A Reel Legend: Olivia de Havilland

A Reel Legend will tell the stories of cinematic icons who are no longer with us. The actors, actresses, and directors who have shaped the silver screen as we know it today. 

This month’s Reel Legend is Olivia de Havilland. 

 

One of the most accomplished and influential actresses of the Golden Age, Oliva de Havilland was born in Tokyo to British parents, and raised in California alongside her sister, actress Joan Fontaine. She had her big-screen debut in 1935 in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, where she took it upon herself to learn the art of framing and lighting to assist in improving her look on the screen. 

 

She would gain worldwide attention by working with swashbuckling actor Erroll Flynn, first in the 1935 adventure CAPTAIN BLOOD, and most famously, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD in 1938, where she played Marian. The success of ROBIN HOOD and the popularity of the on-screen couple would lead to seven additional films with Flynn. 

 

Her career reached even further heights when in she took on the role of Melanie Hamilton in GONE WITH THE WIND (1939), which earned her an Academy Award nomination. She sought more complex roles in the 1940’s, winning two Oscars for Best Actress for TO EACH HIS OWN (1946), and THE HEIRESS (1949). In addition to her film career, she would spend time on Broadway and on television…winning a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination. 

 

Beyond her acting achievements, she made a lasting impact on the film industry through a landmark legal battle against Warner Bros. In 1943, she successfully challenged the studio’s contract system, leading to the “De Havilland Law,” which limited the length of studio contracts and gave actors greater professional freedom. The victory transformed Hollywood’s power structure and influenced generations of performers.

 

She would later receive numerous honors, including the appointment to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire…at the age of 101. Before her death in 2020 at the age of 104, she was the oldest living and earliest surviving Academy Award winner and was considered to be the last surviving star of the Golden Age. She and her sister Joan Fontaine remain the only siblings to have won major acting Academy Awards. 

 

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This Blogger’s introduction to Olivia de Havilland came in the late 1970’s, watching the magnificent THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD with dad on the WPIX Sunday afternoon matinee. As a STAR WARS kid, the similarities between Olivia’s Marian and Princess Leia were clear; she was brave, bold, beautiful, and could go toe-to-toe against the swashbucklers and the bad guys. This Blogger has always said that the 1938 ROBIN HOOD is ground-zero for STAR WARS, Marvel, and modern action films…and Olivia was a big part of that. 

 

Off the screen, her bold character showed up in real-life, taking on the mighty studio system in a legal battle that would benefit actors and actresses into today. It was a brave step for a woman to take in 1943, and it was her courage that reshaped Hollywood power and paved the way for creative freedom. That is what makes a Legend.