Joan Fontaine

Joan Fontaine was born on Oct 22, 1917 in Japan. Joan Fontaine's big-screen debut came with A Million to One directed by Lynn Shores in 1936. Joan Fontaine is known for Bare Essence directed by Walter Grauman, Genie Francis stars as Patricia 'Tyger' Hayes and Ian McShane as Niko Theophilus. Joan Fontaine has got 10 awards and 5 nominations so far. The most recent award Joan Fontaine achieved is Walk of Fame. The upcoming new movie Joan Fontaine plays is Good King Wenceslas which will be released on Nov 26, 1994.

Born Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland on October 22, 1917, in Tokyo, Japan, in what was known as the International Settlement, to British parents, Lilian Augusta (Ruse), a former actress, and Walter Augustus de Havilland, an English professor and patent attorney. Her paternal grandfather's family was from Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Her father had a lucrative practice in Japan, but due to Joan and older sister Olivia de Havilland's recurring ailments the family moved to California in the hopes of improving their health. Mrs. de Havilland and the two girls settled in Saratoga while their father went back to his practice in Japan. Joan's parents did not get along well and divorced soon afterward. Mrs. de Havilland had a desire to be an actress but her dreams were curtailed when she married, but now she hoped to pass on her dream to Olivia and Joan. While Olivia pursued a stage career, Joan went back to Tokyo, where she attended the American School. In 1934 she came back to California, where her sister was already making a name for herself on the stage. Joan likewise joined a theater group in San Jose and then Los Angeles to try her luck there. After moving to L.A., Joan adopted the name of Joan Burfield because she didn't want to infringe upon Olivia, who was using the family surname.She tested at MGM and gained a small role in La femme de sa vie (1935), but she was scarcely noticed and Joan was idle for a year and a half. During this time she roomed with Olivia, who was having much more success in films. In 1937, this time calling herself Joan Fontaine, she landed a better role as Trudy Olson in You Can't Beat Love (1937) and then an uncredited part in Pour un baiser (1937). Although the next two years saw her in better roles, she still yearned for something better. In 1940 she garnered her first Academy Award nomination for Rebecca (1940). Although she thought she should have won, (she lost out to Ginger Rogers in Kitty Foyle (1940)), she was now an established member of the Hollywood set. She would again be Oscar-nominated for her role as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth in Soupçons (1941), and this time she won. Joan was making one film a year but choosing her roles well. In 1942 she starred in the well-received Âmes rebelles (1942).The following year she appeared in Tessa, la nymphe au coeur fidèle (1943). Once again she was nominated for the Oscar, she lost out to Jennifer Jones in Le chant de Bernadette (1943). By now it was safe to say she was more famous than her older sister and more fine films followed. In 1948, she accepted second billing to Bing Crosby in La Valse de l'empereur (1948). Joan took the year of 1949 off before coming back in 1950 with Les amants de Capri (1950) and Born to be Bad (1950). In 1951 she starred in Paramount's La Part du jeu (1951), which turned out badly for both her and the studio and more weak productions followed.Absent from the big screen for a while, she took parts in television and dinner theaters. She also starred in many well-produced Broadway plays such as Forty Carats and The Lion in Winter. Her last appearance on the big screen was Pacte avec le diable (1966) and her final appearance before the cameras was Good King Wenceslas (1994). She is, without a doubt, a lasting movie icon.