Biography
The younger sister of actress Olivia de Havilland, Joan Fontaine was a British actress known for her exceptionally poised performances in a string of popular Hollywood films throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Following well-received appearances in the George Stevens epic-adventure "Gunga Din" (1939) and George Cukor's "The Women" (1939), Fontaine wowed audiences with her performance in Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller ""Rebecca" (1940). The following year, she reteamed with Hitchcock and "Gunga Din" co-star Cary Grant for a starring role in "Suspicion" (1941), which won the actress an Academy Award. Over the next decade, she played romantic leads opposite cinema's greatest male stars in such films as "Jane Eyre" (1943) with Orson Welles and "Ivanhoe" (1952) alongside Robert Taylor. Gradually, Fontaine's career trajectory led her to roles as formidable older woman in projects like "Island in the Sun" (1957) and "Tender is the Night" (1962). Married four times, her husbands included "Batman" (ABC, 1966-68) producer-narrator William Dozier, and the reputed sibling rivalry between her and de Havilland kept Hollywood gossips' tongues wagging for decades. In the years after her retirement from film, Fontaine continued to appear in such stage productions as the Broadway comedy "Forty Carats" and went on to earn an Emmy nomination for her guest turn on the soap opera "Ryan's Hope" (ABC, 1975-1989). One of the brightest stars of Hollywood's Golden Era, Fontaine was widely remembered as an actress of exceptional talent and a person of tremendous passion. She died at the age of 96 in December 2013.
