She was born Joan de Beuvoir de Havilland on October 22, 1917 to English parents in Tokyo, Japan. Her father was a language professor and patent attorney. He met his wife, Lilian in Tokyo; she was a music teacher and amateur actress. Olivia was just over a year old when Joan was born. Joan claimed that she immediately resented the intrusion.
While Joan and Olivia were still toddlers, Lilian realized that Walter was having an affair with the upstairs maid. Though she did not mind losing his attentions, she was concerned about her reputation. In 1919, she sailed for San Francisco with her daughters and eventually settled in Saratoga
One day, while playing in the park, Olivia introduced her mother to a man she admired. He was a widower, named George Fontaine, who had been a department store manager. The two immediately took to each other, though it is likely that their union was more practical than romantic. Fontaine was lonely and Lilian was having money troubles.
In 1924, Lilian left her daughters with Fontaine and sailed to Japan. She had to establish residence there in order to file for divorce from Walter. In her mother's absence, Fontaine began to show an interest in the bodies of his stepdaughters-to-be that made the sisters uneasy.
When Lilian returned to San Francisco in 1925, she now allowed Fontaine to decide how to raise her daughters. He ran the household on a strict schedule. The sisters were constantly busy with chores, posture lessons, speech exercises and anything else that would help them to be practical and productive women.
There was little joy or fun in the Fontaine house. Still, Olivia and Joan did get permission to appear in some school plays. Both developed their passion for acting early on.
One day in 1933, Olivia became angry with Joan and jumped on her, breaking her collarbone. Joan decided that she could no longer live in the Fontaine house. Walter came to San Francisco to discuss the sister's future. He gave Olivia money for school and took Joan back to Tokyo with him.
Joan felt uncomfortable in Walter's house with his new, subservient wife. However, she enjoyed going to school, where she found that she was much worldlier than her fellow students were. She began to date, and for a year she was mostly content. Joan's Tokyo life ended when she rejected her father's incestuous advances. He gave her $50 and put her on a ship back to San Francisco.
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