by Cicely Richard

Created on: July 25, 2008   Last Updated: July 18, 2011

Joan Fontaine began her acting career in the Golden Age of the movie industry. Like her older sister, Olivia de Havilland, Fontaine was an accomplished actress who played in such memorable movies as "Rebecca". Fontaine and her sister, similar to other siblings, competed with one another, and their sibling rivalry lead to a strained relationship.

She was born Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland on October 22, 1917, in Tokyo, Japan. Herand Olivia's father was a successful British patent attorney in Japan. The family left the country and moved to California because of Olivia's health, hoping the move would help her condition. The girls and their mother stayed in Saratoga, but their father returned to his practice in Japan. Eventually, their parents divorced. Fontaine's mother had dreams of being and actress, but marriage put them on hold. Thus, she projected her dream onto her daughters, Olivia and Joan.

Olivia pursued a career as a stage actress while Joan attended the American School in Tokyo. She returned to California in 1934 and joined theater groups in San Jose and then Los Angeles. Upon moving to L.A., shed used the stage name Joan Burfield in order to distance herself from her sister. She had a small part in the 1935 film "No More Ladies". After playing in this movie, her career was dormant for a year and a half. She lived with her sister, who was more successful, during this dry period.

Calling herself Joan Fontaine, she garnered a role as Trudy Olson in the 1937 film "You Can't Beat Love". Over the next two years, she began getting better roles. In 1940, she finally received the acclaim she desired when she received an Academy Award nomination for "Rebecca". Although she lost to Ginger Rogers, she established herself as a credible actress in Hollywood.

Joan was nominated for Best Actress the next year for her role as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth in the 1941 movie "Suspicion". Her sister was also nominated in the same category for her role in "Hold Back the Dawn". Joan won the Academy Award, beating her big sister. This practically dissolved their already rocky relationship. She would receive one more nomination for her role in 1943's "The Constant Nymph". She also became an American citizen in 1943.

By this time, she had surpassed her sister in fame and got good movie roles. She worked steadily throughout the 1940s. She took 1949 off before returning to acting in 1950. When roles in movies became scarce, she began working on the new medium - television, as well as working on the stage. She earned a lot of recognition for her work in these various arenas, earning a Daytime Emmy nomination for her work on "Ryan's Hope".

Like many successful actors/actresses, her personal life was more complicated. In addition to her estrangement from her sister, she was married four times. She would later say, "Marriage, as an institution, is as dead as the dodo bird." She had two daughters. However, her adopted daughter ran away from home, and Fontaine and the girl never spoke again. The girl did still keep in contact with her sister.

No doubt, Joan Fontaine and her sister are the last of a generation of actresses. She represents a different time in Hollywood when outward appearance was everything, and the studios protected and sometimes kept their stars in contractual bondage.

Source:

http://www.imdb.com

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