first of her five Oscar nominations, the only one for Best Supporting Actress. In the 1940s, De Havilland departed from ingénue roles and distinguished herself for performances in Hold Back the Dawn (1941), To Each His Own (1946), The Snake Pit (1948), and The Heiress (1949), receiving four Best Actress nominations and winning for To Each His Own...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

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• Ernst Mach — Contemporary (Died in 1916) (1916): Pioneering physicist and philosopher who shaped modern science and logic.
• Alan Parker — Contemporary (Died in 2020) (2020): Acclaimed English filmmaker known for genre versatility and numerous BAFTA and Golden Globe wins.
• Armando Manzanero — Contemporary (Died in 2020) (2020): Mexican composer and singer, celebrated for defining the romantic sound of postwar Latin America.
• Arthur Ashkin — Contemporary (Died in 2020) (2020): Pioneering physicist, recognized as the father of optical tweezers.
• Babak Khorramdin — Shared historical date (07-01 · Born) (798): 9th-century Iranian revolutionary leader of the Khorram-Dinān rebellion.
• Baybars — Shared historical date (07-01 · Died) (1277): Mamluk Sultan who defeated the Mongols at Ain Jalut and crushed the Crusaders.
• Aishwarya Lekshmi — Shared historical date (07-26 · Born) (1990): Acclaimed Indian actress working primarily in Malayalam and Tamil cinema.
• Albert Bandura — Shared historical date (07-26 · Died) (2021): Pioneering psychologist known for Social Cognitive Theory and self-efficacy.
• 1916 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1916
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• 2020 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 2020
• July 26 (07-26) On This Day — Historical events and memorials on July 26