Joan Fontaine

Lore & Background

Joan Fontaine began her film career in 1935 with a contract at RKO Pictures. Her early roles included The Man Who Found Himself (1937) and Gunga Din (1939). Her career transformed after she was cast as the unnamed heroine in Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940), earning her first of three Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. The following year, she won the Oscar for Best Actress for Hitchcock's Suspicion (1941), co-starring Cary Grant. A third nomination came for The Constant Nymph (1943).

Fontaine appeared primarily in drama films through the 1940s, including Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948) and the comedy You Gotta Stay Happy (1948), which she co-produced with her second husband William Dozier through their company Rampart Productions. Her film career began to decline after Ivanhoe (1952), and she moved into stage, radio, and television roles. She appeared in fewer films in the 1960s, including Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961), and her final film role was in The Witches (1966), also known as The Devil's Own.

Fontaine released an autobiography, No Bed of Roses, in 1978, and continued to act until 1994. She was born in Tokyo to English parents, and after her parents separated, she moved with her mother and sister to Saratoga, California, where her health improved. She later returned to Japan to live with her father and graduated from the American School in Japan in 1935.

Reader's Guide

Joan Fontaine's significance lies in her status as a leading actress of Hollywood's Golden Age and her unique place in Academy Awards history. She is the only performer to win an Oscar for acting in a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, having won Best Actress for Suspicion (1941). Along with her sister Olivia de Havilland, they remain the only siblings to have won lead-acting Oscars. Her career was shaped by her collaborations with Hitchcock and producer David O. Selznick, particularly her breakthrough in Rebecca (1940).

Fontaine's legacy includes a body of work spanning more than 45 films, with notable performances in dramas such as Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948) and The Constant Nymph (1943). Her rivalry with her sister was widely covered in the media. After her film career declined in the 1950s, she continued acting on stage, radio, and television, and published her autobiography in 1978. Her final film role was in 1966, and she remained active until 1994.

Did You Know?

• Joan Fontaine is the only actress to have won an Academy Award for a performance directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
• She and her sister Olivia de Havilland are the only siblings to have won lead-acting Academy Awards.
• Fontaine was born in Tokyo, Japan, to English parents and moved to the United States as a child due to health issues.
• She co-produced the film You Gotta Stay Happy (1948) through her company Rampart Productions with her second husband William Dozier.