Born Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland in Tokyo, the family moved to California in the hope of improving the poor health of Joan and older sister Olivia de Havilland. While Olivia pursued a stage career, Joan returned to Tokyo for a while. In 1934 she came back to California, where Olivia was already making a name for herself on the stage. Joan likewise joined a theatre group, adopting the name Joan Burfield so as not to infringe upon Olivia, who was using the family surname. She tested at MGM but did not make much of an impact until 1937, this time calling herself Joan Fontaine, when she landed a role in You Can't Beat Love. In 1940 she got her first Academy Award nomination for Rebecca (1940). Although she thought she should have won, she was now an established member of the Hollywood set. She was again Oscar-nominated for her role in Suspicion (1941) and this time won. Joan was making one film a year but choosing her roles well. In 1942 she starred in the well-received This Above All (1942). The following year she appeared in The Constant Nymph (1943). Once again she was nominated for the Oscar, but lost out to Jennifer Jones in The Song of Bernadette (1943). By now she was more famous than her older sister and more fine films followed, including The Emperor Waltz (1948), September Affair (1950) and Born to Be Bad (1950). In the 1950s, she was in a several weak productions. Absent from the big screen for a while, she took parts in television and theatre. Her last appearance on the big screen was The Witches (1966).