Best Actress Olivia de Havilland with presenter Ray Milland at the 1946 Academy Awards®.

Legendary leading lady Olivia de Havilland will be traveling from her home in Paris to be honored by the Academy with a career tribute that will feature film clips from many of her unforgettable performances and testimonials from several of her co-stars and long-time friends.

Born on July 1, 1916 in Tokyo to English parents, Ms. de Havilland made her stunning screen debut in 1935 as Hermia in Max Reinhardt’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a role she had played in his stage production at the Hollywood Bowl the previous year. 1935 turned out to be a monumental year for the young actress, who appeared in three other films including Captain Blood, her first of eight pairings with Errol Flynn.

Ms. de Havilland earned the first of her five Academy Award nominations for her supporting performance as Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind. Two years later, in 1941, her lead performance in Hold Back the Dawn was nominated, and she earned her first Oscar® statuette for Best Actress in To Each His Own (1946). The Snake Pit (1948) provided de Havilland with another nominated lead performance, and in 1949 she took home her second Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Catherine Sloper in The Heiress. Other notable performances include The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), They Died with Their Boots On (1941), The Strawberry Blonde (1941), The Dark Mirror (1946), My Cousin Rachel (1952) and Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964).

Her remarkable range over more than fifty films stretches well beyond romantic leads — from a deft way with comedy to remarkable portrayals of powerful heroines and complex or tragic women in extraordinary circumstances. Among the directors she worked with during her career were Michael Curtiz, Victor Fleming, Lewis Gilbert, John Huston, Stanley Kramer, Mitchell Leisen, Anatole Litvak and William Wyler. Her co-stars included such luminaries as Charles Boyer, Richard Burton, James Cagney, Montgomery Clift, Joseph Cotten, Bette Davis, Clark Gable, Leslie Howard, Vivien Leigh, Hattie McDaniel, Ralph Richardson and, of course, Flynn.

In addition, Ms. de Havilland was a pioneer in the struggle for actors’ rights. Under contract to Warner Bros., she rebelled at the inferior quality of roles being offered to her after Gone with the Wind (made on loan-out to Selznick), and she was placed on a six-month suspension. At the end of her seven-year contract, the studio attempted to force her to stay on, claiming that her obligation extended to include the duration of the suspension. She sued the studio and won, and though she did not work in films during the intervening three years, the landmark “de Havilland decision” remains a significant victory for actors and favorably affected other studio contract employees of that era.

At the Academy Tribute, Ms. de Havilland will engage in an on-stage conversation with program host Robert Osborne, the Hollywood Reporter columnist, host of Turner Classic Movies and official biographer of the Academy Awards. Special guests will include Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. and David Ladd, her co-star in The Proud Rebel (1958).

This Tribute to Olivia de Havilland is presented in association with the Film Department of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Generous support for this program has been provided by Air France and the Los Angeles Film and TV Office of the French Embassy.

A retrospective film series will be presented at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from Friday, June 16 through Saturday, July 1. Ms. de Havilland is scheduled to appear in person at the Museum on Sunday, June 18 for a discussion prior to a screening of The Heiress. The screening of Gone with the Wind will take place on Ms. de Havilland’s 90th birthday. For tickets and information, please call (323) 857-6010 or visit www.lacma.org.
Friday, June 16 at 7:30 p.m. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) Hold Back the Dawn (1941) Saturday, June 17 at 7:30 p.m. To Each His Own (1946) The Strawberry Blonde (1941) Sunday, June 18 at 8 p.m. The Heiress (1949); featuring a conversation with Ms. de Havilland in person Tuesday, June 20 at 1 p.m. Princess O’Rourke (1943) Friday, June 23 at 7:30 p.m. My Cousin Rachel (1952) Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) Saturday, June 24 at 7:30 p.m. The Snake Pit (1948) Light in the Piazza (1962) Tuesday, June 27 at 1 p.m. They Died with Their Boots On (1941) Saturday, July 1 at 7:30 p.m. Gone with the Wind (1939)