Olivia de Havilland
The interpreter, 103 years old and awarded twice with two separate Oscars, is the last exponent of the golden age that she is still alive.
Kirk Douglas, who died this Wednesday at the age of 103, was the penultimate living legend of the splendor of classic Hollywood cinema. After his death, only Olivia de Havilland survives him as an example of a golden age that disappeared many years ago.
And despite the fact that de Havilland won two Oscars for best actress —in 1946 for The Life of Julia Norris and in 1949 for The Heiress— compared to none for Douglas —only an honorary statuette in 1996 after three frustrated nominations—, Nobody doubts that the stardom of the protagonist of Spartacus was much brighter and more lasting.
Almost completely removed from public life for many years, Issur Danilovich Demsky (New York, 1916) was only seen, and on rare occasions, in the company of his children, especially the also actor Michael Douglas.
With his farewell, Olivia de Havilland remains as the only representative of that glorious era for cinema -she will turn 104 on July 1-, who has also survived her sister, Joan Fontaine, who died in December 2013 at 96 years old.
The two sisters carried out a strong personal rivalry, increased if possible when they competed in 1941 for the Oscar for best actress, which she won second for Suspicion against Havilland, who competed for If it didn't dawn. De Havilland would make up for her two Hollywood Academy Awards, but the role that remains in the memory of film lovers the most is that of the sweet Melania in Gone with the Wind (1939).
Long established in Paris, Olivia last appeared in public in June 2006 to travel to Hollywood, where she was the subject of a tribute.
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And despite the fact that at the time they did not belong to the most restricted circle of the big stars, there are other actors who now, past 80 years, are respected and admired, as is the case of Doris Day, who died last year at 97 years old, or Kim Novak (86).
Doris Day is remembered in her movies and her unforgettable scenes in her pajamas with Rock Hudson, but the image for which she is most remembered is singing What will it be? with an unmistakable accent in Spanish and screaming so that her kidnapped son would listen to her in Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956).
The one that retains the most glamor is Kim Novak, to whom Cannes dedicated a tribute in 2014 that showed that she is still the perfect and elegant blonde who conquered Hitchcock. And although she retired from the public eye in 1965, she remains in the memory of film lovers as the protagonist of titles such as Vertigo (1958), Picnic (1955) or The Man with the Golden Arm (1956).
They are the last names of the period in which Hollywood was dominated by the big studios, which hired the stars for several films, a system that disappeared definitively in the sixties and with it the glamor and style of the classic stars were reduced.
Then other great names of equally great stars would arrive, but with a less classic flavor. Although there are still several active and wanting to continue showing good cinema, such as Sophia Loren, 85 years old; Robert Redford, 83; Jane Fonda, 82, or Dustin Hoffman, 82.
