Movie stars I loved as a kid - Joan Fontaine

Joan Fontaine is the sister of Olivia de Havilland. I never could make up my mind which of them was more beautiful. They are the only actresses from the 1930s still living.

Joan Fontaine (born October 22, 1917):

She was born Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland in Tokyo, Japan.
...
After some early flops, her luck changed one night at a dinner party when she found herself seated next to producer David O. Selznick.

She and Selznick began discussing the Daphne du Maurier novel Rebecca, and Selznick asked her to audition for the part of the unnamed heroine. She endured a grueling six-month series of film tests, along with hundreds of other actresses, before securing the part.

Rebecca marked the American debut of British director Alfred Hitchcock. In 1940, the film was released to glowing reviews and Joan was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

She didn't win that year (Ginger Rogers took home the award for Kitty Foyle) but Fontaine did win the following year for Best Actress in Suspicion, which was also directed by Hitchcock. This is the only Academy Award winning performance directed by Hitchcock.
...
She has been estranged from her sister Olivia de Havilland for many decades, not speaking at all since 1975.
...
She became an American citizen in April 1943 and resides in Carmel, California, in relative seclusion, spending her time in her gardens, and with her dogs.

Olivia and Joan: