Joan Fontaine

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.

Cast

Rebecca

(Mrs. de Winter)

Letter from an Unknown Woman

(Lisa Berndle)

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

(Dr. Susan Hiller)

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

(Susan Spencer)

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands

(Jane Wharton)

The Women

(Peggy Day)

Suspicion

(Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth)

Jane Eyre

(Jane Eyre)

Gunga Din

(Emmaline "Emmy" Stebbins)

You Gotta Stay Happy

(Dee Dee Dillwood)

Ivanhoe

(Rowena)

The Witches

(Gwen Mayfield)

Serenade

(Kendall Hale)

Island in the Sun

(Mavis Norman)

Born to Be Bad

(Christabel Caine Carey)

Becoming Cary Grant

(Self (archive footage))

Ivy

(Ivy)

The Emperor Waltz

(Johanna Augusta Franziska)

A Damsel in Distress

(Alyce Marshmorton)

Othello

(Page)

Quality Street

(Charlotte Parratt)

The Bigamist

(Eve Graham)

September Affair

(Manina Stuart)

Casanova's Big Night

(Francesca Bruni)

The Constant Nymph

(Tessa Sanger)

A Certain Smile

(Françoise Ferrand)

Something to Live For

(Jenny Carey)

Sky Giant

(Meg Lawrence)

Until They Sail

(Anne Leslie)

This Above All

(Prudence Cathaway)

No More Ladies

(Caroline Rumsey)

Frenchman's Creek

(Dona St. Columb)

Darling, How Could You!

(Alice Grey)

From This Day Forward

(Susan)

The Duke of West Point

(Ann Porter)

Decameron Nights

(Fiametta / Bartolomea / Ginevra / Isabella)

The Affairs of Susan

(Susan Darell)

Blond Cheat

(Julie Evans)

Man of Conquest

(Eliza Allen)

You Can't Beat Love

(Trudy Olson)

A Million to One

(Joan Stevens)

Music for Madame

(Jean Clemens)

The Man Who Found Himself

(Doris King)

Maid's Night Out

(Sheila Harrison)

Flight to Tangier

(Susan Lane)

Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies

(Self (archive footage))

The Users

(Grace St. George)

Hollywood: The Selznick Years

(Self (uncredited))

Before the Fact: Suspicious Hitchcock

(Self (archive footage))

All By Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story

(Self)

A Happy Summer

(Joan)

Good King Wenceslas

(Queen Ludmilla)

Dark Mansions

(Margaret Drake)

Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood

(Self (archive footage))

The Art Director

(Self / Jane Eyre (archive footage) (uncredited))

George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey

(Self (archive footage) (uncredited))

Tender Is the Night

(Baby Warren)

Breakdowns of 1942

(Self)

The Love Boat

(Jennifer Langley)

Hotel

General Electric Theater

(Countess Irene Forelli)

Cannon

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse

One Step Beyond

(Ellen Grayson)

The 20th Century Fox Hour

Aloha Paradise

The Bing Crosby Show

The Oscars

(Self)

Letter to Loretta

(Self - Guest Host)

Talking Pictures

(Self (archive footage))

General Electric Theater

(Melanie Langdon)

General Electric Theater

(Laurel Chapman)

General Electric Theater

(Judith)

General Electric Theater

(Linda Stacey)

Four Star Playhouse

(Trudy)

Crossings

(Alexandra Markham)

Tony Awards

(Self - Presenter)

What's My Line?

(Self - Panelist)

What's My Line?

(Self - Mystery Guest)

The Mike Douglas Show

(Self - Co-Host)

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

(Alice Pemberton)