Rest in Peace x2

We lost two great stars this past weekend.

Peter O'Toole died December 14 at the age of 81. He achieved stardom playing the title role in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and holds the record for the most Academy Award acting nominations (eight!) without a win. He was the recipient of an Honorary Academy Award in 2003.

Peter O'Toole in How to Steal a Million (1966)

On December 15, Joan Fontaine died at the age of 96. She was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar in 1941 for Rebecca, and won the following year for her role in Suspicion, making her the only actor to receive an Academy Award for a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Joan Fontaine in 1942, photographed by Bob Landry.

Joan Fontaine was the younger sister (by one year) of Olivia de Havilland. The two had a lifelong feud, and supposedly hadn't spoken to each other since the 1970s.

Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland take a break from their lifelong feud to play a card game in 1945.

In 1978, Joan said in an interview, "I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia did, and if I die first, she'll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it!"

Olivia issued a statement the day after Joan's death saying that she was "shocked and saddened" by the news of her sister's passing.

TCM will be showing seven of Joan Fontaine's films and three of Peter O'Toole's films on December 29.

Links:
TCM Remembers Joan Fontaine
TCM Remembers Peter O'Toole