On July 29, 2012 a memorial service was held in tribute to and memory of Ann Rutherford.  The service was held near Marietta, GA and organized through the Marietta Gone With the Wind Museum:"Scarlett on the Square," a place Ann visited many times for GWTW events   Ann greeted thousands of fans at those events and worked very hard to protect and continue on the celebration of GWTW.  So, it was appropriate that her fans and the people whom she had built relationships with, over the course of years, came together to honor her in Marietta.  

Many people who loved Ann and worked with Ann to help organize her travel and events, also maintain contact with Olivia de Havilland.  Through these contacts, Olivia sent a small and beautiful tribute to Ann that was read at the service:

Message from Olivia de Havilland:

I have at last been able to put some words together which I hope will be suitable at this morning’s service in Marietta. Here they are:

In spirit I will be with you in Marietta today, joining Ann’s many friends there as they gather together to celebrate her life in a Memorial Service.

What a beautiful tribute this is, and how moving that it is being held in a place which brought her so much happiness, and among people who meant so much to her.

I am sure that, in sprit, she, too, will be there, full of love and gratitude.

My warmest regards,

Olivia de Havilland

It's Olivia de Havilland's 96th birthday!  Happy Birthday, Olivia!  

Olivia's birthday has been an occasion I have personally celebrated since at least 1989 when I marked the event by staying up past my childhood bedtime until 1am to see Entertainment Tonight give acknowledgement of her birthday on television.  Since that time, my traditions of honoring Olivia's birthday have included reorganizing my classic film scrapbooks, seeing "The Adventures of Robin Hood"on the big screen at the Tennessee Theater,  and, a few years ago, hosting an Olivia de Havilland film festival at a local coffee house in Knoxville, TN called the "Time Warp Tea Room."  That particular evening ended with approximately 30 people sitting around this old coffee shop watching "The Heiress"on TCM and cheering as Catharine Sloper ascended the stairs leaving Maurice Townsend screaming outside in the rain!  

My tribute to Olivia this year is a relaunch of this website!  Over the last 2 and a half years, Olivia de Havilland - Lady of the Classic Cinema has served as an internet and social media connection between fans of Olivia!  So, today, I celebrate Olivia with a new website dedicated to Olivia's career and her life, today!  

Happy 96th birthday, Olivia!