Olivia de Havilland, a two-time Oscar winner and one of the last links to Hollywood’s Golden Age, died Sunday at the age of 104. …
Olivia de Havilland, a two-time Oscar winner and one of the last links to Hollywood’s Golden Age, died Sunday at the age of 104. The actress, who starred in blockbusters like « Gone With the Wind » and played opposite such dashing leading men as Errol Flynn, personified the glamour and elegance of a bygone age of moviemaking. In a statement, her publicist Lisa Goldberg said de Havilland « died peacefully from natural causes » at her home in Paris, France, where she had lived for years. « She was a queen of Hollywood, and will go down in cinematic history as such, » Thierry Fremaux, director of the Cannes Film Festival, told AFP. « There aren’t many who deserve to be called a ‘legend,' » tweeted Hollywood columnist Scott Feinberg, « but Olivia de Havilland… certainly was one. » De Havilland, pictured in 1970 in Paris, was nominated for five Oscars -, AFP/File And a Twitter account run by screen legend Humphrey Bogart’s son said, « We have lost a true Classic Hollywood icon. » De Havilland, who built a reputation for being a bankable star for any genre, starred in 49 movies from 1935 to 2009. She was also known for her colorful off-screen life, including a landmark legal battle against Warner Bros. and a secret and bitter feud with sister and fellow actress Joan Fontaine. – The De Havilland Law – She earned the enduring appreciation of fellow actors when a suit she brought against Warner Bros. — who had repeatedly extended her contract even as she rejected script after script — led to a far-reaching 1945 ruling that gave actors far more power to choose their own roles. Jared Leto, pictured at the 2019 LACMA Art + Film Gala in Los Angeles, described De Havilland as a ‘legend’ Emma McIntyre, GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz tweeted that even beyond her two Oscars, « her greatest contribution came in court against Warner Bros, setting a template for labor rights in Hollywood.
