A Farewell to Olivia de Havilland

We bid a bittersweet farewell to the last star of Hollywood's Golden Age, Olivia de Havilland, who passed away in Paris on July 26, less than a month after her 104th birthday.

Born in Tokyo to British parents, de Havilland's family ended up settling in Saratoga, California, where she developed a passion for the performing arts. After Austrian theater impresario Max Reinhardt cast her in his famed stage production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Hollywood soon came calling. Warner Bros. hired her to reprise her role in the feature film version and signed her to a studio contract.

Here is a treasure trove of images from the Warner Bros. archives, covering nearly 70 years in the life of one of the undisputed legends of Warner Bros.

Eighteen-year-old de Havilland arrives in Hollywood in December 1934.

Below is an image of de Havilland and Mickey Rooney behind the scenes of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1935). They were the only actors in the film who reprised their roles from the original Max Reinhardt stage version.

This publicity shot from 1935 shows de Havilland and actress Anita Louise posing for a studio photographer on the Warner Bros.' lot. Both appeared in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that same year.

Errol Flynn and de Havilland were one of the greatest romantic couples in screen history, appearing together in eight movies as leads. Their first pairing was in 1935's "Captain Blood," which helped launched both to major stardom.

A wardrobe test shot on location for Warner Bros.' biggest production of 1936, the four-time Oscar winner "Anthony Adverse."

Two years before appearing as loyal husband and wife in "Gone With the Wind," de Havilland and Leslie Howard had a very different kind of on-screen relationship in the comedy "It's Love I’m After" (1937).

De Havilland and Flynn were never better than in the Technicolor classic "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938).

Warner Bros. held a party at the studio on Friday, January 13th, 1939. Flynn and de Havilland, wearing her "Dodge City" costume, were on hand to distribute raffle tickets at the party.

At the same party de Havilland's younger sister, actress Joan Fontaine joined the festivities.

In May 1939, Warner Bros. chartered a train to transport a huge number of stars and press to the premiere of "Dodge City" in Dodge City, Kansas. Here are de Havilland, Flynn and Ann Sheridan having fun on the train.

 

De Havilland being photographed by the king of Hollywood glamour photographers, George Hurrell, in the Warner Bros. Photo Studio circa 1939.

In 1939, even though she was under contract to Warner Bros., the studio allowed de Havilland to co-star as Melanie Wilkes in "Gone With the Wind" for Selznick International Pictures. Although she lost the Best Supporting Actress Oscar to her fellow cast member Hattie McDaniel that year, she would go on to win two Best Actress Oscars in the 1940s, for "To Each His Own" and "The Heiress."

With Ronald Reagan and Errol Flynn in "Santa Fe Trail" (1940).

De Havilland teamed up with James Cagney in the delightful romantic comedy "The Strawberry Blonde" (1941). 

 

 

Celebrating a birthday on the set of "Light in the Piazza."

De Havilland's last film on her original Warner Bros. contract was "Devotion," released in 1946. Thirty-two years later, she returned to Warner Bros. to make her final film for the studio, "The Swarm." Even into her sixties, de Havilland was a team player, allowing herself to be covered by hundreds of bees during filming!

After making her final feature film in 1979, de Havilland continued working on television, appearing in such miniseries as "Roots: The Next Generation" and "North and South Book II." In 1982, she appeared with Lesley-Anne Down, Bill Bixby, and Helen Hayes in the television movie "Murder Is Easy."

In September 2004, de Havilland made a grand return to Warner Bros. Studios, posing with five of her original costumes in the Warner Bros. Museum.