Born: Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland on October 22, 1917 in Tokyo, Japan
Died: December 15, 2013 (age 96) in Carmel, California, USA
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000021/
This strikingly beautiful and talented actress is truly one of classic Hollywood`s last living legends being 91 years old ,and by all accounts still going strong along with her older sister the equally legendary Olivia de Havilland (92). Sadly they don`t personally get on (Allegedly having not spoken to each other since 1975 ) ,it`s been that way since they were children .Mainly as their mother made her favoritism of Olivia quite obvious from the start , plus years later they both tried their best to derail Joan`s fledgling career with agents and producers back in the early 30`s by privately criticizing her attitude (Among other things) .Then even going so far as to protest when she wanted to use the family name forcing her to choose another. Dysfunctional families who`d have them eh ?
Still despite the parental and sibling hurdles her screen career began with No More Ladies in 1935 and carried on through till 1939 by which time she`d appeared in roughly a dozen run of the mill films yet had no real successes and made no headway with the America public , leading to her contract being terminated by RKO . Only by a fluke meeting with David O. Selznick at a dinner party did her fortunes begin to change as they began talking about an upcoming project of his , that being the film version of Daphne du Maurier`s novel Rebecca. Yet it wasn`t plain sailing for Joan as she ended up having to compete for the role during a very intense six month series of film tests and against hundreds of other actresses , some whom were the biggest names of that era. But her struggle was worth it as she not only won the role but a deserved Oscar nomination , didn`t win that year but collected best Actress in Suspicion the following one. Also received a third nomination in 43 for The Constant Nymph , three in a row for such a relative unknown was something hitherto unheard of
From that point on her career was on the rise and it didn`t falter throughout the 40`s with a raft of memorable roles in which she was rightly praised. The 50`s saw a gradual slow down and a transition more to television cameos and the stage during the 60`s ,which carried on for the next two decades until her retirement.
Currently she resides in Carmel - California , and i hope it`s for many more years to come
