Olivia De Havilland

“I loved France, although I initially thought they were stubborn for always speaking French.”

“What bothered me was playing one-dimensional parts in films which were really about, 'Boy Meets Girl,' 'Will Boy Get Girl?'”

“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.”

“If I watch 'Gone With the Wind,' I always find it interesting. I think, 'What's going to happen next? What's that character going to do?' But you know, you never really need to watch the films you made again. They stay inside you, always with you.”

“I felt 'Gone with the Wind' would last five years, and it's lasted over 70 and into a new millennium. There is a special place in my heart for that film and Melanie. She was a remarkable character - a loving person - and because of that, she was a happy person. And Scarlett, of course, was not.”

“I'm all for typewriters, with instant carbon copies, and seeing films in cinemas.”

“I am attracted by almost any French word - written or spoken. Before I knew its meaning, I thought 'saucisson' so exquisite that it seemed the perfect name to give a child - until I learned it meant 'sausage!'”

“When I was five, I discovered a secret box that contained Mummy's stage makeup. It was like finding buried treasure. I tried the rouge, the eye shadow, the lipstick. But I couldn't get the rouge off. Mummy spanked me terribly.”

“I have the idea that anyone who has ever heard my name has the distinct impression that I was put under the sod years ago just before they buried Lillian Russell.”

“I don't need a fantasy life as once I did. That is the life of the imagination that I had a great need for. Films were the perfect means for satisfying that need.”

“I was quite thin, and I didn't have to worry until I had my appendix out and a mysterious metabolic change occurred.”

“I wanted to be what my high-school civics and history teacher thought of as a good American. That automatically involved taking an interest in government.”

“The TV business is soul crushing, talent destroying and human being destroying.”

“There are no words to describe my feelings for Errol Flynn.”

“How many women in this world are served breakfast in bed every morning by a gorgeous young man? I am. So how do I feel about older age? Crazy about it! Wouldn't trade it for anything!”

“By 1951, television had already made such inroads on the income garnered by motion picture companies that the Golden Era which had prevailed until then was beginning to disintegrate. And by 1953, it had come to an end. Hollywood was a dismal, tragic place.”

“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.”

“There certainly is such a thing as screen chemistry, although I don't believe you find it frequently.”

“I have, indeed, lived most of my life overseas, but I've returned repeatedly to work in film, special television productions, and the New York theater. There have also been tributes and similar occasions that have called me back to Hollywood. I've returned so often, I almost feel that I've never left.”

“I would prefer to live forever in perfect health, but if I must at some time leave this life, I would like to do so ensconced on a chaise longue, perfumed, wearing a velvet robe and pearl earrings, with a flute of champagne beside me and having just discovered the answer to the last problem in a British cryptic crossword.”