In a rare act of reconciliation, Olivia and her sister Joan Fontaine celebrated Christmas 1962 together along with their then-husbands and children.
In an interview cited on Turner Classic Movies, Olivia de Havilland claimed she knew about the reciprocal crush (between her and Errol Flynn) and further stated that Flynn proposed, though de Havilland turned down the proposal as Flynn was at the time still married to actress Lili Damita.
In April 1946 she set off a power struggle within the Hollywood Independent Citizens Committee of the Arts, Sciences and Professions (HICCASP) by refusing to deliver two speeches in Seattle as written by her fellow executive council member Dalton Trumbo, later one of the blacklisted Hollywood Ten. She felt Trumbo's text was too left-wing and worried that the organization was becoming "automatically pro-Russian".
In Italy, almost all of her films were dubbed by either Dhia Cristiani or Lidia Simoneschi. For the Italian releases of two of her most celebrated and fondly remembered roles, Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind (1939) and Maid Marian in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), she was dubbed, respectively, by Renata Marini and Dina Perbellini. This was the only time that either Italian actresses lent her voice to Olivia.
In the 1950s, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum near Tucson, AZ, named one of their female javalinas "Olivia de Javalina" in her honor; incidentally, their male was named "Gregory Peckory" to honor actor Gregory Peck.
Is descended from the Haverlands of Normandy, one of whom (the Lord of Haverland) accompanied William the Conquerer in his invasion of England in 1066.
Is mentioned in Helge Schneider's book "Die Memoiren des Rodriguez Faszanatas".
Is portrayed by Lee Purcell in My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Legend of Errol Flynn (1985) (TV).
Is the 15th cousin twice removed of Errol Flynn, her co-star in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).
It was reported in October 2001 that Miss de Havilland was among 40 prominent French residents who were victims of hoax anthrax attacks. (The attacks were proven to be hoaxes after a woman was arrested in Paris for sending out envelopes containing a powdery substance.)
Justly famous for her court victory against Warner Brothers in the mid 1940s (many others had sued Warners but failed), which stopped Warners from adding suspension periods to actors' contracts and therefore meant more freedom for actors in Hollywood. It became known as the "de Havilland decision".
Lost her son Benjamin to Hodgkin's disease in 1991, shortly before Benjamin's father, writer Marcus Goodrich, passed away.
Ms. de Havilland lives a peaceful retirement at her home on Rue Benouville, in Paris. She spends time teaching Sunday School to children at a local church.
Older sister of actress Joan Fontaine.
Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn were known as one of Hollywood's most exciting on-screen couples, appearing in eight films together, but contrary to some rumours, were never linked romantically. The films in which they co-starred included Captain Blood (1935), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood and Four's a Crowd (1938), Dodge City and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940) and They Died with Their Boots On (1941).
Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine are the first sisters to win Oscars and the first ones to be Oscar-nominated in the same year.
Olivia de Havilland declined the role of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, allegedly citing the unsavory nature of some elements of the script and saying there were certain lines she could not allow herself to speak. De Havilland denied this in a 2006 interview, saying she had recently given birth to her son when offered the role, which had been a life altering experience, and was unable to relate to the material.
Olivia de Havilland is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine.
Olivia De Havilland was offered the role of Mary Hatch Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life (1946) after Jean Arthur turned it down, but she also turned down the part. Donna Reed was cast instead and it went on to be one of her most famous performances.
Olivia de Havilland's father, Walter Augustus de Havilland (1872-1968), was a patent attorney with a practice in Japan.