Hollywood star and two-time winner of the Academy Award for best actress Olivia de Havilland died peacefully in her sleep at her Paris, France home on Saturday. She was 104.
De Havilland rose to prominence in the 1930s as Errol Flynn’s imperiled lass in a series of adventure films like Captain Blood and The Adventures of Robin Hood. After playing the damsel in distress for years, she waged a legal battle with Warner Bros. when the studio tried to extend her seven-year contract as a penalty for refusing roles. She would eventually win the battle in a landmark ruling that is known as the “de Havilland Law.”
De Havilland was the last surviving star of the 1939 movie Gone With The Wind. She played Melanie Hamilton Wilkes, who squared off with Scarlett O’Hara to gain the affection of Ashley Wilkes.