Actress Olivia de Havilland dies at 104
Olivia de Havilland, who enjoyed an acting career that spanned more than five decades, died Sunday at her residence in Paris, her publicist confirmed to CNN. She was 104.
BBC describes de Havilland as one of the last remaining stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, and she was also the last surviving star of 1939's Gone with the Wind, which netted her an Oscar nomination. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 for her role in To Each His Own and then another in 1949 for The Heiress.
Offscreen, de Havilland was known for taking on Hollywood's powerful studios, who at that time had complete control over their stars. In 1943, she took Warner Brothers to court after the studio lengthened her original contract as a penalty for turning down roles. The California Supreme Court ruled in her favor, and actors subsequently had more say over their careers. Read more at BBC and CNN.
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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