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Olivia de Havilland, one of the last remaining actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age and the last surviving star of Gone With the Wind, died July 26 of natural causes at her residence in Paris, where she lived for more than six decades, according to Variety. De Havilland was 104.

De Havilland turned 104 on July 1. She was the older sister of Joan Fontaine, who died in 2013 at 96. The two Academy Award-winning actresses were estranged for most of their lives. Olivia Mary de Havilland was born in Tokyo on July 1, 1916. Her parents, Walter de Havilland, an English professor, and actress Lilian Fontaine, were British. De Havilland and her sister grew up in Saratoga, California, with their mother. Her father married the family’s housekeeper and remained in Tokyo. Havilland’s first performance was in a school production of Alice in Wonderland.

She made her stage debut in Max Reinhardt’s production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Olivia de Havilland, an Oscar-winning actress best known for her role as the timid but strong Melanie in the 1939 classic “Gone With the Wind,” died Sunday of natural causes. She was 104.

The news of De Havilland’s passing in her Paris home was announced by her publicist, Lisa Goldberg.

In addition to her breakout role in “Gone With the Wind,” de Havilland earned Oscar nominations for 1941’s “Hold Back the Dawn,” 1946’s “To Each His Own” and 1948’s “The Snake Pit” and the 1949 William Wyler drama “The Heiress.” She won gold for “To Each His Own” and “The Heiress.”

Throughout her career, De Havilland had a reputation for standing up for herself. In 1943, she famously went to court when Warner Bros. tried to add time to her completed contract. Her legal victory led to what’s still known as the “De Havilland Law,” a section of the California Labor Code...

“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality.”

A landslide, indeed. Blame the advent of 24-hour cable news, the popularity of reality TV or social media, which allows anyone to invent their own version of their life for public consumption on a daily basis. But biopics have over-run awards season of late while fictional features are becoming a rarity at this time of year, save for the constant stream of comic-book adventures.

Consider that in 1939, often referred to as the greatest year for movies in Hollywood history, all 10 Best Picture candidates – including the winner, “Gone With the Wind” – were based on fictional premises. In fact, only two biopics –“The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex” starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn and “Young Mr. Lincoln” with Henry Fonda — settled for nominations in other categories but collected no wins that year.

Of course,...

“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality.”

A landslide, indeed. Blame the advent of 24-hour cable news, the popularity of reality TV or social media, which allows anyone to invent their own version of their life for public consumption on a daily basis. But biopics have over-run awards season of late while fictional features are becoming a rarity at this time of year, save for the constant stream of comic-book adventures.

SEEPortraying a real-life person is now the way to win an Oscar

Consider that in 1939, often referred to as the greatest year for movies in Hollywood history, all 10 Best Picture candidates – including the winner, “Gone With the Wind” – were based on fictional premises. In fact, only two biopics –“The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex” starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn and “Young Mr. Lincoln” with Henry Fonda — settled...

Queen Elizabeth had to fight for the love of her life.

As depicted on the hit Netflix series The Crown, whispering courtiers – along with Elizabeth’s father King George VI – had reservations about Philip Mountbatten, a young, dashing naval officer. But the young Elizabeth only ever had eyes for Prince Philip. And 70 years after their royal wedding, the couple is still going strong.

Biographer Sally Bedell Smith, author of Elizabeth the Queen, tells People, “She fell in love at age 18 and she never looked at anyone else.”

Says Crown executive producer Suzanne Mackie: “One of Elizabeth’s greatest achievements...

The film industry goes back to the beginning of the 20th century, and most experts still maintain that 1939 is the greatest single year in movie history. At no other point in the long chronicle of the film industry has Hollywood had such an ability to draw in and hold and audiences. Cinelinx looks at 1939.

In 1939, Americans bought an incrediblel 80 million movie tickets per week. There were 365 films released by the major studios in the United States during 1939. That’s an average of one film each a day. If you went to the theater every day, you’d never have to see the same movie twice. And the best part is that most of them were good.

The American Film Institute, along with such critics as Pauline Kael, Siskle & Ebert, Leonard Maltin and others have dubbed 1939 as the cinema's best single year ever. Looking back, its hard to argue with that opinion.

The stormy relationship between the late Queen Elizabeth (affectionately known as the Queen Mum) and the woman who rocked the British monarchy, Wallis Simpson, is coming to TV.

In an exclusive clip from the new PBS show Royal Wives At War, the steely Queen Mum (Emma Davies) is seen sipping a drink while remarking that she would have died if she had to live in exile like Simpson (Gina McKee).

"If you cut me open, you would find one word: duty," Elizabeth declares.

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The stormy relationship between the late Queen Elizabeth (affectionately known as the Queen Mum) and the woman who rocked the British monarchy, Wallis Simpson, is coming to TV. In an exclusive clip from the new PBS show Royal Wives At War, the steely Queen Mum (Emma Davies) is seen sipping a drink while remarking that she would have died if she had to live in exile like Simpson (Gina McKee). "If you cut me open, you would find one word: duty," Elizabeth declares. • Want to keep up with the latest royals coverage? Click here to subscribe to the Royals Newsletter.

Child actor Dickie Moore: 'Our Gang' member. Former child actor Dickie Moore dead at 89: Film career ranged from 'Our Gang' shorts to features opposite Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper 1930s child actor Dickie Moore, whose 100+ movie career ranged from Our Gang shorts to playing opposite the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Stanwyck, and Gary Cooper, died in Connecticut on Sept. 7, '15 – five days before his 90th birthday. So far, news reports haven't specified the cause of death. According to a 2013 Boston Phoenix article about Moore's wife, MGM musical star Jane Powell, he had been “suffering from arthritis and bouts of dementia.” Dickie Moore movies At the behest of a persistent family friend, combined with the fact that his father was out of a job, Dickie Moore (born on Sept. 12, 1925, in Los Angeles) made his film debut as an infant in Alan Crosland's 1927 costume drama The Beloved Rogue,...

Trust us, Lady Mary maniacs: You don't know Downton Abbey like Queen Elizabeth knows Downton Abbey.

When the 89-year-old monarch settles in to watch the hit show, she does so with a keener eye than most: She knows the historic locale where it is filmed, Highclere Castle, inside and out – and relishes spotting things that may be amiss.

Although there is a historical advisor on the show, "she loves to pick out the mistakes," Brian Hoey, author of At Home With The Queen, tells People in this week's issue. "They do tend to get it right. However, the Queen did...

Joan Crawford Movie Star Joan Crawford movies on TCM: Underrated actress, top star in several of her greatest roles If there was ever a professional who was utterly, completely, wholeheartedly dedicated to her work, Joan Crawford was it. Ambitious, driven, talented, smart, obsessive, calculating, she had whatever it took – and more – to reach the top and stay there. Nearly four decades after her death, Crawford, the star to end all stars, remains one of the iconic performers of the 20th century. Deservedly so, once you choose to bypass the Mommie Dearest inanity and focus on her film work. From the get-go, she was a capable actress; look for the hard-to-find silents The Understanding Heart (1927) and The Taxi Dancer (1927), and check her out in the more easily accessible The Unknown (1927) and Our Dancing Daughters (1928). By the early '30s, Joan Crawford had become a first-rate film actress, far more naturalistic than...

Olivia de Havilland on Turner Classic Movies: Your chance to watch 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' for the 384th time Olivia de Havilland is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 2, '15. The two-time Best Actress Oscar winner (To Each His Own, 1946; The Heiress, 1949) whose steely determination helped to change the way studios handled their contract players turned 99 last July 1. Unfortunately, TCM isn't showing any de Havilland movie rarities, e.g., Universal's cool thriller The Dark Mirror (1946), the Paramount comedy The Well-Groomed Bride (1947), or Terence Young's British-made That Lady (1955), with de Havilland as eye-patch-wearing Spanish princess Ana de Mendoza. On the other hand, you'll be able to catch for the 384th time a demure Olivia de Havilland being romanced by a dashing Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood, as TCM shows this 1938 period adventure classic just about every month. But who's complaining? One the...

Olivia de Havilland picture U.S. labor history-making 'Gone with the Wind' star and two-time Best Actress winner Olivia de Havilland turns 99 (This Olivia de Havilland article is currently being revised and expanded.) Two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Olivia de Havilland, the only surviving major Gone with the Wind cast member and oldest surviving Oscar winner, is turning 99 years old today, July 1.[1] Also known for her widely publicized feud with sister Joan Fontaine and for her eight movies with Errol Flynn, de Havilland should be remembered as well for having made Hollywood labor history. This particular history has nothing to do with de Havilland's films, her two Oscars, Gone with the Wind, Joan Fontaine, or Errol Flynn. Instead, history was made as a result of a legal fight: after winning a lawsuit against Warner Bros. in the mid-'40s, Olivia de Havilland put an end to treacherous...

The BBC America original movie Burton and Taylor follows Hollywood’s most volatile on-again-off-again lovers, Elizabeth Taylor (Helena Bonham Carter) and Richard Burton (Dominic West), who famously played out every high and low of their love affairs, multiple marriages and divorces in the public eye. This is the story of their ill-fated reunion, on and off stage, when they made their last appearance together in the critically reviled 1983 revival of Noel Coward’s stage play, Private Lives. During this recent interview to promote the film’s premiere on October 16th, actress Helena Bonham Carter talked about whether it was more daunting to take on Elizabeth Taylor or Queen Elizabeth, what ultimately made her decide to sign on for the project, the biggest challenges in playing Elizabeth Taylor, what she learned about her that she hadn’t known prior, consulting an astrologer about the relationship between Taylor and Burton, pulling off the look,...

Joining in on celebrating the Football Association's 150th anniversary, Prince William stepped out onto the Buckingham Palace grounds to train for the historical Civil Service vs Polytechnic today (October 7).

The Duke of Cambridge sported midnight blue Nike gear as he prepared for the match paying tribute to the football's unsung heroes honoring 150 grass root volunteers.

While speaking to guests, the Prince Will said, "At its best, football is a powerful force for good in society. It binds people from different backgrounds, communities, faiths, and abilities - and gives them a common interest, a unifying identity."

He continued, "I believe over its 150 years, football has remained a wonderful example of the power of community and of our ability to come together to organize and to enjoy a simple past time."

Also chatting about Buckingham Palace, home of his grandmother Elizabeth the Queen of England, Prince William stated, "This magnificent home, Buckingham Palace,...

TCM devotes Thursday nights in October to Vincent Price, the versatile actor whose career lasted more than five decades and extended far beyond the horror films for which he was best known.

The chronological lineup includes such classics as The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), The Three Musketeers (1948) and While the City Sleeps (1956).

And on Oct. 23 and Oct. 31, Price’s talents in the horror genre are on full display in 17 films, just in time for Halloween.

Thursday, Oct. 3

8 p.m. – The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)

10 p.m. – Leave Her to Heaven (1945)

Midnight – The Keys of the Kingdom (1945)

2:30 a.m. – The Three Musketeers (1948)

5:15 a.m. – The Bribe (1949)

7 a.m. – The Long Night (1947)

Thursday, Oct. 10

8 p.m. – The Baron of Arizona (1950)

9:45 p.m. – His Kind of Woman (1951)

Midnight – The Las Vegas Story (1952)

1:30 a.m. – Dangerous Mission (1954)

3 a.m. – Son of Sinbad (1955)

4:45 a.m. – Serenade (1956)

Thursday,...

It's never been easy to be a widow, but in the late Middle Ages, a mother left without a husband faced a future fraught with peril for herself and her children. And when that woman was in the middle of a national struggle, it took an extraordinary kind of courage and intelligence to not only survive but to rise.

Premiering Saturday, Aug. 10 (with an advance screening on Friday, Aug. 9) on Starz, the 10-episode limited series "The White Queen" is set in pre-Tudor Britain in 1464, as the nation is embroiled in the Wars of the Roses, a series of dynastic conflicts between the related Houses of Lancaster (symbolized by the red rose) and York (symbolized by the white rose).

The story focuses on British commoner Elizabeth Woodville (Rebecca Ferguson), the widow of a supporter of the House of York with two young sons. Through a twist of fate, she is introduced...

Prince George's grandparents met the newborn royal baby for the first time on Tuesday, and not surprisingly, they all seemed to fall in love with him right away. But as Prince William and Kate Middleton raise their precious prince in the years to come, will the royal Windsors or commoner Middletons have more influence on his life? Well, luckily for this young Brit, royal experts predict that the future King of England will get the best of both worlds. "The Middleton influence on this child will be undoubtedly quite strong," Sally Bedell Smith, author of Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch told Today Wednesday. "Over the years that he has been with Kate, William has been able to go there...

Today is Prince Philip's 92nd birthday. And although he's spending the day at the hospital, he was joined by his son Prince Edward and wife Queen Elizabeth. Before Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth, she married the handsome foreign prince from Greece, who also happens to be her third cousin. According to Sally Bedell Smith's biography, Elizabeth the Queen, Philip came from a tumultuous background despite his lineage. Born in 1921 on the island of Corfu, he moved to Paris with his parents, Alice Marie and Prince Andrew of Greece, at age 1. By age 8, he'd headed to England for boarding school. With generous good looks and confidence, Philip made his way in England with the help of royal relatives. He would later be invited to have lunch with the royal family, and that's when Elizabeth reportedly fell for him. During World War II, Philip and Elizabeth wrote each other letters, and...

We wish Queen Elizabeth II a royal anniversary fit for a queen! The British monarch is celebrating 60 years since her coronation today with a service celebration attended by Prince William, Prince Harry, and Kate Middleton. Over the past six decades, Queen Elizabeth has witnessed much change across the world and in her own family, while always remaining a constant herself. To mark her anniversary, here are some little-known facts that will help you get to know Queen Elizabeth II. And if you'd like to know more, check out must read Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch by Sally Bedell Smith. View Slideshow ›...

Britain's Duchess Catherine has been named one of the most influential people in the world. The duchess - who was known as Kate Middleton before her marriage to Prince William in April 2011 - has been included on Time magazine's annual Time 100 list. In a profile for the publication, Sally Bedell Smith, the author of 'Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch', wrote: 'Kate Middleton, whose ancestors toiled in the coal mines of Durham, was an ordinary college girl on a path to an unremarkable life. Then she met her Prince Charming, became the Duchess of Cambridge and in two years has emerged as a remarkable figure on the world stage. 'The future queen is dignified,...

Chris Hemsworth, Huntsman: Snow White and the Huntsman Charlize Theron is possessed by the Bette Davis of The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (and The Virgin Queen) in this Snow White and the Huntsman clip. (Please scroll down.) Chris Hemsworth is the Huntsman who is brave (or stupid or crazy) enough to dare think he has the option not to do what his queen is telling him to. The "she" referred to in the Snow White and the Huntsman clip is, needless to say, Snow White (Kristen Stewart). According to a cool-looking talking mirror, Snow White is destined to surpass the Queen in sheer fairness. The Queen, none too happy, wants Snow to melt away. Snow, however, turns out to be as resilient as she’s white. Directed by Rupert Sanders, Snow White and the Huntsman opens June 1. In addition to Charlize Theron (to be seen in Ridley Scott...

With the arrival of the auteur theory, filmmakers like Michael Curtiz no longer get as much sway among the current generation of directors. Curtiz (born Kertész Kaminer Manó in Hungary in 1886), was a journeyman, a man who flourished in the studio system after being picked out by Jack Warner for his Austrian Biblical epic "Moon of Israel" in 1924. He stayed at the studio for nearly 20 years, taking on whatever he was assigned at a terrifyingly prolific rate -- he made over 100 Hollywood movies up to "The Comancheros" in 1961. And some of them are terrible, as you might expect.

But Curtiz was also responsible for some of the greatest films of the era, and those who diminish his abilities (including the director himself, who once said "Who cares about character? I make it go so fast nobody notices") are ignoring his enormous skill behind the camera, and his undeniable capacity for...

With the holidays over, the slow pace of new book releases picks up.Topping the week are a new book about the Obamas—easily buzziest book of the new year, a thriller from Homeland creator Howard Gordon, two excellent Ya novels, and a young screenwriter's first novel explores growing up Muslim in Milwaukee.. Photos: Best Presidents in Film and Television Other noteworthy books this week include Sally Bedell Smith’s biography Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, which is the first of a wave of books about the Queen and the British Royal Family timed to Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee.

read more...

Montgomery Clift, Olivia de Havilland in William Wyler‘s The Heiress Twelve Olivia de Havilland movies will be presented on Turner Classic Movies on Friday, Aug. 27, as part of TCM’s "Summer Under the Stars" series. [Olivia de Havilland schedule.] Nothing rare among the entries (e.g., The Charge of the Light Brigade, Dodge City, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The Male Animal, etc.) For most of her career as a Hollywood star, de Havilland was a Warner Bros. contract player. (The de Havilland-Warners split was both highly acrimonious and highly influential.) Needless to say, Time Warner, which owns TCM, also owns the Warner Bros. library. Olivia de Havilland movies have been a TCM fixture since the cable channel was born over a decade ago. My chief Olivia de Havilland Day recommendation is The Heiress (1949), one of the relatively few pre-1950 Paramount productions widely available on cable/home video. "Not many film...

Jack Sydow, a Tony Award-nominated director, actor, playwright and professor at the University of Washington, died May 28 in Los Angeles. He was 88.

Sydow directed the 1966 revival of the musical "Annie Get Your Gun" on Broadway that starred Ethel Merman and featured new music by Irving Berlin. He was nominated for a Tony for best director in a field that included Gower Champion, Mike Nichols and eventual winner Harold Prince.

A native of Rockford, Ill., Sydow in 1943 collaborated with other servicemen to create "Hump Happy," a satirical musical review that featured him as one of three cross-dressing Andrews Sisters. The show toured military bases in India and the Middle East during World War II.

In 1958, Sydow and Boris Tumarin shared an Obie Award for the theatrical adaptation of "The Brothers Karamazov." That year, he began work on the pre-Broadway production of "Once Upon a Mattress" in Tamiment, Pa., where Sydow also...

Man, people worked more in the 1930s. Michael Curtiz has five other titles credited to him as director for 1939 besides this one. A movie like this today would consume a filmmaker for years, and he tossed it off between golf games. I love how the trailer makes it seem like the story is all about Elizabeth as a capricious and dangerous ruler because she wasn’t getting laid enough (and maybe that’s an accurate representation of the film -- I’ve never seen it). By the time Errol Flynn tells Bette Davis “I will love you always,” you have to wonder what else he could possibly respond to her “Do you love me?” if he doesn’t want to have to lead an army into war with the Portuguese or the Italians or whomever she might choose to open a can of lonely-lady whup-ass on out of sexual frustration.

Director Walter Hill.

Kicking Ass with Walter Hill

by Jon Zelazny

Action flicks. Two-fisted tales. Guy movies. Whatever you want to call them, writer, producer, and director Walter Hill is one of the living masters, with a resume full of classics from The Getaway (1972), to the Alien series, and the definitive eighties action-comedy blockbuster, 48 Hrs. (1982).

2009 marks the 30th anniversary of The Warriors (1979), Hill’s surreal “street gang on the run” cult classic, and his breakout success as a director.

Jon: A couple years ago, you did an audio commentary and on-camera intro for a new DVD edition of The Warriors. It was the first time I’d ever seen you; is it my imagination, or have you kept a low profile over the years?

Walter Hill: I’d never done a commentary before on one of my films. I don’t like the idea of explaining a movie; I...