Olivia, 101, sues over Zeta’s TV portrayal of her as a ‘vulgar gossip monger’

SHE’S one of the last survivors of the Golden Age of Hollywood. But at the age of 101, Olivia de Havilland still hasn’t lost her thirst for a fight. The legendary actress is suing the producers of a TV drama which she says unfairly portrayed her as a foulmouthed gossip. In what could prove a landmark case, the Gone With The Wind star is taking legal action against the FX network and producer Ryan Murphy over her characterisation by Catherine Zeta-Jones, pictured in the role, in the drama series Feud: Bette and Joan.

Although the show, which is currently being shown on RTÉ One on Thursday nights, focuses principally on the toxic rivalry of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, the character of Olivia provides commentary in the drama. She is suing on the grounds that FX and Murphy never sought her permission to use her ‘name and identity’ in the series.

The California Court of Appeals will rule later this month on whether Olivia can proceed with her lawsuit.

Critics fear it could create a dangerous precedent, stopping film and TV producers from depicting living people without their consent.

Olivia has won two Best Actress Oscars and her feud with her own sister, Joan Fontaine, provided one of Hollywood’s fiercest ever sibling rivalries. She now lives in Paris.

The actress said she’d been interested in how Feud would portray Davis, a friend, but was surprised when friends got in touch to say she was in the series, too. ‘When I learned the Olivia de Havilland character called my sister “a bitch” and gossiped about Bette Davis and Joan Crawford’s personal and private relationship, I was deeply offended,’ she told The New York Times. She claims Feud falsely paints her as a hypocrite ‘with a public image of being a lady’ and a private one as a vulgar scandal-monger.

The portrayal damages her hardearned reputation for ‘honesty, integrity and good manners’, she says.

She particularly takes issue with an Oscar night interview in Feud in which her character says Hollywood has loved the Davis-Crawford catfight. Olivia says she never gave any such interview.

Her lawyers say she should, at least, have been consulted about the drama series in advance.

Feud’s producers note in court papers that Olivia dubbed her sister ‘Dragon Lady’, but they considered ‘bitch’ would be ‘better understood by a modern audience’.

Murphy insists he portrayed Olivia positively – ‘as a wise, respectful friend and counsellor to Bette Davis and a Hollywood icon’.