Joan Fontaine was born Joan deBeauvoir de Havilland in Tokyo, Japan on October 22, 1917. Joan began her acting career in her late teens with various west coast stage companies under the name Joan Burfield. She ... used that name when she made her feature film debut in No More Ladies, 1935 in which she had a minor role. In 1937, she appeared on the screen as Joan Fontaine, however, primarily in B movies. Two exceptions were A Damsel in Distress, 1937 opposite Fred Astaire and Gunga Din, 1939 opposite Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.