Contents
Joan Fontaine
Her leading performances in Rebecca and Suspicion.
Suspicion · The Constant Nymph
- Born
- 22 October 1917
- Birthplace
- Tokyo
- Died
- 15 December 2013
More people
Joan Fontaine
British-American actress whose film career became closely associated with psychological drama. She won Best Actress for Suspicion and later worked across stage, radio and television.
Early life
Family and childhood
Born in Tokyo to English parents, she was the younger sister of Olivia de Havilland. Their mother had trained as a stage actress.
Career
- 1935
RKO contract
Began her Hollywood film career.
- 1940
Rebecca
Her leading role brought an Oscar nomination.
- 1942
Academy Award
Won for the previous year’s Suspicion.
Selected work
Suspicion
Played the anxious wife at the centre of Hitchcock’s thriller.
The Constant Nymph
Earned another Best Actress nomination.
Letter from an Unknown Woman
Starred in Max Ophuls’s romantic drama.
Beyond work
Interests outside acting
Was a licensed pilot and enjoyed cooking and interior decoration. She published her autobiography No Bed of Roses in 1978.
Sources & photo credit
Biography and career ↗Biographical references ↗Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.