You may not have been around since 1939 to watch movies but more than likely, you have heard about at least one of them. I’m talking about Gone with the Wind, a historical romance movie that was the highest earning film up until that point. In fact, it did so well at the theaters that it held the title for 25 years!
Vivian Leigh was the lead actress and she was among 1400 women who were trying to get the role of Scarlett O’Hara. Producers then held off the movie for two years so that Clark Gable would be able to play the lead role of the man as Rhett Butler.
One of the actresses in the movie earned an Academy Award nomination for playing the role of Melanie Hamilton Wilkes. Her name is Olivia deHavilland and although she may die at the end of the movie, Olivia is still living. In fact, even the movie is marking its 80th birthday but Olivia is about to celebrate her 103rd birthday.
Olivia was playing a conflicting role against Scarlett O’Hara in the movie, set in the American South during the Civil War.
The British American actress didn’t stop with Gone with the Wind. She went on to star in more than 50 movies and has received a number of awards, mentions, and honors for her role on the big screen.
Prior to the time that she turned 101 years old on July 1, 2017, she got a special treat. Queen Elizabeth II was to name her ‘Dame Commander’ She Was the Oldest Person to Receive That Honor and Was Proud of the Achievement.
“To receive this honor as my 101st birthday approaches is the most gratifying of birthday presents,” Olivia said.
DeHavilland’s parents were British but she was born in Japan. She ended up with British, French and American citizenship and made her debut when she was only a child in A Midsummer’s Night Dream.
The First Oscar She Won Was for Best Actress in To Each His Own in 1950.
Olivia talks about how she helped Clark Gable in a difficult scene in Gone With the Wind. He had to cry after the death of his daughter on screen but he was having a difficulty doing so.
“And would you believe Clark almost quit?” Olivia said.
Olivia de Havilland, 2-time Oscar winner and one of the biggest stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, turns 101 tomorrow. https://t.co/2D6GF7IsmV pic.twitter.com/PKJKpNFS9q
— ABC News (@ABC) June 30, 2017
“It was all about one scene. I remember talking to Clark about the scene when he is supposed to cry, after the death of his daughter. He was worried: you see, he had never cried on the screen before. He thought it was not masculine to cry.
“I remember I said, ‘Tears denote strength of character, not weakness. Crying makes you intensely human.’ He agreed, rehearsed it, and it turned out to be one of the most memorable scenes in the movie
Olivia says she attributes the three L’s to her long life. Those are ‘love, laughter and light’.
She also does the crossword puzzle in the New York Times every day and has done so since she was a teenager.
We hope Olivia has many more years and stories to share with us.
