Oscar-winning actress Joan Fontaine has passed away at her home in Carmel, California on Sunday aged 96, it has been announced. Born in 1917 in Tokyo, Japan to British parents and the younger sister of fellow Academy Award-winner Olivia de Havilland, Fontaine began her acting career in 1935 and soon signed a contract with RKO Pictures, making her debut with a small part in No More Ladies before enjoying her first starring role in 1937’s The Man Who Found Himself.
After appearing alongside Fred Astaire in A Damsel in Distress (1937), Fontaine went on to secure the lead role in Rebecca, the Hollywood debut of director Alfred Hitchcock, which saw her receiving a nomination for Best Actress. Although she lost out to Ginger Rogers, Fontaine was nominated again the following year for Suspicion, taking home the award and making her the only star to win an acting Oscar in a Hitchcock picture. Her subsequent credits included roles in The Constant Nymph, Jane Eyre, Ivy, Letter from an Unknown Woman, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt and The Witches before shifting her attention to the small screen, with her final role coming in 1994’s TV movie Good King Wenceslas.
Originally published December 16, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
