Joan Fontaine

Personal Info

Birthday

October 22, 1917

Day of Death

2013-12-15

(96 years old)

Place of Birth

Tokyo, Japan

Also Known As

Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland

Joan Burfield

Joan Fontaine

Biography

Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013), known professionally as Joan Fontaine, was an English-American actress who is best known for her starring roles in Hollywood films during the "Golden Age". She was born 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.

Known For

The Love Boat

Four Star Playhouse

One Step Beyond

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

Rebecca

Quality Street

Letter from an Unknown Woman

Gunga Din

Filmography

2017
Becoming Cary Grant
as Self (archive footage)
2004
Before the Fact: Suspicious Hitchcock
as Self (archive footage)
2000
Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies
as Self (archive footage)
1999
Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
1994
Good King Wenceslas
as Queen Ludmilla
1986
Dark Mansions
as Margaret Drake
1985
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1982
All By Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story
as Self
Showbiz Ballyhoo
as Self (archive footage)
1978
The Users
as Grace St. George
1976
Songs for After a War
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1966
The Witches
as Gwen Mayfield
1962
Tender Is the Night
as Baby Warren
1961
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
as Self (uncredited)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
as Dr. Susan Hiller
1958
A Certain Smile
as Françoise Ferrand
1957
Until They Sail
as Anne Leslie
Island in the Sun
as Mavis Norman
1956
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
as Susan Spencer
Serenade
as Kendall Hale
1954
Casanova's Big Night
as Francesca Bruni
1953
The Bigamist
as Eve Graham
Flight to Tangier
as Susan Lane
Decameron Nights
as Fiametta / Bartolomea / Ginevra / Isabella
1952
Ivanhoe
as Rowena
Something to Live For
as Jenny Carey
1951
Othello
as Page
Darling, How Could You!
as Alice Grey
1950
September Affair
as Manina Stuart
Born to Be Bad
as Christabel Caine Carey
1949
The Art Director
as Self / Jane Eyre (archive footage) (uncredited)
1948
Kiss the Blood Off My Hands
as Jane Wharton
You Gotta Stay Happy
as Dee Dee Dillwood
The Emperor Waltz
as Johanna Augusta Franziska
Letter from an Unknown Woman
as Lisa Berndle
1947
Ivy
as Ivy
1946
From This Day Forward
as Susan
1945
The Affairs of Susan
as Susan Darell
1944
Frenchman's Creek
as Dona St. Columb
1943
Jane Eyre
as Jane Eyre
The Constant Nymph
as Tessa Sanger
1942
Breakdowns of 1942
as Self
This Above All
as Prudence Cathaway
1941
Suspicion
as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth
1940
Rebecca
as Mrs. de Winter
1939
The Women
as Peggy Day
Man of Conquest
as Eliza Allen
Gunga Din
as Emmaline "Emmy" Stebbins
1938
The Duke of West Point
as Ann Porter
Sky Giant
as Meg Lawrence
Blond Cheat
as Julie Evans
Maid's Night Out
as Sheila Harrison
1937
A Damsel in Distress
as Alyce Marshmorton
Music for Madame
as Jean Clemens
You Can't Beat Love
as Trudy Olson
The Man Who Found Himself
as Doris King
Quality Street
as Charlotte Parratt
1936
A Million to One
as Joan Stevens
1935
No More Ladies
as Caroline Rumsey