Daily Update
Posted by Faye Bell on June 03, 2002 at 18:22:51:
I thought I would give you some background information on some of the GWTW actresses/actors -- just in case you might not know. I am just going to list the information in numerical order, as I think it makes it easier to read.
FAMILY BACKGROUND:
1. Olivia was born July 1, 1916 in Tokyo. Parents names were Walter and Lillian.
2. A second daughter, Joan, was born soon thereafter.
3. The marriage did not last and Mrs. de Havilland took her daughters and left Japan, settling in Saratoga, California.
4. Lillian remarried in 1925 and Olivia's sister, Joan, took the last name of her stepfather, George Fontaine.
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HOW DID SHE START HER ACTING CAREER?
1. While she was involved in a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in 1934, she was spotted by a talent scout.
2. She was hired as a second understudy by Max Reinhardt who was preparing a presentation of M-S-N-Dream at the Hollywood Bowl.
3. Olivia was persuaded to change her future plans in order to repeat the role of "Hermia" in a film version of the Shakespeare classic.
4. She was later tempted by a long-term contract at Warner Bros.
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CONNECTION WITH GONE WITH THE WIND:
1. When Selznick first suggested borrowing Olivia from Warner Bros., they were not pleased with the idea.
2. Olivia, wanting the part desperately, improved her career with the sympathy of Mrs. Jack Warner.
3. As one of the most loved characters in GWTW, Olivia portrays the person many of us wish we could be.
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AFTER GONE WITH THE WIND:
1. In spite of 24 assignments and 4 loan-outs, there had also been other roles which Olivia refused to play, feeling they were unsuitable. In return, she was placed on suspension without salary.
2. Jack Warner was afraid if Olivia got a taste of freedom, she might not be satisfied with the routine parts she would receive in the future. His thoughts were correct and in 1943, she decided not to renew the working relationship.
3. When her contract expired, the studio advised her that she was expected to remain and work out this 2-year suspension time. Instead, she went to court and after 2 years of unemployment, the case was decided in her favor.
4. She went on to win an Academy Award as "Best Actress of 1946" for her part as an unwed mother in "To Each His Own".
5. Olivia's marriage to author Marcus Goodrich coincided with her return to the screen and the birth of her son, Benjamin.
6. A second marriage to Parisian editor Pierre Galante in 1955 was the occasion for a move to France.
7. In 1957, a daugther was born; Giselle.
8. Olivia de Havilland, now 86 years old, resides today in Paris and traveled to Atlanta in 1961 and 1967 for new "premieres" of Gone With the Wind.
