History Creator / JoanFontaine

In 1939 she got a part as one of the divorcees in ''Theatre/TheWomen''. Fontaine got her big break in 1940 when she won the starring role opposite Creator/LaurenceOlivier in Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/{{Rebecca}}''. This vaulted her to the Hollywood A-list. The next year she won the Oscar for another Hitchcock film, ''Film/{{Suspicion}}''. Fontaine's Oscar was the only Academy Award ever given to an actor in an Alfred Hitchcock film; among the competitors she beat was her sister Olivia in ''Film/HoldBackTheDawn''.

* ''Film/{{Rebecca}}'' (1940)

* EnforcedMethodActing: Hitchcock told Joan on the set of ''{{Literature/Rebecca}}'' that everyone hated her, resulting in a natural feeling of isolation between her and the rest of the characters.

* StarMakingRole: ''{{Literature/Rebecca}}'' marked her transition from minor roles to superstardom.

Fontaine starred in a series of mostly costume dramas and romances throughtout the 1940s and 1950s. She preferred working with directors whose work she admired. She insisted on working with Creator/MaxOphuls on ''Film/LetterFromAnUnknownWoman'' (which she considered her best work) and also worked with Creator/FritzLang and Creator/IdaLupino. Her last film was ''The Witches'' in 1966, but she worked on stage and in television for another thirty years before she finally retired. As noted above, Fontaine was the sister of another Oscar-winning actress, Creator/OliviaDeHavilland. The two of them formed the most famous case of SiblingRivalry in movie history (see [[https://jennymcphee.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/joanoliviaoscars3.jpg this famous photo]] of Olivia blowing off Joan after Olivia finally won an Oscar in 1947.) The two sisters had a final falling-out after their mother died in 1975 and did not speak to each other ever again. Joan was survived by Olivia for nearly seven years. However, they remain the only siblings to have won best acting Oscars.

* DawsonCasting: [[invoked]]

* DoingItForTheArt: [[invoked]] When she read the novel that ''{{Film/Suspicion}}'' was based on, she sent Alfred Hitchcock a letter saying she liked the part so much she would play it for free.
* EnforcedMethodActing: [[invoked]] Hitchcock told Joan on the set of ''{{Literature/Rebecca}}'' that everyone hated her, resulting in a natural feeling of isolation between her and the rest of the characters.
* HollywoodHomely: [[invoked]] Filmmakers liked to cast Joan as heroines that were supposed to be plain. This was apparently a view held by Creator/OliviaDeHavilland, who wrote a will when she was nine years old saying "I bequeath all my beauty to my younger sister Joan, because she has none."
* MagnumOpusDissonance: [[invoked]] Her favourite film that she did was the lesser known ''The Constant Nymph''.
* MoneyDearBoy: [[invoked]] She came out of retirement to star in the MadeForTVMovie ''Good King Wenceslas'' because her house needed repairs after an earthquake.
* OldShame: [[invoked]] She frequently joked that the film ''A Damsel In Distress'' set her career back four years.
* StarMakingRole: [[invoked]] ''{{Literature/Rebecca}}'' marked her transition from minor roles to superstardom.
* UrbanLegendOfZelda: [[invoked]] Joan claimed she was up for the role of Melanie in ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'' but turned down for being "too stylish". She also claims she recommended her sister for it, though Olivia de Havilland's autobiography makes no mention of this.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[invoked]]

* WrittenByCastMember: [[invoked]] She bought the rights of ''Film/TheWitches1966'' and brought the project to Film/HammerHorror to make herself. She also plays the lead role of Gwen Mayfield.