7

Almost half a century of letters to younger fellow actor

Olivia de Havilland

Large archive of over 180 letters, postcards, and greeting cards,

each Signed, "Olivia," "Olivia de H," "Cornelia," "Mother," "Mum," "Mrs. Henry Fonda," or in full, to actor William Hall Swan ("Dear Bill," "Dear Son," "Dear Boy," or "Dear Malcolm"), including over 50 ALsS and 80 TLsS (Swan played Malcolm, the son of De Havilland's Cornelia, in the 1964 thriller, Lady in a Cage). The archive, documenting the 47-year friendship between the two thespians, recounting personal and professional experiences including receiving the French Medal of Honor, describing personal family challenges, and giving insider details concerning her ongoing film projects, public appearances, and more. Together over 230 pages, 4to or smaller, most on 4to personal stationery; generally good condition. Most with the original envelope.

Vp, 1965-2012.

  • Notes: 25 October 1965: "Dear Son—Barnaby Conrad indeed must be reeling—In fact, I've heard not a word from him. He may even be in a hospital, for I not only addressed him as Dear Malcolm, as you supposed, but went on to reproach him for going off with Peggy and Paul while his mother was trapped in her cast. . . . He's in charge (or was until this happened) of the San Francisco Film Festival. . . ."
    22 January 1968: ". . . Did you know that your mother won ‘Films and Filming's award for the Best Female Performance of 1967 (in Britain) as your mother? Isn't it grand? . . . I don't know if you have ever seen the magazine, but it is very intellectual and classy, and we have nothing like it in America. I . . . can't wait to frame the certificate and put it up among my trophies . . . ."
    18 March 1969: ". . . Like you, I was fascinated by the achievements of our astronauts, and have cut from the papers those astonishing photos of our blue and white sphere, hung against a black velvet backdrop of infinity; and I am really moved to see how much more beautiful our world is, seen from afar . . . . What are we going to do to keep it like that? . . ."
    22 July 1976: ". . . I received a call from United Artists in New York asking if I could come over on June 25th & attend a showing of ‘the Adventures of Robin Hood,' which was to serve as the ‘Premiere' of a summer-long Festival of Warner Films (UA has bought these) made during the ‘30s & ‘40s. They wished me to speak about Errol Flynn for about 15 minutes (for a generous fee) and to stay over for ‘Today,' ‘CBS News,' & interviews with the N.Y. Times, Post, Sunday Daily News, Village Voice & Time Magazine. I did all of this . . . ."
    2 February 1981: ". . . About those letters: The Errol Flynn one, written in his own hand from Rome, is quite wonderful—style & form & candor, wit, humor . . . all combine. This is a precious relic, & must not be lost. The right person should help her assemble these documents—and then she should either auction them or present them to the Margaret Herrick Library . . . ."
    1 August 1986: ". . . [A] script arrived for a TV film which will go into production very soon in Vienna. It is ANASTASIA, a tale already familiar through Ingrid Bergman's marvelous movie, but told quite differently and, perhaps, more accurately. Because I so much admired Helen Hayes' performance as the Dowager Empress, I was certain I would say no to playing the role in this version, but when I had finished reading the script I saw that the Empress' relationship to the story was quite different and so I decided to accept. . . ."
    4 February 1987: ". . . It was a rewarding sojourn . . . , with the great surprise of learning that Her Imperial Highness had won a Golden Globe! . . ."
    23 March 1992: ". . . I have run into serious trouble with the Ted Turner outfit which owns, as you know, not only ‘Gone with the Wind' but also all the films I made at Warner Brothers. Turner also bought from MGM the licensing rights to the characters from the film ‘Gone with the Wind,' which means they can . . . license the manufacture of plates, dolls, figurines, and other items representing Melanie. They have quite blatantly broken their financial obligations. . . ."
    30 January 2012: ". . . First, there is your jubilant letter . . . expressing your joy over my having received the Légion d'Honneur . . . . You will be even more pleased to learn that the puzzling and disappointing report that the presentation took place in Washington D.C. was totally false. The ceremony was held at the Elysée Palace in Paris, France, and the medal was pinned upon my gown by none other than the President of France himself, Nicolas Sarkozy! . . ."

    With--Olivia de Havilland. ALS, to actress Margaret Hamilton, sending a copy of Spike Milligan's book, Badjelly the Witch (1975) [not present]. 1 page, 4to. [Paris], 1 September 1973 * Olivia de Havilland. John F. Kennedy; Robert Frost; Elizabeth Partridge. John F. Kennedy: The Inaugural Address. Signed and Inscribed: "For Bill, / who will draw from / this little book reassurance / and hope. / With much, much affection / from / Olivia," on the front free endpaper. 12mo, publisher's cloth. (New York): Viking, (2010); inscription: Paris, January 2012 * Group of 4 items relating to De Havilland, unsigned: a plaque celebrating her role in Gone with the Wind; and Two black-and-white photographs showing her; a later reprint of her book, Every Frenchman has One.

    William Hall Swan (1928-2019) was a stage, film and television actor, performing hundreds of leading and minor roles between 1952 and 2009, including appearances in the films Lady in the Cage (1964) and The Parallax View (1974).
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November 6, 2025 12:00 PM EST
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