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person_profile-Joan Fontaine

Joan Fontaine Died at age: 96

Actor | Producer

Fullname:

Joan Fontaine

Date of Birth:

Oct 22, 1917

Country of birth:

Japan

Died:

Dec 15, 2013

Biography of

Joan Fontaine

    Born Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland on October 22, 1917, in Tokyo, Japan, in what was known as the International Settlement. Her father was a British patent attorney with a lucrative practice in Japan, but due to Joan and older sister Olivia de Havilland's recurring ailments the family moved to California in the hopes of improving their health. Mrs. de Havilland and the two girls settled in Saratoga while their father went back to his practice in Japan. Joan's parents did not get along well and divorced soon afterward. Mrs. de Havilland had a desire to be an actress but her dreams were curtailed when she married, but now she hoped to pass on her dream to Olivia and Joan.

    While Olivia pursued a stage career, Joan went back to Tokyo, where she attended the American School. In 1934 she came back to California, where her sister was already making a name for herself on the stage. Joan likewise joined a theater group in San Jose and then Los Angeles to try her luck there. After moving to L.A., Joan adopted the name of Joan Burfield because she didn't want to infringe upon Olivia, who was using the family surname. She tested at MGM and gained a small role in No More Ladies (1935), but she was scarcely noticed and Joan was idle for a year and a half. During this time she roomed with Olivia, who was having much more success in films.

    In 1937, this time calling herself Joan Fontaine, she landed a better role as Trudy Olson in You Can't Beat Love (1937) and then an uncredited part in Quality Street (1937). Although the next two years saw her in better roles, she still yearned for something better. In 1940 she garnered her first Academy Award nomination for Rebecca (1940). Although she thought she should have won, (she lost out to Ginger Rogers in Kitty Foyle (1940)), she was now an established member of the Hollywood set. She would again be Oscar-nominated for her role as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth in Suspicion (1941), and this time she won.

    Joan was making one film a year but choosing her roles well. In 1942 she starred in the well-received This Above All (1942). The following year she appeared in The Constant Nymph (1943). Once again she was nominated for the Oscar, she lost out to Jennifer Jones in The Song of Bernadette (1943). By now it was safe to say she was more famous than her older sister and more fine films followed. In 1948, she accepted second billing to Bing Crosby in The Emperor Waltz (1948).

    Joan took the year of 1949 off before coming back in 1950 with September Affair (1950) and Born to Be Bad (1950). In 1951 she starred in Paramount's Darling, How Could You! (1951), which turned out badly for both her and the studio and more weak productions followed. Absent from the big screen for a while, she took parts in television and dinner theaters. She also starred in many well-produced Broadway plays such as Forty Carats and The Lion in Winter. Her last appearance on the big screen was The Witches (1966) and her final appearance before the cameras was Good King Wenceslas (1994). She is, without a doubt, a lasting movie icon.

Photos of

Joan Fontaine

Photos ( 16 Photos

Filmography of

Joan Fontaine

Found 55 Movies in total

Becoming Cary Grant

Self (archive footage) ( Actor )

... 2017

Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen

(archive footage) ( Actor )

... 2012

Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies

Self (archive footage) ( Actor )

... 2000

Good King Wenceslas

Queen Ludmilla ( Actor )

... 1994

Dark Mansions

Margaret Drake ( Actor )

... 1986

... 1985

... 1982

The Users

Grace St. George ( Actor )

... 1978

The Witches

Gwen Mayfield ( Actor )

... 1966

Hollywood Without Make-Up

Self (archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1963

Tender Is the Night

Baby Warren ( Actor )

... 1962

Hollywood: The Selznick Years

Self (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1961

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Dr. Susan Hiller ( Actor )

... 1961

A Certain Smile

Françoise Ferrand ( Actor )

... 1958

Until They Sail

Anne Leslie ( Actor )

... 1957

Island in the Sun

Mavis Norman ( Actor )

... 1957

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

Susan Spencer ( Actor )

... 1956

Serenade

Kendall Hale ( Actor )

... 1956

Casanova's Big Night

Francesca Bruni ( Actor )

... 1954

The Bigamist

Eve Graham ( Actor )

... 1953

Flight to Tangier

Susan Lane ( Actor )

... 1953

Decameron Nights

Fiametta / Bartolomea / Ginevra / Isabella ( Actor )

... 1953

Ivanhoe

Rowena ( Actor )

... 1952

Something to Live For

Jenny Carey ( Actor )

... 1952

Othello

Page ( Actor )

... 1951

Darling, How Could You!

Alice Grey ( Actor )

... 1951

September Affair

Manina Stuart ( Actor )

... 1950

Born to Be Bad

Christabel Caine Carey ( Actor )

... 1950

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands

Jane Wharton ( Actor )

... 1948

You Gotta Stay Happy

Dee Dee Dillwood ( Actor )

... 1948

The Emperor Waltz

Johanna Augusta Franziska ( Actor )

... 1948

Letter from an Unknown Woman

Lisa Berndle ( Actor )

... 1948

Ivy

Ivy ( Actor )

... 1947

From This Day Forward

Susan ( Actor )

... 1946

The Affairs of Susan

Susan Darell ( Actor )

... 1945

Frenchman's Creek

Dona St. Columb ( Actor )

... 1944

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre ( Actor )

... 1943

The Constant Nymph

Tessa Sanger ( Actor )

... 1943

This Above All

Prudence Cathaway ( Actor )

... 1942

Suspicion

Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth ( Actor )

... 1941

Rebecca

Mrs. de Winter ( Actor )

... 1940

The Women

Peggy Day ( Actor )

... 1939

Man of Conquest

Eliza Allen ( Actor )

... 1939

Gunga Din

Emmaline "Emmy" Stebbins ( Actor )

... 1939

The Duke of West Point

Ann Porter ( Actor )

... 1938

Sky Giant

Meg Lawrence ( Actor )

... 1938

Blond Cheat

Julie Evans ( Actor )

... 1938

Maid's Night Out

Sheila Harrison ( Actor )

... 1938

A Damsel in Distress

Alyce Marshmorton ( Actor )

... 1937

Music for Madame

Jean Clemens ( Actor )

... 1937

You Can't Beat Love

Trudy Olson ( Actor )

... 1937

The Man Who Found Himself

Doris King ( Actor )

... 1937

Quality Street

Charlotte Parratt ( Actor )

... 1937

A Million to One

Joan Stevens ( Actor )

... 1936

No More Ladies

Caroline Rumsey ( Actor )

... 1935