Olivia de Havilland, one of the last stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema, died at the age of 104 in Paris
With a career of more than 50 years in which she participated in some 50 feature films, de Havilland was the last surviving actress of the classic film "Gone with the Wind" (1939).
Her portrayal of the role of Melanie of hers earned her one of her five Academy Award nominations. Until her death, she was the oldest living artist to have won an Academy Award.
De Havilland was instrumental in eliminating the so-called "Hollywood studio system," which allowed actors to get better contracts.
A diva and guild leader
Olivia Mary de Havilland was born in Tokyo in 1916 and moved to California with her family at a very young age.
She got her start in acting while she was in high school. Her stage debut was in 1933 in an amateur production of "Alice in Wonderland".
"I was actually moving into Alice's enchanted wonderland. And for the first time, I felt not only pleasure in acting but also love for acting," she said.
Olivia de Havilland was discovered by director Max Reinhardt
She made her big movie appearance in "Captain Blood" (Captain Blood, 1935), opposite Errol Flynn, a couple who struck up chemistry almost immediately. Together they made seven other films, including "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and "The Adventures of Robin Hood."
De Havilland said that Flynn, who had a reputation as a womanizer, had proposed to her, but she had turned him down because he was a married man.
Throughout the 1930s, she appeared in several romantic and light films that allowed her to display her perfect diction but did little to advance her career.
"Playing good girls in the '30s was hard when it was all the rage to play bad girls," she said.
However, she was cast in the role of Melanie in David O'Selznick's epic adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's novel, "Gone with the Wind."
She lost the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress to Hattie McDaniel, who played Mammy in the film.
Her statuette came a few years later, in 1946, for her role in Tointo Each His Own, 1946, and then a second for "The Heiress" in 1949.
Olivia de Havilland continued a legendary career until the late 1980s
Off-screen, she was a leader in the actors' fight against the major studios that at one time had complete control over her stars.
Backed by the Screen Actors Guild, she took Warner Brothers to court after the studio extended the term of her original contract as a penalty for turning down roles.
The California Supreme Court ruled in her favor in what became known as the De Havilland Act, which eased the control studios had over her actors.
