Olivia de Havilland, sophisticated star of Hollywood's golden age, dies at 104

Wow. Imagine for a moment being a famous person of a certain age and making that list. As if strangers on the internet are betting on, almost plotting your demise.

Andrew_nenakhov4• 6 years ago

Kirk Douglas was absolutely beating their expectations, finally dying this year only on his 18th appearance.

turndown• 6 years ago

I think the list is interesting in a cultural sense, but I agree that the way it works is disturbing to say the least. Consider the discussion post for Phillip Mountbatten[0] for the kind of enlightened discussion the site hosts...

0: https://forums.deathlist.net/topic/8107-1-prince-philip-duke...

bryanrasmussen• 6 years ago

Depending on your personality, and who else is on the list it might help you soldier on.

rpiguy• 6 years ago

Stumps me that William Shatner isn’t on the list. He’s been overweight for 40+ years and is 89!

andruby• 6 years ago

He's 89!?

Well, he does look good for his age.

echelon• 6 years ago

What a macabre and insensitive website. They're cheering for these deaths as they happen. This perspective is primitive and aberrant.

Death is a disease, and it's unfortunate we have to face it due to our technological infancy. We don't celebrate the affliction of Parkinson's; we shouldn't celebrate losing the aged to their disease.

Shacklz• 6 years ago

While I don't really disagree with your first part (the website really seems to be a bit in poor taste), categorizing death as a disease seems a rather strange thought. I really do hope we never have to discuss the ethical and moral (let alone societal) implications of people being able to live forever; life's finiteness might not be something we should celebrate, but it does have its benefits.

Andrew_nenakhov4• 6 years ago

Death is the price our species pay for evolution. It also brings change, which sometimes allows the situation to improve. If humans didn't die, dictators like Stalin or Mao would rule indefinitely long. Hell, humanity could still be enslaved to some powerful Pharaoh, who would see little incentive to change things, being immortal living god, and his power would not erode on an inevitable succession.

aazaa• 6 years ago

Wikipedia maintains a list of films now in the public domain. de Havilland's films are of the right age to be on the list, but don't appear to be. Most of the films on the list got there from failure to renew the copyright, a requirement which has since disappeared.

Prior to 1988, all motion picture films published after 1909 with a copyright notice where the 28th year of copyright would occur before 1988, had to be registered and before the 28th year, the registration had to be renewed, or the copyright for the film would expire and it would enter the public domain. This would apply to all films registered for copyright prior to 1960. Copyright renewals became optional in 1988.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_in_the_public_do...

WarOnPrivacy• 6 years ago

Wildgoose• 6 years ago

As a Go player, my favourite anecdote about Olivia de Havilland is that her father became so addicted to the game in Japan that his wife divorced him. He married a Japanese woman and went on to write the first Go book written in English.

dwohnitmok• 6 years ago

Wikipedia and other sources seem to paint a darker tale.

Lilian and Walter met in Japan in 1913 and married the following year; the marriage was not a happy one due in part to Walter's infidelities.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivia_de_Havilland#Early_life.

And apparently in his wife's own words

spoke like God, but behaved like the Devil

from https://books.google.com/books?id=nmjetV92THsC&pg=PP1#v=onep...

It doesn't seem like Go was the reason for the divorce.

nomad543• 6 years ago

He was probably the first weaboo ever.

DoreenMichele• 6 years ago

I had no idea she had a legal thing named after her. Of course, it was well before I was born. But, still.

The article mentions in passing Hattie McDaniel, one of her co-stars in Gone With the Wind:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattie_McDaniel

0823498723498722• 6 years ago

It also mentions Every Frenchman Has One, which was a "best-seller". What are recent US best-sellers explicating other cultures? Educated? The City of Falling Angels?

(I'm not sure either of those portray the other in a sympathetic light. Considering that de Havilland immigrated to france, I'd bet hers did.)

Leap of Faith?

jackcosgrove• 6 years ago

The Adventures of Robin Hood is incredibly entertaining to this day. Claude Rains is an excellent villain, and the action is fast-paced. RIP Golden Age of Hollywood, RIP Ms. de Havilland.

kanobo• 6 years ago

It'll be a nice tradition if everybody who turns 100 publish a short letter for the next generation documenting lessons they've learned and advice they would give. RIP Havilland.

0823498723498722• 6 years ago

I haven't read it yet, but The View from 80 may be interesting.

https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0917/091702.html

emmelaich• 6 years ago

A woman of principle, successfully navigating her way between the communists and the anti-communists in Hollywood

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-olivia-de-havilland-bucked...

Olivia de Havilland, sophisticated star of Hollywood's golden age, dies at 104

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