14 DAY TRIAL // One of the last actresses of the glamorous '40s, Joan Fontaine, has passed away of natural causes at her home in Carmel, California. The actress and her older sister, Olivia de Havilland, are the only two siblings to have won Oscars.
Joan Fontaine's career spanned more than 60 years, during which time she managed to get two Oscar nominations and even one win in the Hitchcock film “Suspicion.”
The actress started out in minor roles around 1937, but came to international attention after starring in Hitchcock's “Rebecca,” an adaptation of the Daphne de Maurier novel of the same name.
It was Hitchcock's passion for blondes that pushed her into the media's attention as a fierce rivalry between Joan and sister de Havilland became known. Fontaine actually changed her family name because she didn't want to share it with her sister.
The two siblings would battle it out in 1942 at the Oscar nominations for best actress, which Fontaine took home. But de Havilland would go on to take the prize home in 1946 for “To Each His Own” and in 1949 for “The Heiress.”
The story goes that Fontaine actually rejected her sister's congratulations the night she won an Oscar, and the two sisters became even more estranged to the point where they stopped speaking to each other altogether.
Joan Fontaine was also a licensed pilot and an accomplished interior decorator but she eventually came back to her acting career. In 1980 she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for her role in the soap opera “Ryan's Hope.”
She is quoted as saying at one point, "You know, I've had a helluva life. Not just the acting part. I've flown in an international balloon race. I've piloted my own plane. I've ridden to the hounds. I've done a lot of exciting things.”
Married and divorced for four times, Joan Fontaine is survived by two daughters and grandchildren.