The death, at 96, of Joan Fontaine at her home in California resonates with New Yorkers who remember when the screen star graced our city with her presence.
During the late 1970s and into the 1980s, she lived in a building on East 72nd Street near Second Avenue, and regularly attended film premieres and society dinners.
Miss Fontaine’s many fans had thought she might outlive her year-older sister, Olivia de Havilland, with whom she maintained a lifelong feud, but Olivia survives, living in Paris.
They were the only two sisters to ever compete for the Best Actress Academy Award and they were seated at the same table at the 1942 ceremony. When Joan’s name was announced, she later said, “My paralysis was total. I felt Olivia would spring across the table and grab me by the hair.”
What started the feud? It began in childhood, encouraged by their stage mother, and intensified when Joan was offered the role of Melanie Hamilton in “Gone With The Wind,” turned it down, and recommended her big sister.
Although it was Olivia’s signature part in movie history, she never forgave her little sister, who was less known at the time, for the boost. When their mother died, Olivia “forgot” to invite Joan to the funeral.
No good deed goes unpunished.