“The first day of making a film I feel, ‘Why did I ever get mixed up in this profession? I have no talent. This time, they’ll find out.'” — Olivia de Havilland
Source: Doris Barclay (1985)
Photo: 1939
“Playing good girls in the 30s was difficult when the fad was to play bad girls. Actually, I think playing bad girls is a bore; I have always had more luck with good girl roles because they require more from an actress.” — Olivia de Havilland
Famous lips of 1935: Bette Davis, Ann Dvorak, Winifred Shaw, Glenda Farrell, Dolores Del Rio, Verree Teasdale, Marion Davies, Jean Muir, Josephine Hutchinson, Olivia de Havilland, Anita Louise, Patricia Ellis, Ruby Keeler, Joan Blondell, Margaret Lindsey, and Kay Francis.
“I regret that I remember not one act of kindness from Olivia all through my childhood. One of my earliest memories is when she was 6 and I was 5. She had learned to read and, one night when we were alone, she read aloud the Crucifixion from the Bible with mounting gusto until finally, I screamed. Olivia loved it. One July day in 1933 when I was 16, Olivia threw me down in a rage, jumped on top of me, and fractured my collarbone. One person called our relationship paranoid—but he didn’t say on whose part. Not mine, though I may have a persecution complex. There must be some explanation. Olivia so hated the idea of having a sibling that she wouldn’t go near my crib. She was always a stout believer in primogeniture.” — Joan Fontaine, pictured here with her sister, Olivia de Havilland.
Source: A 1978 People Magazine article titled “In No Bed of Roses, Joan Fontaine Talks About the Thorns in Her Life” by Christopher P. Andersen.
“I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia did, and if I die first, she’ll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it” — Joan Fontaine
