Joan Fontaine
Encyclopedia
Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (born 22 October 1917), known professionally as Joan Fontaine, is a British American actress. She and her elder sister Olivia de Havilland
are two of the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.
Fontaine is the only actor to have won an Academy Award for a performance in a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock
, Suspicion
.
with a practice in Japan, and Lillian Augusta Ruse, a British actress known by her stage name of Lillian Fontaine. Her parents married in 1914, and were divorced in April 1925.
Joan Fontaine is the younger sister of actress Olivia de Havilland
, from whom she has been estranged for many decades, not speaking at all since 1975. Her paternal cousin is Sir Geoffrey de Havilland
, designer of the famous de Havilland Mosquito
aeroplane. Fontaine became an American citizen in April 1943. Reportedly a sickly child who developed anemia
following a combined attack of the measles
and a streptococcal infection, her mother moved her and her sister to the United States
upon the advice of a physician.
The family settled in Saratoga, California
and Fontaine's health improved dramatically. She attended Los Gatos High School
, and was soon taking diction
lessons alongside her elder sister. When she was sixteen years old, Fontaine returned to Japan to live with her father. There she attended the American School in Japan
where she graduated in 1935.
Fontaine made her stage debut in the West Coast production of Call It a Day
in 1935 and was soon signed to an RKO
contract. Her film debut was a small role in No More Ladies
(1935) (in which she was billed as Joan Burfield). She appeared in a major role alongside Fred Astaire
in his first RKO film without Ginger Rogers
: A Damsel in Distress
(1937) but audiences were disappointed and the film flopped. She continued appearing in small parts in about a dozen films, including The Women
(1939) but failed to make a strong impression and her contract was not renewed when it expired in 1939, the same year she married her first husband, British actor Brian Aherne
. They divorced in 1945.
Fontaine's luck changed one night at a dinner party when she found herself seated next to producer David O. Selznick
. She and Selznick began discussing the Daphne du Maurier
novel Rebecca
, and Selznick asked her to audition for the part of the unnamed heroine. She endured a grueling six-month series of film tests, along with hundreds of other actresses, before securing the part some time before her 22nd birthday.
Rebecca marked the American debut of British director Alfred Hitchcock
. In 1940, the film was released to glowing reviews and Joan was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress
.
She did not win that year (Ginger Rogers
took home the award for Kitty Foyle
) but Fontaine did win the following year for Best Actress in Suspicion
, which was also directed by Hitchcock. This is the only Academy Award winning performance directed by Hitchcock.
During the 1940s she excelled in romantic melodramas. Among her memorable films during this time were The Constant Nymph
(1943) (for which she received her third Academy Award nomination), Jane Eyre
(1944), Ivy
(1947), and Letter from an Unknown Woman
(1948). Her film successes slowed a little during the 1950s and she also began appearing in television and on the stage. She won good reviews for her role on Broadway
in 1954 as Laura in Tea and Sympathy
, opposite Anthony Perkins
. She also appeared in numerous radio shows during the 1940s for the Lux Radio Theatre
.
During the 1960s, she continued her stage appearances in several productions, among them Private Lives
, Cactus Flower and an Austrian production of The Lion in Winter
. Her last theatrical film was The Witches
(1966), which she also co-produced. She continued appearing in film and television roles throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and was nominated for an Emmy Award
for the soap opera
, Ryan's Hope
in 1980.
Her autobiography, No Bed of Roses, was published in 1978. In 1982, she was head of the jury at the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival
.
She resides in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
, in relative seclusion, spending her time in her gardens, and with her dogs.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Joan Fontaine has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 1645 Vine Street.
She has one daughter, Deborah Leslie Dozier (born in 1948), from her union with Dozier, and another daughter, Martita, a Peruvian adoptee, who ran away from home.
was the first to become an actress. When her sister Joan tried to follow her lead, their mother, who allegedly favoured de Havilland, refused to let her use the family name. Joan then used the pseudonym Joan Burfield, and later Joan Fontaine.
Biographer Charles Higham
records that the sisters have always had an uneasy relationship, starting in early childhood, when de Havilland would rip up the clothes that Fontaine had to wear as hand-me-downs.
Both de Havilland and Fontaine were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress
in 1942. Fontaine won first for her role in Alfred Hitchcock
's Suspicion
(1941) over de Havilland's nomination for Hold Back the Dawn
(1941). Higham states that Fontaine "felt guilty about winning; given her lack of obsessive career drive…".
Higham has described the events of the awards ceremony, stating that as Fontaine stepped forward to accept her award, she rejected de Havilland's attempts at congratulating her, and that de Havilland was offended and embarrassed by her behavior. Several years later, de Havilland would remember the slight and exact her own by brushing past Fontaine, who was waiting with hand extended, because de Havilland had allegedly taken offense at a comment Fontaine had made about de Havilland's husband.
de Havilland's relationship with Fontaine continued to deteriorate after the two incidents. Higham has stated that this was the near final straw for what would become a lifelong feud, but the sisters did not completely stop speaking until 1975.
According to Fontaine, de Havilland did not invite her to a memorial service for their recently deceased mother. de Havilland claims she told Fontaine, but that Fontaine had brushed her off, claiming that she was too busy to attend.
Higham records that Fontaine has an estranged relationship with her own daughters as well, possibly because she discovered that they were secretly maintaining a relationship with their aunt.
Both sisters have refused to comment publicly about their feud and dysfunctional family
relationship, though in an interview with John Kobal
, Fontaine stated that the so-called rivalry was a hoax, created by studio publicity hounds.
In a 1979 interview, Fontaine says the reason she stopped speaking with her sister was because de Havilland wanted their mother, ill with cancer, operated on at the age of 88. Fontaine also says that when their mother died, de Havilland didn't even bother to phone to find out where she could be reached (Fontaine was on tour). Instead, de Havilland sent a telegram, which was mailed to Fontaine two weeks later at her next stop.
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
are two of the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.
Fontaine is the only actor to have won an Academy Award for a performance in a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, Suspicion
Suspicion (film)
Suspicion is a romantic psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine as a married couple. It also stars Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, Dame May Whitty, Isabel Jeans, Heather Angel, and Leo G...
.
Early life
Born in Tokyo, Japan, Fontaine is the younger daughter of Walter Augustus de Havilland, a British patent attorneyPatent attorney
A patent attorney is an attorney who has the specialized qualifications necessary for representing clients in obtaining patents and acting in all matters and procedures relating to patent law and practice, such as filing an opposition...
with a practice in Japan, and Lillian Augusta Ruse, a British actress known by her stage name of Lillian Fontaine. Her parents married in 1914, and were divorced in April 1925.
Joan Fontaine is the younger sister of actress Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
, from whom she has been estranged for many decades, not speaking at all since 1975. Her paternal cousin is Sir Geoffrey de Havilland
Geoffrey de Havilland
Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, OM, CBE, AFC, RDI, FRAeS, was a British aviation pioneer and aircraft engineer...
, designer of the famous de Havilland Mosquito
De Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...
aeroplane. Fontaine became an American citizen in April 1943. Reportedly a sickly child who developed anemia
Anemia
Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...
following a combined attack of the measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
and a streptococcal infection, her mother moved her and her sister to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
upon the advice of a physician.
The family settled in Saratoga, California
Saratoga, California
Saratoga is a city in Santa Clara County, California, USA. It is located on the west side of the Santa Clara Valley, directly west of San Jose, in the San Francisco Bay area. The population was 29,926 at the 2010 census....
and Fontaine's health improved dramatically. She attended Los Gatos High School
Los Gatos High School
Los Gatos High School is a high school in Los Gatos, California, a small town near San Jose in the Silicon Valley. Los Gatos High School was founded in 1908 and is part of the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District...
, and was soon taking diction
Diction
Diction , in its original, primary meaning, refers to the writer's or the speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression in a poem or story...
lessons alongside her elder sister. When she was sixteen years old, Fontaine returned to Japan to live with her father. There she attended the American School in Japan
American School in Japan
The American School in Japan was founded in 1902 and is an international private day school located in the city of Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. The school consists of an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school, all located on the Chōfu campus...
where she graduated in 1935.
Career
Dodie Smith
Dorothy Gladys "Dodie" Smith was an English novelist and playwright. Smith is best known for her novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians. Her other works include I Capture the Castle and The Starlight Barking....
in 1935 and was soon signed to an RKO
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
contract. Her film debut was a small role in No More Ladies
No More Ladies
No More Ladies is a 1935 film starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, and Franchot Tone, directed by Edward H. Griffith and George Cukor. It is based on a play by A.E. Thomas...
(1935) (in which she was billed as Joan Burfield). She appeared in a major role alongside Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
in his first RKO film without Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
: A Damsel in Distress
A Damsel in Distress (film)
A Damsel in Distress is a 1937 English-themed Hollywood musical comedy film starring Fred Astaire, Joan Fontaine, George Burns, and Gracie Allen. With a screenplay by P. G...
(1937) but audiences were disappointed and the film flopped. She continued appearing in small parts in about a dozen films, including The Women
The Women (1939 film)
The Women is a 1939 American comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor. The film is based on Clare Boothe Luce's play of the same name, and was adapted for the screen by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin, who had to make the film acceptable for the Production Code in order for it to be released.The film...
(1939) but failed to make a strong impression and her contract was not renewed when it expired in 1939, the same year she married her first husband, British actor Brian Aherne
Brian Aherne
Brian Aherne was a British actor of both stage and screen, who found success in Hollywood.-Early life and stage career:...
. They divorced in 1945.
Fontaine's luck changed one night at a dinner party when she found herself seated next to producer David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
. She and Selznick began discussing the Daphne du Maurier
Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE was a British author and playwright.Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn and the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". The first three were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Her elder sister was...
novel Rebecca
Rebecca (novel)
Rebecca is a novel by Daphne du Maurier. When Rebecca was published in 1938, du Maurier became – to her great surprise – one of the most popular authors of the day. Rebecca is considered to be one of her best works...
, and Selznick asked her to audition for the part of the unnamed heroine. She endured a grueling six-month series of film tests, along with hundreds of other actresses, before securing the part some time before her 22nd birthday.
Rebecca marked the American debut of British director Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
. In 1940, the film was released to glowing reviews and Joan was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
.
She did not win that year (Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
took home the award for Kitty Foyle
Kitty Foyle (film)
Kitty Foyle, subtitled The Natural History of a Woman, is a 1940 film starring Ginger Rogers, Dennis Morgan, James Craig, Ernest Cossart and Gladys Cooper.-Plot:...
) but Fontaine did win the following year for Best Actress in Suspicion
Suspicion (film)
Suspicion is a romantic psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine as a married couple. It also stars Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, Dame May Whitty, Isabel Jeans, Heather Angel, and Leo G...
, which was also directed by Hitchcock. This is the only Academy Award winning performance directed by Hitchcock.
Career rise
The Constant Nymph (1943 film)
The Constant Nymph is a 1943 romantic drama film starring Charles Boyer, Joan Fontaine, Alexis Smith, Brenda Marshall, Charles Coburn, Dame May Whitty and Peter Lorre...
(1943) (for which she received her third Academy Award nomination), Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre (1944 film)
Jane Eyre is a classic film adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name, made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by William Goetz, Kenneth Macgowan, and Orson Welles . The screenplay was by John Houseman, Aldous Huxley, Henry Koster, and Robert...
(1944), Ivy
Ivy (film)
Ivy is an American crime film noir directed by Sam Wood and written by Charles Bennett, based on The Story of Ivy, the novel written by Marie Belloc Lowndes. The drama features Joan Fontaine, Patric Knowles, Herbert Marshall, among others. The film was entered into the 1947 Cannes Film...
(1947), and Letter from an Unknown Woman
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948 film)
Letter from an Unknown Woman is a film directed by Max Ophüls. It was based on the novella of the same name, which was written by Stefan Zweig...
(1948). Her film successes slowed a little during the 1950s and she also began appearing in television and on the stage. She won good reviews for her role on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 1954 as Laura in Tea and Sympathy
Tea and Sympathy
Tea and Sympathy is a 1953 stage play in three acts by Robert Anderson.-Broadway premiere:It received its premiere on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on September 30, 1953 in a production by The Playwrights' Company, directed by Elia Kazan and designed by Jo Mielziner. The play starred...
, opposite Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
. She also appeared in numerous radio shows during the 1940s for the Lux Radio Theatre
Lux Radio Theater
Lux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network ; CBS and NBC . Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences...
.
During the 1960s, she continued her stage appearances in several productions, among them Private Lives
Private Lives
Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
, Cactus Flower and an Austrian production of The Lion in Winter
The Lion in Winter
-Synopsis:Set during Christmas 1183 at Henry II of England's château in Chinon, Anjou, Angevin Empire, the play opens with the arrival of Henry's wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, whom he has had imprisoned since 1173...
. Her last theatrical film was The Witches
The Witches (1966 film)
The Witches is a 1966 British horror film made by Hammer Films. It was adapted by Nigel Kneale from the novel The Devil's Own by Norah Lofts, under the pseudonym Peter Curtis...
(1966), which she also co-produced. She continued appearing in film and television roles throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, Ryan's Hope
Ryan's Hope
Ryan's Hope is an American soap opera, revolving around 13 years of trials and tribulations within a large Irish American family in the Riverside district of New York City. It aired from July 7, 1975 to January 13, 1989 on ABC...
in 1980.
Her autobiography, No Bed of Roses, was published in 1978. In 1982, she was head of the jury at the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival
32nd Berlin International Film Festival
The 32nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 12 to February 23, 1982.-Jury:* Joan Fontaine * Vladimir Baskakov* Brigitte Fossey* Joe Hembus* László Lugossy* Gian Luigi Rondi* Helma Sanders-Brahms...
.
She resides in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Carmel-by-the-Sea, often called simply Carmel, is a small city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated in 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, the town is known for its natural scenery and rich artistic history...
, in relative seclusion, spending her time in her gardens, and with her dogs.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Joan Fontaine has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 1645 Vine Street.
Marriages and children
Joan Fontaine was married and divorced four times:- Brian AherneBrian AherneBrian Aherne was a British actor of both stage and screen, who found success in Hollywood.-Early life and stage career:...
(1939 to 1945) - William DozierWilliam DozierWilliam Dozier was an American film and television producer and actor.He began in the film industry...
(1946 to 1951) - Collier YoungCollier YoungFilm producer and writer Collier Young worked on many films in the 1950s before becoming a television producer for such shows as NBC's Ironside and CBS's The Wild, Wild West as well as the supernatural series One Step Beyond .Young was married to actress and director Ida Lupino from 1948 to 1951,...
(1952 to 1961) - Alfred Wright, Jr. (1964 to 1969)
She has one daughter, Deborah Leslie Dozier (born in 1948), from her union with Dozier, and another daughter, Martita, a Peruvian adoptee, who ran away from home.
Sibling rivalry
Of the two sisters, Olivia de HavillandOlivia de Havilland
Olivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
was the first to become an actress. When her sister Joan tried to follow her lead, their mother, who allegedly favoured de Havilland, refused to let her use the family name. Joan then used the pseudonym Joan Burfield, and later Joan Fontaine.
Biographer Charles Higham
Charles Higham (biographer)
Charles Higham is an author, editor and poet. Higham is a recipient of the Prix des Créateurs of the Académie Française and the Poetry Society of London Prize.-Biography:...
records that the sisters have always had an uneasy relationship, starting in early childhood, when de Havilland would rip up the clothes that Fontaine had to wear as hand-me-downs.
Both de Havilland and Fontaine were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
in 1942. Fontaine won first for her role in Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's Suspicion
Suspicion (film)
Suspicion is a romantic psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine as a married couple. It also stars Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, Dame May Whitty, Isabel Jeans, Heather Angel, and Leo G...
(1941) over de Havilland's nomination for Hold Back the Dawn
Hold Back the Dawn
Hold Back the Dawn is a 1941 romantic film in which a Romanian gigolo marries an American woman in Mexico in order to gain entry to the United States, but winds up falling in love with her...
(1941). Higham states that Fontaine "felt guilty about winning; given her lack of obsessive career drive…".
Higham has described the events of the awards ceremony, stating that as Fontaine stepped forward to accept her award, she rejected de Havilland's attempts at congratulating her, and that de Havilland was offended and embarrassed by her behavior. Several years later, de Havilland would remember the slight and exact her own by brushing past Fontaine, who was waiting with hand extended, because de Havilland had allegedly taken offense at a comment Fontaine had made about de Havilland's husband.
de Havilland's relationship with Fontaine continued to deteriorate after the two incidents. Higham has stated that this was the near final straw for what would become a lifelong feud, but the sisters did not completely stop speaking until 1975.
According to Fontaine, de Havilland did not invite her to a memorial service for their recently deceased mother. de Havilland claims she told Fontaine, but that Fontaine had brushed her off, claiming that she was too busy to attend.
Higham records that Fontaine has an estranged relationship with her own daughters as well, possibly because she discovered that they were secretly maintaining a relationship with their aunt.
Dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
relationship, though in an interview with John Kobal
John Kobal
John Kobal was an Austrian-born British based film historian responsible for The Kobal Collection, a commercial photograph library related to the film industry....
, Fontaine stated that the so-called rivalry was a hoax, created by studio publicity hounds.
In a 1979 interview, Fontaine says the reason she stopped speaking with her sister was because de Havilland wanted their mother, ill with cancer, operated on at the age of 88. Fontaine also says that when their mother died, de Havilland didn't even bother to phone to find out where she could be reached (Fontaine was on tour). Instead, de Havilland sent a telegram, which was mailed to Fontaine two weeks later at her next stop.
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.... |
Academy Award | Best Actress | Rebecca | |
| 1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:... |
Academy Award | Best Actress | Suspicion Suspicion (film) Suspicion is a romantic psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine as a married couple. It also stars Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, Dame May Whitty, Isabel Jeans, Heather Angel, and Leo G... |
|
| NYFCC Award | Best Actress | |||
| 1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films.... |
Academy Award | Best Actress | The Constant Nymph The Constant Nymph (1943 film) The Constant Nymph is a 1943 romantic drama film starring Charles Boyer, Joan Fontaine, Alexis Smith, Brenda Marshall, Charles Coburn, Dame May Whitty and Peter Lorre... |
|
| 1947 1947 in film The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25... |
Golden Apple Award Golden Apple Award The Golden Apple Award is an American award presented to entertainers by the Hollywood Women's Press Club, usually in recognition not of performance but of behavior. The award has been presented since 1941 and includes categories recognizing actors for being easy to work with, as well as categories... |
Most Cooperative Actress | ||
| 1980 1980 in film - Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year .... |
Daytime Emmy Award Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming... |
Outstanding Guest/Cameo Appearance in a Daytime Drama Series | Ryan's Hope Ryan's Hope Ryan's Hope is an American soap opera, revolving around 13 years of trials and tribulations within a large Irish American family in the Riverside district of New York City. It aired from July 7, 1975 to January 13, 1989 on ABC... |
|
Filmography
- No More LadiesNo More LadiesNo More Ladies is a 1935 film starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, and Franchot Tone, directed by Edward H. Griffith and George Cukor. It is based on a play by A.E. Thomas...
(1935) - A Million to One (1937)
- Quality Street (1937) (uncredited)
- The Man Who Found Himself (1937)
- You Can't Beat Love (1937)
- Music for Madame (1937)
- A Damsel in DistressA Damsel in Distress (film)A Damsel in Distress is a 1937 English-themed Hollywood musical comedy film starring Fred Astaire, Joan Fontaine, George Burns, and Gracie Allen. With a screenplay by P. G...
(1937) - Maid's Night Out (1938)
- Blond CheatBlond CheatBlond Cheat is a 1938 film directed by Joseph Santley and starring Joan Fontaine, Derrick De Marney, and Cecil Kellaway. The film was produced by William Sistrom, and originally released by RKO Radio Pictures. The original story is by Aladar Lazlo. The screenplay is by Harry Segall, Charles...
(1938) - Sky Giant (1938)
- The Duke of West Point (1938)
- Gunga DinGunga Din (film)Gunga Din is a 1939 RKO adventure film directed by George Stevens, loosely based on the poem of the same name by Rudyard Kipling, combined with elements of his novel Soldiers Three...
(1939) - Man of ConquestMan of ConquestMan of Conquest is a 1939 Western film directed by George Nichols Jr.. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Score, Best Sound and Best Art Direction .-Cast:* Richard Dix - Sam Houston...
(1939) - The WomenThe Women (1939 film)The Women is a 1939 American comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor. The film is based on Clare Boothe Luce's play of the same name, and was adapted for the screen by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin, who had to make the film acceptable for the Production Code in order for it to be released.The film...
(1939) - Rebecca (1940)
- SuspicionSuspicion (film)Suspicion is a romantic psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine as a married couple. It also stars Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, Dame May Whitty, Isabel Jeans, Heather Angel, and Leo G...
(1941) - This Above AllThis Above AllThis Above All is a 1942 American romance film set in World War II adapted from the Eric Knight novel of the same name and directed by Anatole Litvak...
(1942) - The Constant NymphThe Constant Nymph (1943 film)The Constant Nymph is a 1943 romantic drama film starring Charles Boyer, Joan Fontaine, Alexis Smith, Brenda Marshall, Charles Coburn, Dame May Whitty and Peter Lorre...
(1943) - Jane Eyre (1943)
- Frenchman's CreekFrenchman's Creek (film)Frenchman's Creek is a 1944 adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel , released by Paramount Pictures. The film starred Joan Fontaine, Arturo de Córdova, Basil Rathbone, Cecil Kellaway, and Nigel Bruce. Filmed in Technicolor, it was directed by Mitchell Leisen...
(1944) - The Affairs of SusanThe Affairs of SusanThe Affairs of Susan is a 1945 comedy film starring Joan Fontaine, Walter Abel, George Brent, Dennis O'Keefe and Don DeFore. The plot concerns Susan , who is about to be married. Complications set in when her fiance gives a party to celebrate, and he talks to three former beaus of Susan, each of...
(1945) - From This Day Forward (1946)
- IvyIvy (film)Ivy is an American crime film noir directed by Sam Wood and written by Charles Bennett, based on The Story of Ivy, the novel written by Marie Belloc Lowndes. The drama features Joan Fontaine, Patric Knowles, Herbert Marshall, among others. The film was entered into the 1947 Cannes Film...
(1947) - Letter from an Unknown WomanLetter from an Unknown Woman (1948 film)Letter from an Unknown Woman is a film directed by Max Ophüls. It was based on the novella of the same name, which was written by Stefan Zweig...
(1948)
- The Emperor WaltzThe Emperor WaltzThe Emperor Waltz is a 1948 American musical film directed by Billy Wilder. The screenplay by Wilder and Charles Brackett was inspired by a real-life incident involving Franz Joseph I of Austria.- Plot :...
(1948) - You Gotta Stay HappyYou Gotta Stay HappyYou Gotta Stay Happy is a 1948 Universal-International romantic-comedy starring James Stewart, Joan Fontaine and Eddie Albert.-Plot:Marvin Payne is a World War II army air force veteran trying to make it on a shoe-string with a startup air-freight business...
(1948) - Kiss the Blood Off My HandsKiss the Blood Off My HandsKiss the Blood Off My Hands is a 1948 film noir, directed by Norman Foster. It stars Burt Lancaster, Joan Fontaine and Robert Newton.-Plot:...
(1948) - September AffairSeptember AffairSeptember Affair is a 1950 film, directed by William Dieterle, starring Joan Fontaine, Joseph Cotten and Jessica Tandy. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis.-Plot:...
(1950) - Born to Be BadBorn to Be Bad (1950 film)Born to Be Bad is a 1950 melodrama starring Joan Fontaine as a manipulative young woman who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. It was based on the novel All Kneeling by Anne Parrish.-Cast:*Joan Fontaine as Christabel Caine Carey...
(1950) - Darling, How Could You!Darling, How Could You!Darling, How Could You! is a 1951 comedy film directed by Mitchell Leisen. It stars Joan Fontaine and John Lund.-Cast:*Joan Fontaine as Mrs. Alice Grey*John Lund as Dr. Robert Grey*Mona Freeman as Amy Grey*Peter Hansen as Dr. Steven Clark...
(1951) - Something to Live ForSomething to Live For (film)Something to Live For is a 1952 American drama film starring Joan Fontaine, Ray Milland, and Teresa Wright, directed by George Stevens, and released by Paramount Pictures...
(1952) - IvanhoeIvanhoe (1952 film)Ivanhoe is a 1952 historical film made by MGM. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Pandro S. Berman. The cast featured Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Emlyn Williams, Finlay Currie and Felix Aylmer...
(1952) - Decameron NightsDecameron NightsDecameron Nights is a 1953 anthology film based on three tales from The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, specifically the ninth and tenth tales of the second day and the ninth tale of the third...
(1953) - Flight to Tangier (1953)
- The Bigamist (1953)
- Casanova's Big NightCasanova's Big NightCasanova's Big Night is a comedy film starring Bob Hope and Joan Fontaine, which is a spoof of swashbuckling historical adventure films. It was directed by Norman Z. McLeod.Hope plays a man who impersonates Giacomo Casanova, the great lover...
(1954) - Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Mothers and Fathers (1955) (short subject)
- SerenadeSerenade (film)Serenade, a 1956 Warner Bros. release, was tenor Mario Lanza's fifth film, and his first on-screen appearance in four years. Directed by Anthony Mann and based on the 1937 novel of the same name by James M...
(1956) - Beyond a Reasonable DoubtBeyond a Reasonable DoubtBeyond a Reasonable Doubt is a 1956 film directed by Fritz Lang and written by Douglas Morrow. The film, considered film noir, was the last American film directed by Lang.-Plot:...
(1956) - Island in the SunIsland in the Sun (film)Island in the Sun is a 1957 film that stars an ensemble cast including James Mason, Joan Fontaine, Dorothy Dandridge, Joan Collins, Michael Rennie and Harry Belafonte. The cast includes also Diana Wynyard, Patricia Owens and Stephen Boyd. The film is about race relations and interracial romance...
(1957) - Until They SailUntil They SailUntil They Sail is a 1957 American black and white CinemaScope drama film directed by Robert Wise. The screenplay by Robert Anderson, based on a story by James A. Michener included in his 1951 anthology Return to Paradise, focuses on four New Zealand sisters and their relationships with U.S...
(1957) - A Certain SmileA Certain Smile (film)A Certain Smile is a 1958 drama film directed by Jean Negulesco, based on the book of the same name.-Cast:* Rossano Brazzi as Luc Ferrand* Joan Fontaine as Françoise Ferrand* Bradford Dillman as Bertrand Griot* Christine Carère as Dominique Vallon...
(1958) - Voyage to the Bottom of the SeaVoyage to the Bottom of the SeaVoyage to the Bottom of the Sea is an American science fiction film, produced and directed by Irwin Allen, released by 20th Century Fox in 1961. The story was written by Irwin Allen and Charles Bennett. Walter Pidgeon starred as Admiral Harriman Nelson, with Robert Sterling as Captain Lee Crane...
(1961) - Tender Is the NightTender is the Night (1962 film)Tender Is the Night is a 1962 film directed by Henry King, based on the novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The soundtrack featured a song, also called "Tender Is the Night", by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster , which was nominated for the 1962 Academy Award for Best Song...
(1962) - The WitchesThe Witches (1966 film)The Witches is a 1966 British horror film made by Hammer Films. It was adapted by Nigel Kneale from the novel The Devil's Own by Norah Lofts, under the pseudonym Peter Curtis...
(1966) - The UsersThe Users (film)The Users is a 1978 television film directed by Joseph Hardy. The film, whose executive producer was Aaron Spelling, is based on a Joyce Haber novel released in the same year...
(1978) - Good King Wenceslas (1994)
Sources
- Fontaine, Joan. No Bed of Roses. Berkley Publishing Group, (1979) ISBN 0-425-05028-9
- Higham, Charles. Sisters: The Story of Olivia De Haviland and Joan Fontaine. Coward McCann, May 1984, 257 pages.
- Current Biography 1944. H.W. Wilson Company, 1945.