Daytona Beach's Shirley Dacenzo reflects on the passing of yet another celebrity in Olivia de Havilland, last of the movie stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, dead at 104

By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. As if the celebrity deaths in the past few days of television's Regis Philman, actor John Saxon and British musician Peter Green weren't overwhelminging enough for Daytona widow Shirley Dacenzo, then came news of Sunday's passing of the last of the movie stars of Hollywood's Golden Age - Olivia De Havilland of Gone with the Wind, deat at 104.

"I am saddened by her death, of course," Dacenzo, 58, told Headline Surfer. "The last true star has left us for her heavenly home. Her charm, grace, excellent manners and wit are nowhere to be found today."

"I am saddened by her death, of course," Dacenzo, 58, told Headline Surfer. "The last true star has left us for her heavenly home. Her charm, grace, excellent manners and wit are nowhere to be found today."

De Havilland first came to prominence when she formed a screen couple with Errol Flynn in adventure films such as Captain Blood in 1935, and again wth Flynn thre years later in the 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood.

But perhaps De Haviland's biggest role was that of that of Melanie Hamilton in the classic film Gone with the Wind from 1939, for which she received her first of five Oscar nominations, the only one for Best Supporting Actress, as described in a Wikipedia bio. 

The bio includes her acting career in television as well in later years, appearing in the successful 1979 ABC miniseries, Roots: The Next Generations, and Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna in 1986, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Movie or Series. 

For her contributions to the motion picture industry, De Havilland received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And De Havilland and her sister remain the only siblings to have won major acting Academy Awards and the only sisters to have won any Academy Awards, according to the Wikipedia bio on her.

Dacenzo said she's saddened by Da Havilland's passing as she was "a priceless treasure of what true acting ability is," but also comforted by the Hollywood starlet's longevity and prosperity in her craft as well as in living in general.

"She seemed to have lived a full life, living to 104 years old, (which) I think is just incredible," Dacenzo said. "She will be missed but not forgotten."

Previous-Related Coverage:

3 celebs have died: Regis Philbin, John Saxon & Peter Green

About The Byline Writer:
Henry Frederick bio / Headline Surfer Henry Frederick is publisher of Headline Surfer, the award-winning 24/7 internet news outlet launched 12 years ago that serves greater Daytona Beach, Sanford & Orlando, Florida via HeadlineSurfer.com. Frederick has amassed more than a hundred journalism industry awards in print & online -- more than than all other members of the working press combined in Central Florida since the mid-1990s. He earned his Master of Arts in New Media Journalism with academic honors from Full Sail University in 2019. Having witnessed the execution of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Florida's death chamber and other high profile cases, Frederick has appeared on national crime documentary programs on Discovery ID and Reelz for his investigative reporting and cops & courts breaking news stories.