She finished the decade with perhaps her best-remembered role: Melanie Wilkes in the classic Gone with the Wind, often ranked as one of the best Hollywood films of all time and, adjusted for inflation, still the highest-grossing film ever made.

As the kindhearted best friend and confidant to Vivien Leigh’s Scarlett O’Hara, de Havilland provided the heart of the film, giving a classic performance that earned her her first Oscar nomination.

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But her other biggest contribution to Hollywood came off screen: in 1943, she sued Warner Bros. over the terms of her exclusive contract, wanting the freedom to pursue roles with other studios.