Olivia de Havilland dies

[budwom]

Olivia de Havilland dies at 104; I had no idea she had still been alive...

[Bob Green]

She won two Oscars for Best Actress but she will always be Melanie to me:

https://ew.com/movies/gone-with-the-...d-dies-at-104/

[dudog84]

She must be the last (non-extra/child) from Gone With The Wind. And one of the last from that age of cinema, period.

R.I.P.

[JBDuke]

Her sister, Joan Fontaine, lived to be 96 and passed away in 2013. Their father, an English professor and patent attorney, lived to be 96 as well. Their mother, also an actress, lived to be 89.

Good genes, I guess. One of my favorite "Golden Age" actresses.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Olivia de Havilland dies at 104; I had no idea she had still been alive...

I heard her last words were “I cant go on without Regis!”

[duke2x]

She must be the last (non-extra/child) from Gone With The Wind. And one of the last from that age of cinema, period. R.I.P.

Yes, RIP. I liked her in The Snake Pit as well.

The answer to both of your questions is yes. The last survivor is Mickey Kuhn, Melanie's son Beau--alive but very elderly. I tried to find a clip on Youtube of his last line in the movie when Melanie died but failed to find one.

https://www.oldest.org/culture/living-actors/

Betty White, I think you are now the oldest Hollywood female star. May you join this particular century club in good health.

[throatybeard]

She must be the last (non-extra/child) from Gone With The Wind. And one of the last from that age of cinema, period.

R.I.P.

Times obituary pointed out that she mentioned being the the last living GWTWer at some film event...that took place in 1999.

[DU82]

Times obituary pointed out that she mentioned being the the last living GWTWer at some film event...that took place in 1999.

From a glance at the credits on IMDB, the sole surviving cast member with a speaking part is Mickey Kuhn, who played Melanie and Ashley's son Beau. He is 86.

Miss de Havilland was by far the last of the four main actors (which I'm guessing is what she meant in her comment in 1999, not that the Times bothered with further research.) Trevor Howard died in WWII, Gable in 1960, Vivian Leigh in 1967. Some of the secondary (non-extras) actors lived until the 2010s, including Ann Rutherford (Scarlett's sister Carreen, 2012) and Alicia Rhett (Ashley's sister India, 2014.) The youngest cast member (with a speaking role) was Cammie King (Bonnie Blue) who died in 2010.

[throatybeard]

From a glance at the credits on IMDB, the sole surviving cast member with a speaking part is Mickey Kuhn, who played Melanie and Ashley's son Beau. He is 86.

Miss de Havilland was by far the last of the four main actors (which I'm guessing is what she meant in her comment in 1999, not that the Times bothered with further research.) Trevor Howard died in WWII, Gable in 1960, Vivian Leigh in 1967. Some of the secondary (non-extras) actors lived until the 2010s, including Ann Rutherford (Scarlett's sister Carreen, 2012) and Alicia Rhett (Ashley's sister India, 2014.) The youngest cast member (with a speaking role) was Cammie King (Bonnie Blue) who died in 2010.

Good work.

Pretty much my favorite thing is Wikiing or IMBDing whatever just came on Turner Classic, and seeing if anyone is living.

But as you might imagine, I'm not a fan of GwtW.

[dudog84]

From a glance at the credits on IMDB, the sole surviving cast member with a speaking part is Mickey Kuhn, who played Melanie and Ashley's son Beau. He is 86.

Miss de Havilland was by far the last of the four main actors (which I'm guessing is what she meant in her comment in 1999, not that the Times bothered with further research.) Trevor Howard died in WWII, Gable in 1960, Vivian Leigh in 1967. Some of the secondary (non-extras) actors lived until the 2010s, including Ann Rutherford (Scarlett's sister Carreen, 2012) and Alicia Rhett (Ashley's sister India, 2014.) The youngest cast member (with a speaking role) was Cammie King (Bonnie Blue) who died in 2010.

Small correction here. Trevor Howard lived until 1988. I looked him up to see whether he died as an active service member.

Leslie Howard, however, died when the plane he was in was shot down by the Luftwaffe.

[DU82]

Small lol here. Trevor Howard lived until 1988. I looked him up to see whether he died as an active service member.

Leslie Howard, however, died when the plane he was in was shot down by the Luftwaffe.

Doh! (Thanks for the correction. I KNOW the difference between the two, other than when I'm typing!)

[diablesseblu]

Ms. de Havilland fully belied the old adage that celebrities disappoint in person. She was stunningly beautiful, kind, and delightful to talk with.

It's marvelous that she lead such a long, active life.

[dudog84]

Doh! (Thanks for the correction. I KNOW the difference between the two, other than when I'm typing!)

You'll notice that I changed lol to correction because it wasn't appropriate. Though it did make me chuckle. I've been on a bit of a WWII DVD binge (currently in the middle of Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life, gee that guy's movies move slow) with COVID and was curious. Kinda hard to imagine the sacrifices made by the the Allied men and women given our selfishness today.

[DU82]

You'll notice that I changed lol to correction because it wasn't appropriate. Though it did make me chuckle. I've been on a bit of a WWII DVD binge (currently in the middle of Terence Malick's A Hidden Life, gee that guy's movies move slow) with COVID and was curious. Kinda hard to imagine the sacrifices made by the the Allied men and women given our selfishness today.

I do wish TCM would get the rights to some other movies for Memorial Day and Veterans' Day. The WWII movies tend to be the same ones. Of course, there were many, and many of them were of questionable quality (rush jobs, for sure, I'd guess, to promote the war effort.)

Regarding LESLIE Howard, he was one of the most famous (pre-war) causalities of WWII, along with Glenn Miller. Blanking out on others right now; I'm sure there's a list of Hollywood actors that served/died in the war (just haven't googled it yet.)

[dudog84]

I do wish TCM would get the rights to some other movies for Memorial Day and Veterans' Day. The WWII movies tend to be the same ones. Of course, there were many, and many of them were of questionable quality (rush jobs, for sure, I'd guess, to promote the war effort.)

Regarding LESLIE Howard, he was one of the most famous (pre-war) causalities of WWII, along with Glenn Miller. Blanking out on others right now; I'm sure there's a list of Hollywood actors that served/died in the war (just haven't googled it yet.)

Your post led me to Leslie Howard, which led me to Operation Mincemeat, which led me to the film The Man Who Never Was (IMDB rating 7.4), which I just reserved at the library. So maybe your goof led to something.

And this is how suddenly 30 minutes of my day has disappeared. (and happens all the time)

[Stray Gator]

You'll notice that I changed lol to correction because it wasn't appropriate. Though it did make me chuckle. I've been on a bit of a WWII DVD binge (currently in the middle of Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life, gee that guy's movies move slow) with COVID and was curious. Kinda hard to imagine the sacrifices made by the the Allied men and women given our selfishness today.

When mention is made of sacrifices endured by civilian populations during WWII, most thoughts turn to the suffering and severe deprivations experienced by the Russian people under siege in St. Petersburg (then still called Leningrad) and Stalingrad, or by the Dutch people under German occupation. But even in the relatively safe haven of Britain, the citizens had to deal with difficult circumstances -- as American GIs like my father learned when stationed near the south coast of England during the build-up to D-Day. An illuminating summary appears in the following excerpt from the lengthy Prologue to the third volume of Rick Atkinson's superb Liberation Trilogy, entitled "The Guns At Last Light":

Privation lay on the land like another odor. British men could buy a new shirt every twenty months. Housewives twisted pipe cleaners into hair clips. Iron railings and grillwork had long been scrapped for the war effort; even cemeteries stood unfenced. Few shoppers could find a fountain pen or a wedding ring, or bedsheets, vegetable peelers, shoelaces. Posters discouraged profligacy with depictions of the “Squander Bug,” a cartoon rodent with swastika pockmarks. Classified advertisements included pleas in the Times of London for “unwanted artificial teeth” and cash donations to help wounded Russian war horses. An ad for Chez-Vous household services promised “bombed upholstery and carpets cleaned.”

Other government placards advised, “Food is a munition. Don’t waste it.” Rationing had begun in June 1940 and would not end completely until 1954. The monthly cheese allowance now stood at two ounces per citizen. Many children had never seen a lemon; vitamin C came from “turnip water.” The Ministry of Food promoted “austerity bread,” with a whisper of sawdust, and “victory coffee,” brewed from acorns. “Woolton pie,” a concoction of carrots, potatoes, onions, and flour, was said to lie “like cement upon the chest.” For those with strong palates, no ration limits applied to sheep’s head, or to eels caught in local reservoirs, or to roast cormorant, a stringy substitute for poultry.

It's difficult to imagine how modern-day Americans would respond if called upon to make similar sacrifices, given the resistance to the simple act of donning a face covering for short periods when present in public spaces -- not to mention the panic buying we saw when toilet paper was briefly thought to be in short supply.

[rasputin]

I do wish TCM would get the rights to some other movies for Memorial Day and Veterans' Day. The WWII movies tend to be the same ones. Of course, there were many, and many of them were of questionable quality (rush jobs, for sure, I'd guess, to promote the war effort.)

Regarding LESLIE Howard, he was one of the most famous (pre-war) causalities of WWII, along with Glenn Miller. Blanking out on others right now; I'm sure there's a list of Hollywood actors that served/died in the war (just haven't googled it yet.)

You might not know that Leslie Howard played a huge part in Humphrey Bogart's career. Bogie had played the villain Duke Mantee, a desperate gangster on the run, in the Broadway play The Petrified Forest, which starred Leslie Howard and Bette Davis. Warner Bros. had the movie rights and they were casting the movie. They had Howard and Davis to reprise their roles, but wanted someone with more name recognition in the 3rd role. (This was, I think, 1936.) Leslie Howard told the Warner people that if they didn't keep Bogart in the role, he wouldn't play in the movie. Warner Bros. relented and Bogart had his big break. Up to then he was getting mostly small roles as one-dimensional hoods, but he started getting meatier roles and he showed that he could be something other than a gangster on screen. Along came High Sierra in 1940 (the last non-cameo appearance in which Bogart didn't have top billing, which went to Ida Lupino), and then a year later, George Raft didn't want to play the lead in a movie called The Maltese Falcon which was to be directed by a first-time director named John Huston, so Bogart got the role and the rest is history.

When Bogie married Lauren Bacall and they had children, they named the first one (a daughter) Leslie, for Leslie Howard. OK, now, don't look this up: what did they name their second child, and why?

[Jim3k]

Your post led me to Leslie Howard, which led me to Operation Mincemeat, which led me to the film The Man Who Never Was (IMDB rating 7.4), which I just reserved at the library. So maybe your goof led to something.

And this is how suddenly 30 minutes of my day has disappeared. (and happens all the time)

The Man Who Never Was was my first exposure to wartime intrigue -- as an eleven-year-old. Not the movie, but the book. I've been fascinated ever since by stories of that genre. Much later, about 1981, I gave the book to my eleven-year-old son. He was equally taken with it.

I was always disappointed in the movie, even though I have seen it several times.

[camion]

The Man Who Never Was was my first exposure to wartime intrigue -- as an eleven-year-old. Not the movie, but the book. I've been fascinated ever since by stories of that genre. Much later, about 1981, I gave the book to my eleven-year-old son. He was equally taken with it.

I was always disappointed in the movie, even though I have seen it several times.

Interestingly, the movie was on one of the cable channels and I watched it last week. I enjoyed it and went online to check how accurate it was. I found that they did take some "poetic license" to make it more dramatic. It was dramatic enough anyway. Warning, spoilers below.







"Nigel Balchin's script stayed as close to the truth as was convenient, yet the film does fall back on some dramatization. For example, the episode of the Irish spy, O'Reilly, is a complete fabrication. The British Security Service controlled the German spy network in the UK with its Double-Cross System, though this fact was still secret at the time the film was made. Ewen Montagu declared that he was happy with the fictitious incidents which, although they did not happen, might have happened."

[WV_Iron_Duke]

Prior to GWTW, Olivia did The Adventures of Robin Hood. A terrific movie in color- the best by far of all the Robin Hood movies. Highly recommended.