Olivia de Havilland, one of the last surviving golden age stars, has passed away at the ripe old age of 104. Extremely active in her later years, often sitting for interviews on Turner Classic Movies, and recently taking FX Networks to court over her depiction on Ryan Murphy’s TV show “Feud” (where she was played by Catherine Zeta-Jones), de Havilland leaves a rich legacy. A two-time Academy Award winner (for TO EACH HIS OWN & THE HEIRESS), de Havilland may be best remembered for her role as Melanie in GONE WITH THE WIND, in addition to a long series of roles opposite Errol Flynn in classic swashbucklers such as CAPTAIN BLOOD, THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON, and of course, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, where she played Maid Marian.
Famously independent at a time when studio contract players were expected to do what they were told, de Havilland famously took Warner Bros to court when they tried to extend her seven-year contract as punishment for not accepting roles. The landmark decision in her favor was named the “De Havilland Law”. Her sister, Joan Fontaine, was also an academy award-winning actress, famous for her role in Alfred Hitchcock’s REBECCA, although the relationship between the two was famously chilly – or was it? It was the way the relationship was addressed on “Feud” that led de Havilland to take FX to court. Fontaine herself lived to be ninety-six.
If you’ve never dug into any of the Flynn/de Havilland swashbucklers, I highly recommend watching CAPTAIN BLOOD & THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD on HBO Max. There are a lot of great movies the pair made, both together and separately.
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