Joan Fontaine

Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (aka Joan Fontaine) was born on October 22, 1917, in Tokyo, Japan, in what was known as the International Settlement. Her father was a British patent attorney with a lucrative practice in Japan, but due to Joan and her older sister's (Olivia de Havilland) recurring ailments the family moved to California in the hopes of improving their health. Mrs. de Havilland and the two girls settled in Saratoga while their father went back to his practice in Japan. Joan's parents did not get along well and a divorce soon followed. Mrs. de Havilland had a desire to be an actress but her dream was curtailed when she married. Now she hoped to pass on her dream to Olivia and Joan. While Olivia pursued a stage career, Joan went back to Tokyo, wher...