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Joan Fontaine: Joan Burfield
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Joan Fontaine was a movie star of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. She is the younger sister of Olivia de Havilland. Their mother had wanted to be an actress, but instead instilled that desire in her daughters. De Havilland became an actress first, and when Fontaine broke into film their mother reportedly demanded that she go by some other name than de Havilland. Fontaine first called herself Joan Burfield, before settling on her stepfather's name, Fontaine, as her stage name. The two sisters never appeared together in the same film.
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Born Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland, Joan Fontaine 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 1935 feature film debut in No More Ladies, in which she had a minor role. The daughter of '40s...Read More
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Olivia decided to take up acting, and Joan decided to move back to Tokyo and attend the American School. She returned to California in 1934 and began to try out acting but without much success. Joan decided to head for Los Angeles to see whether she could secure any acting work there. Since Olivia was doing quite well with her acting career, Joan decided not to use the same surname, and changed her name to Joan Burfield.
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Joan Burfield