About Me
Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland was born on October 22, 1917 in Tokyo, Japan. She was the second daughter born in the de Havilland household, the first being Olivia Mary. In 1919 the de Havillands split, Walter de Havilland was getting a little too friendly with the family help. Lilian de Havilland took her two ailing daughters to California. Joan suffered from many illnesses which caused her to miss a lot of school and other youthful activities. While Olivia was gathering many friends with her charm and beauty, Joan went unnoticed by most. She socialized mainly with adults. In 1925 Lilian married George Fontaine, whom she had known for a few years. Mr. Fontaine was very strict and ran the house like a military school. When Joan was only three she, and many other kids, took an IQ test. Joan scored really high with 160, and Mr. Fontaine realized that he had a lot to work with in this young girl. Every day he would lecture her about the economy and press his own ideas into her mind. When Joan was in her mid-teens she and Olivia moved out of his house. Joan went to live in a house as a full time babysitter.
Joan and Olivia had never been sisterly towards each other since day one. Instead of being presented with a new little sister to help take care of, Olivia was told to stay away from the nursery, and instantly she resented the little baby who was always crying and taking away everyone from her. During their childhood the de Havilland sisters always were in competition, one would be told they can do something while the other was told no. They had many rows in their time, one in summer of 1933 when Joan said or did something and it angered Olivia so much that she through Joan down by the side of a pool and jumped on her, causing Joans collarbone to fracture. While recuperating in a nursing home, Joan decided to write to her father in Japan, with hopes that hed take her back with him.
Walter de Havilland arrived to pick up his youngest daughter and also agreed to giving Olivia a 50 dollar allowance. In Japan Joan finally came out of her shell. No longer was she over-shadowed by Olivia. Attending an American school in Japan, Joan was the belle of the ball, gathering boyfriends by the handfuls. She was happier than she had ever been. But after a year she found herself on a boat back to California with 50 dollars and good riddance from her father. During that year Joan had noticed that her father would always suggest that she wear her 2 piece bathing suit when they went swimming. And he would also make statements questioning her virginity. One night he suggested that he stay in her room because his wife was ill in his. Joan flatly refused and thus found herself on the soonest boat.
Olivia had been making a name for herself with her stage and movie career. Joan decided she would do the same. She stayed with Olivia and her mother and became chauffer, cook and maid while she was looking for opportunities in Hollywood. In 1935 she was cast, as Joan Burfield, in NO MORE LADIES. In 1937 she was cast in QUALITY STREET, now using her step-fathers last name. During this film Katharine Hepburn went to her RKO friend and told him Put that girl in lead B pictures, she may go somewhere. From that, Joan made a lot of B pictures for over the next two years, with a few A pictures including A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS, GUNGA DIN, and THE WOMEN.
In 1940 Joan had her breakthrough role as the Second Mrs. de Winter in REBECCA directed by Alfred Hitchcock. For this role she was nominated for an Oscar, but she lost to Ginger Rogers. The following year she starred in another Hitchcock film, SUSPICION. Again she was nominated, but she wasnt the only one in the family nominated. Olivia was too. This was the talk of the Academy in 1942. All held their breath as Ginger Rogers, the former winner, read the nominees. Joan froze when Ginger announced her as the winner. Joan was nominated for the last time for her 1943 movie THE CONSTANT NYMPH, this time she lost out to Jennifer Jones. From this time until the early 50s Joan made many films including JANE EYRE, AFFAIRS OF SUSAN, IVY, LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN, SEPTEMBER AFFAIR, and IVANHOE.
Joan gave birth to daughter Deborah Dozier in 1948 and in 1951 she became legal guardian to a Peruvian girl named Martita. She had made arrangements to bring Martita back to Peru to stay when she reached the age 16, but Martita refused to go back and stayed with friends of Joans. From the 50s to the early 60s Joan made few movies. And in 1966 she made her final film THE WITCHES. Today Joan lives in Carmel, California.
This page is dedicated to the lovely and talented lady, Joan Fontaine. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Thanks for stopping by!
