By Robert Osborne -
See
this article at this address - NEW YORK -- Olivia de Havilland,
the great star of a platoon of Hollywood's finest including "
Gone
With the Wind," "
The Adventures
of Robin Hood," "
The
Heiress" and "
The Snake Pit," all of which regularly and prominently
show up on "best of" and "favorite movie" lists, has certainly had
her share of prestigious awards through the years: Oscars (1946,
1949), Golden Globes (1949, 1986), back-to-back best actress wins
from the New York Film Critics Circle (1948, 1949) and a best actress
prize at the Venice film fest (1948) among them. But next year, on
June 15, this amazing and quite indefatigable woman will be receiving
a very special tribute from Hollywood's Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences, an organization near and dear to the actress'
heart, not only because of those golden trophies she's received but
also because of her own affection for and appreciation of what the
Academy represents; she has been a member since 1940 and an Oscar
show presenter many times (including, most memorably, at the 2003
ceremony), and she's a five-time nominee. Making appearances at salutes
and prize parties is something she has always kept to a minimum,
but this invitation from the Academy is one that came with perfect
timing. It'll be happening in the city where her career began, taking
place at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills just
two weeks before her 90th birthday. So she will indeed be traveling
from her home in Paris for the event, which will be complete with
film clips from many of her screen performances and an onstage discussion
of her career. And what a career. It actually began at the Hollywood
Bowl in 1934 with a Max Reinhardt stage production of "A Midsummer
Night's Dream" (its cast included a pint-sized Mickey
Rooney as Puck), followed by a film version of "Dream" and a long-term
contract at Warner Bros. that had its highs (including eight films
with Errol Flynn, starting with 1935's "
Captain
Blood") and lows
(enough bad scripts and treatment to lead her to pursue a lawsuit
against Warners that kept her off the screen for three years but
resulted in "The de
Havilland Decision" on the California law books; it limits to seven
calendar years the time that any employer can forcibly keep an employee
under contract). By taking on, in essence, all the major film studios
of that time, she indeed flirted with career suicide; by winning,
as her friend
Bette
Davis said, "Every actor in Hollywood now and
in the future owes a great debt of gratitude to Olivia." Freed from
bondage at Warners, de Havilland's career flowered more than ever;
later, she opted to devote most of her time to family life, moving
to Paris where she raised two children and even wrote a best-seller, "Every
Frenchman Has One." The film magic she created still endures mightily,
and it'll be prominently on display in Beverly Hills in June with
the added good news that the lady herself is making a rare visit
to the turf where it all started. The Academy said tickets will go
on sale June 1. Details: (310) 247-3600.
Published Nov. 01, 2005.
Congratulations
to Olivia on her 89th birthday, July 1, 2005! Classic Movie Favorites Discussion Forum
