Editing Olivia de Havilland (section)

==Early life==
By birth, Olivia was a member of the [[de Havilland family]], which belonged to [[landed gentry]] that had originated from mainland [[Normandy]]. Her mother, [[Lilian Fontaine]] ([[née]] Ruse; 1886{{nbnd}}1975), was educated at the [[Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]] in London and became a stage actress.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=20}} She also sang with [[Sir Walter Parratt]], who was [[Master of the King's Music]], and she toured the United Kingdom with the composer [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]].{{sfn|Fontaine|1978|pp=16–17}} Olivia's father, [[Walter de&nbsp;Havilland]] (1872{{nbnd}}1968), served as an English professor at [[Tokyo Imperial University]] before becoming a [[patent attorney]].{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=20}} Her paternal cousin was [[Geoffrey de Havilland|Sir Geoffrey de{{nbsp}}Havilland]] (1882{{nbnd}}1965),<ref name="french-observer"/> an aircraft designer and founder of the [[de&nbsp;Havilland]] aircraft company.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=32}}
[[File:Lilian Fontaine with her daughters, Joan and Olivia, c. 1922.png|left|thumb|De Havilland with mother [[Lilian Fontaine]] and sister [[Joan Fontaine]] (left) c. 1922]]
Walter and Lilian first met in Japan in 1913 and married the following year;{{sfn|Fontaine|1978|p=16}} it was not a happy marriage, owing in part to Walter's infidelities.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=22}} Olivia Mary de{{nbsp}}Havilland was born on July 1, 1916.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=20}} The family moved into a large house in [[Tokyo City]], where Lilian gave informal singing recitals.{{sfn|Fontaine|1978|p=16}} Olivia's younger sister Joan (Joan de Beauvoir de{{nbsp}}Havilland){{nsmdns}}later known as actress [[Joan Fontaine]]{{nsmdns}}was born on October 22, 1917, when Olivia was 15{{nbsp}}months old. Both sisters became [[British subject]]s automatically by [[Jus sanguinis|birthright]].{{sfn|Fontaine|1978|p=18}}

In February 1919, Lilian persuaded her husband to take the family back to Britain as its climate was better suited to their ailing daughters.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=22}} They sailed aboard the SS ''Siberia Maru'' to [[San Francisco]],{{sfn|Fontaine|1978|p=18}} where the family stopped to treat Olivia's [[tonsillitis]].{{sfnm|1a1=Thomas|1y=1983|1pp=22–23|2a1=Matzen|2y=2010|2p=2}} Joan developed [[pneumonia]], so Lilian decided to remain with her daughters in California, and they eventually settled in the village of [[Saratoga, California|Saratoga]], {{convert|50|mi|km}} south of San Francisco.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=23}}{{#tag:ref|After living in an apartment near [[Golden Gate Park]] while the sisters were being treated, the family moved to [[San Jose, California|San Jose]] and stayed at the Hotel Vendome.{{sfn|Fontaine|1978|pp=18, 23}} Soon after, they moved to the foothills of the [[Santa Cruz Mountains]], where they stayed at a boarding house called Lundblad's Lodge on Oak Street owned by a Swedish family.<ref name="academy-of-achievement"/>{{sfn|Fontaine|1978|p=25}}|group=Note}} Walter abandoned the family and returned to his Japanese housekeeper, who eventually became his second wife.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=23}}

[[File:USA-Saratoga-Lundblad%27s Lodge.jpg|thumb|Lundblad's Lodge in Saratoga, where the family lived for a while]]

Olivia was raised to appreciate the arts, beginning with ballet lessons at the age of four and piano lessons a year later.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=24}} She learned to read before she was six,{{sfn|Fontaine|1978|p=27}} and her mother, who occasionally taught drama, music, and [[elocution]],{{sfn|Thomas|1983|pp=21–22}} had her recite passages from [[Shakespeare]] to strengthen her [[diction]].{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=24}}{{#tag:ref|Olivia was named after a [[Olivia (Twelfth Night)|character]] in ''[[Twelfth Night]]''.{{sfn|Kass|1976|p=17}}|group=Note}} During this period, Olivia's sister first started calling her "Livvie", a nickname that lasted throughout her life.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=24}} De{{nbsp}}Havilland entered Saratoga Grammar School in 1922 and did well in her studies.<ref name="academy-of-achievement"/> She enjoyed reading, writing poetry, and drawing, and once represented her grammar school in a county [[spelling bee]], finishing in second place.<ref name="academy-of-achievement"/> Lilian had a new [[Tudor Revival architecture|Tudor]]-style house built in 1923,<ref name="academy-of-achievement"/> and the family resided there until the early 1930s.{{sfnm|1a1=Fontaine|1y=1978|1pp=23, 32|2a1=Thomas|2y=1983|2p=23}} In April 1925, after her divorce was finalized, Lilian married George Milan Fontaine, a department store manager for [[Hale Bros.|O.{{nbsp}}A.{{nbsp}}Hale & Co.]] in [[San Jose, California|San Jose]].{{sfn|Fontaine|1978|pp=23–24}} Fontaine was a respectable businessman and a good provider, but his strict parenting style generated animosity and later rebellion in both of his new stepdaughters.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=25}}{{#tag:ref|Lilian and George were introduced to each other in 1920 by four-year-old Olivia who noticed him sitting on a park bench and referred to him in Japanese as "Daddy".{{sfnm|1a1=Fontaine|1y=1978|1p=23|2a1=Thomas|2y=1983|2p=25}}|group=Note}}
[[File:Olivia De Haviland 1933.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|alt=At the age of 15|De Havilland in the stage play ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'', 1933]]
De{{nbsp}}Havilland continued her education at [[Los Gatos High School]] near her home in Saratoga.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=25}} There she excelled in [[Public speaking|oratory]] and [[field hockey]] and participated in school plays and the school drama club, eventually becoming the club's secretary.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=26}} With plans of becoming a schoolteacher in English and speech,{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=25}} she also attended [[Notre Dame High School (Belmont, California)|Notre Dame Convent]] in [[Belmont, California|Belmont]].{{sfn|Jensen|1942|p=91}}

In 1933, a teenaged de{{nbsp}}Havilland made her amateur theater debut in ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|Alice in Wonderland]]'', a production of the Saratoga Community Players based on the novel by [[Lewis Carroll]].{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=26}} She appeared in several school plays, including ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'' and ''[[Hansel and Gretel]]''.{{sfn|Fontaine|1978|pp=47–48}} Her passion for drama eventually led to a confrontation with her stepfather, who forbade her from participating in further extracurricular activities.{{sfn|Fontaine|1978|p=48}} When he learned that she had won the lead role of [[Elizabeth Bennet]] in a school fund-raising production of [[Jane Austen]]'s ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'', he told her that she had to choose between staying at home or appearing in the production and not being allowed home.{{sfn|Fontaine|1978|p=48}} Not wanting to let her school and classmates down, she left home and moved in with a family friend.{{sfn|Fontaine|1978|p=48}}

After graduating from high school in 1934, de{{nbsp}}Havilland was offered a scholarship to [[Mills College]] in [[Oakland]] to pursue her chosen career as an English teacher.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=27}} She was also offered the role of [[Puck (A Midsummer Night's Dream)|Puck]] in the Saratoga Community Theater production of Shakespeare's ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]''.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=26}} That summer, Austrian director [[Max Reinhardt]] came to California for a major new production of the same play due to premiere at the [[Hollywood Bowl]].{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=27}} One of Reinhardt's assistants saw de{{nbsp}}Havilland performing in Saratoga, and he offered her the second [[understudy]] position for the role of [[Hermia]].{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=27}} One week before the premiere, the understudy [[Jean Rouverol]] and the lead actress [[Gloria Stuart]] both left the project, leaving 18-year-old de{{nbsp}}Havilland to play Hermia.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=27}} Impressed with her performance, Reinhardt offered her the part in the four-week autumn tour that followed.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=27}} During the tour, Reinhardt received word that he was to direct the [[Warner Bros.]] film version of his stage production, and he offered de{{nbsp}}Havilland the film role of Hermia. She initially wavered, with her mind still set on becoming a teacher, but Reinhardt and executive producer [[Henry Blanke]] eventually persuaded her to sign a five-year contract with Warner Bros. on November 12, 1934, with a starting salary of $200 a week, marking the beginning of a professional acting career that would span more than 50{{nbsp}}years.{{sfnm|1a1=Thomas|1y=1983|1p=28|2a1=Matzen|2y=2010|2p=11}}