Olivia de Havilland was a British-American actress who became one of the most celebrated and respected performers in the Golden Age of Hollywood. She was born on July 1, 1916, in Tokyo, Japan, to British parents. Her father worked as a patent attorney and professor, while her mother was an actress. Olivia and her younger sister, Joan Fontaine, both pursued acting careers and became successful in their own right. De Havilland’s family moved to California when she was a child, and she attended drama school in Los Angeles. She made her film debut in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (1935), which garnered her positive attention and laid the foundation for her acting career. Olivia de Havilland’s breakthrough came when she was cast as Melanie Hamilton in the epic film “Gone with the Wind” (1939), which became one of the most iconic movies in cinema history. Her performance as the kind and…