Olivia de Havilland - Early Life

Early Life

Olivia de Havilland was born in Tokyo, Japan, to parents from the United Kingdom. Her father, Walter Augustus de Havilland (31 August 1872 – 23 May 1968; aged 95), was a patent attorney with a practice in Japan, and her mother, Lilian Augusta (née Ruse; 11 June 1886 – 20 February 1975; aged 88) was a stage actress who had left her career after going to Tokyo with her husband – she would return to work after her daughters had already won fame in the 40s, with the stage name of Lillian Fontaine. De Havilland's parents married in 1914 and separated in 1919, when Lilian decided to end the marriage after discovering that her husband used the sexual services of geisha girls; the divorce was not finalized, however, until February 1925.

Her younger sister is the actress, Joan de Havilland, known professionally as Joan Fontaine (born (1917-10-22) October 22, 1917 (age 95)). Her paternal cousin was Sir Geoffrey de Havilland (1882–1965), an aircraft designer, notably of the De Havilland Mosquito, and founder of the aircraft company which bore his name. Her paternal grandfather was from Guernsey in the Channel Islands.

When her parents separated and her mother came to the U.K. from Tokyo with the girls, Olivia was two years old. Joan had anemia at the time, so doctors recommended that they go to the United States. They settled in the California town of Saratoga. Joan's health improved after they emigrated.

Although she left the acting profession, Olivia's mother did not fail to appreciate the arts, as she read Shakespeare to her children, and taught them diction and voice. In April 1925, the girls' mother remarried, this time to the owner of a department store, named George M. Fontaine, a man hated by both girls. It was her stepfather's surname which, years later, Joan took as her stage name after her mother refused to allow her to use the de Havilland name. Her sister Olivia was already a rising star under her father's surname. The sisters have never had a good relationship; both in their 90s, Olivia and Joan have not spoken since their mother's death in February 1975.

The sisters attended Los Gatos High School and de Havilland also attended the Notre Dame High School, Belmont. An acting award at Los Gatos is named after her. She participated in school drama club, and in 1933 made her debut in amateur theater, in the lead role in Alice in Wonderland, a production of the Saratoga Community Players based on the work of Lewis Carroll. Her talent for art was also beginning to be noticed.