Olivia de Havilland Quotes

I was shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of my sister, Joan Fontaine ... and I appreciate the many kind expressions of sympathy that we have received.

I would prefer to live forever in perfect health, but if I must at some time leave this life, I would like to do so ensconced on a chaise longue, perfumed, wearing a velvet robe and pearl earrings, with a flute of champagne beside me and having just discovered the answer to the last problem in a British cryptic crossword.

One must take what comes, with laughter.

It's hard to keep on being civil when they ask you such annoying questions.

Famous people feel that they must perpetually be on the crest of the wave, not realising that it is against all the rules of life. You can't be on top all the time, it isn't natural.

Playing good girls in the '30s was difficult, when the fad was to play bad girls. Actually I think playing bad girls is a bore; I have always had more luck with good girl roles because they require more from an actress.

My sister has decided to become an actress too. It has ruined the close-knittedness of our family life.

I don't need a fantasy life as once I did. That is the life of the imagination that I had a great need for. Films were the perfect means for satisfying that need.

The one thing that you simply have to remember all the time that you are there is that Hollywood is an Oriental city. As long as you do that, you might survive. If you try to equate it with anything else, you'll perish.

I read the Scriptures at the American Cathedral on Christmas and Easter; that's it. It's a task I love.

The TV business is soul-crushing, talent-destroying and human being-destroying.

I was just a mini-star when we did 'Gone With the Wind.'

Of course we fight. What sisters don't battle?

I was quite thin, and I didn't have to worry until I had my appendix out and a mysterious metabolic change occurred.

I'm all for typewriters, with instant carbon copies, and seeing films in cinemas.

I wanted to be what my high-school civics and history teacher thought of as a good American. That automatically involved taking an interest in government.

all the French speak French - even the children. Many Americans and Britishers who visit the country never quite adjust to this, and the idea persists that the natives speak the language just to show off or be difficult.

I don't feel the cold. It's my British blood!

I had a very big crush on Errol Flynn during 'Captain Blood.' I thought he was absolutely smashing for three solid years, but he never guessed. Then he had one on me but nothing came of it. I'm not going to regret that; it could have ruined my life.

There certainly is such a thing as screen chemistry, although I don't believe you find it frequently.