Screen Legend Olivia De Havilland Turns 101 On July 1st

Olivia de Havilland, one of the last surviving cast members of the classic 1939 film “Gone With The Wind,“ will celebrate her 101st birthday on Saturday (July 1). De Havilland, who won two Academy Awards, began her movie career after director Max Reinhardt saw her in a production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream“ and cast her in his 1935 film version of the play. Warner Bros. was impressed and, as was the custom at the time, signed the teenager to a seven-year contract. Warner Bros. then loaned her out to make “Gone With the Wind,“ and de Havilland’s gentle but willful personality helped make the role of Melanie one of the movie’s most intriguing parts. The role earned her the first of her five Oscar nominations. The prestige of the Oscar nomination and the popularity of “Gone With the Wind“ did not get de Havilland the types of roles she wanted. She often refused the parts Warner Bros. offered, which resulted in suspensions. In 1943