Olivia de Havilland's salary for Gone With The Wind (1939) was $25,000.
Olivia's cousin was Sir Geoffrey de Havilland (1882-1965), the British aviation pioneer and designer of aircraft such as the wartime Mosquito fighter.
On November 17, 2008, at the age of 92, Olivia de Havilland received the National Medal for the Arts from President Bush.
Received the Medal of Arts Honor from President George W. Bush at a White House ceremony in the East Room on November 17, 2008, "for her persuasive and compelling skill as an actress in roles from Shakespeare's Hermia to Margaret Mitchell's Melanie. Her independence, integrity, and grace won creative freedom for herself and her fellow film actors.".
Relations between de Havilland and younger sister Joan Fontaine were never all that strong and worsened in 1941, when both were nominated for 'Best Actress' Oscar awards. Their mutual dislike and jealousy escalated into an all-out feud after Fontaine won for Suspicion (1941). Despite the fact that de Havilland went on to win two Academy Awards of her own, they remained permanently estranged.
She accepted two film roles turned down by Ginger Rogers, To Each His Own (1946) and The Snake Pit (1948). Olivia won an Oscar for To Each His Own (1946) and was nominated for The Snake Pit (1948). Rogers later regretted turning down the roles and wrote: "It seemed Olivia knew a good thing when she saw it. Perhaps Olivia should thank me for such poor judgment".
She and Errol Flynn acted together in 9 movies: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Captain Blood (1935), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), Dodge City (1939), Four's a Crowd (1938), Essex and Elizabeth (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940), Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) and They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
She and Joan Fontaine are the first sisters to win Oscars and the first ones to be Oscar-nominated in the same year.
She had two children (one from each of her marriages): Benjamin (1949-1991), who became a mathematician, and Gisele (b. 1956), who followed in her father's footsteps by becoming a journalist.
She has a street named after her in Mexico City. Renowned Mexican actor and director Emilio Fernández lived in Coyoacan Town on a street with no name at all, so he asked the authorities to name this street "Dulce Olivia," Spanish for "Sweet Olivia," after her.
She holds the record for the most people thanked in an Oscar acceptance speech (27) when she accepted the award for Best Actress for To Each His Own (1946).
She made a special appearance at the The 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003) (TV) and received a well-deserved standing ovation.
She was awarded the 2008 American National Medal of the Arts by President George Walker Bush in Washington D.C.
Showed flair as a writer when "Every Fenchman Has One," a lighthearted autobiographical account of her attempts at adapting to French life, was published in 1962.
The role of Lisolette Mueller in the The Towering Inferno (1974) was originally offered to her. It was eventually played by Jennifer Jones.
Trigger (then named Golden Cloud) was the horse ridden by Olivia de Havilland in Robin Hood. Roy Rogers admired the horse so much that he bought Trigger to use in his own films. This eventually made Trigger one of the most famous animals in show business.
Turned down the role of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), allegedly stating that "A lady just doesn't say or do those things on the screen". De Havilland set the record straight in a 2006 interview, saying that she had recently given birth to her son when offered the part and was unable to relate to the material.
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.
Was somewhat overweight when she first came to Paramount, yet Edith Head was able to design costumes with a slimming effect.