Joan Fontaine
Acting
Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013), known professionally as Joan Fontaine, was an English-American actress who is best known for her starring roles in Hollywood films during the "Golden Age". She was born in Tokyo, Japan, in what was known as the International Settlement. Her father was a British patent attorney with a lucrative practice in Japan, but due to Joan and older sister Olivia de Havilland's recurring ailments the family moved to California in the hopes of improving their health. Mrs. de Havilland and the two girls settled in Saratoga while their father went back to his practice in Japan. Joan's parents did not get along well and divorced soon afterward. Mrs. de Havilland had a desire to be an actress but her dreams were curtailed when she married, but now she hoped to pass on her dream to Olivia and Joan. While Olivia pursued a stage career, Joan went back to Tokyo, where she attended the American School. In 1934 she came back to California, where her sister was already making a name for herself on the stage. Joan likewise joined a theater group in San Jose and then Los Angeles to try her luck there. After moving to L.A., Joan adopted the name of Joan Burfield because she didn't want to infringe upon Olivia, who was using the family surname. She tested at MGM and gained a small role in No More Ladies (1935), but she was scarcely noticed and Joan was idle for a year and a half. During this time she roomed with Olivia, who was having much more success in films. In 1937, this time calling herself Joan Fontaine, she landed a better role as Trudy Olson in You Can't Beat Love (1937) and then an uncredited part in Quality Street (1937). Although the next two years saw her in better roles, she still yearned for something better. In 1940 she garnered her first Academy Award nomination for Rebecca (1940). Although she thought she should have won, (she lost out to Ginger Rogers in Kitty Foyle (1940)), she was now an established member of the Hollywood set. She would again be Oscar-nominated for her role as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth in Suspicion (1941), and this time she won. Joan was making one film a year but choosing her roles well. In 1942 she starred in the well-received This Above All (1942). The following year she appeared in The Constant Nymph (1943). Once again she was nominated for the Oscar, she lost out to Jennifer Jones in The Song of Bernadette (1943). By now it was safe to say she was more famous than her older sister and more fine films followed. In 1948, she accepted second billing to Bing Crosby in The Emperor Waltz (1948). Joan took the year of 1949 off before coming back in 1950 with September Affair (1950) and Born to Be Bad (1950). In 1951 she starred in Paramount's Darling, How Could You! (1951), which turned out badly for both her and the studio and more weak productions followed. Absent from the big screen for a while, she took parts in television and dinner theaters. She also starred in many well-produced Broadway plays such as Forty Carats and The Lion in Winter. Her last appearance on the big screen was The Witches (1966) and her final appearance before the cameras was Good King Wenceslas (1994). She is, without a doubt, a lasting movie icon.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
as Dr. Susan Hiller
Age 43 (now 96)
Before the Fact: Suspicious Hitchcock
as Self (archive footage)
Age 86 (now 96)
Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies
as Self (archive footage)
Age 82 (now 96)Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
Age 81 (now 96)
All by Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story
as Self
Age 64 (now 96)
Songs for After a War
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Age 58 (now 96)
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
as Self (uncredited)
Age 44 (now 96) Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
as Dr. Susan Hiller
Age 43 (now 96)
Decameron Nights
as Fiametta / Bartolomea / Ginevra / Isabella
Age 35 (now 96)
The Art Director
as Self / Jane Eyre (archive footage) (uncredited)
Age 32 (now 96)
Joan Fontaine, "Rebecca" Screen Test
as Self
Age 21 (now 96)
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
as Alice Pemberton
Age 44 (now 96)
General Electric Theater
as Countess Irene Forelli
Age 35 (now 96)
Gathering insights...
Also Known As
Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland, Joan Burfield
IMDB
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