Olivia de Havilland Quotes

"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."

[on Hollywood's reaction to her landmark court victory agaist Warners'] "I was told I would never work again, if I lost or won. When I won they were impressed and didn't bear a grudge."

"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."

"The TV business is soul crushing, talent destroying and human being destroying. These men in their black towers don't know what they are doing. It's slave labour. There is no elegance left in anybody. They have no taste. Movies are being financed by conglomerates which take a write off if they don't work. The only people who fight for what the public deserves are artists."

"We were like a stock company at Warners. We didn't know any of the stars from the other studios."

[After winning her second Oscar in 1950] "When I won the first award in 1947, I was terribly thrilled. But this time I felt solemn, very serious and...shocked. Yes, shocked! It's a great responsibility to win the award twice."

"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."

[speaking in 1997] "I have taken a long vacation, but I wouldn't object to a fascinating part in a first rate project, something I felt I could do well or would understand and interpret in an effective way. Then I would say, 'Yes'. The offers still come, but not what I'm looking for."

[on the continuing appeal of Gone with the Wind (1939)] "It will go on forever, and how thrilling that is. It has this universal life, this continuing life. Every nation has experienced war - and defeat and renaissance. So all people can identify with the characters. Not only that. It's terribly well-constructed. Something happens every three minutes and it keeps you on your toes and the edge of your seat, which is quite a feat, I must say."

[speaking in 2004] "There certainly is such a thing as screen chemistry although I don't believe you find it frequently. There was a definite on-screen chemistry between Errol [Flynn] and me. Before us the most potent example was Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell in the '20s and '30s. People should not be surprised by screen chemistry because, after all, life is chemistry."

[speaking in 2003] "I know this is not a popular thing to say at the moment, but I love living among the French. They are very independent, intelligent, well-educated and creative. They are a people full of feeling, which they express. They're a vivacious people. Well, they're Celts, you see."