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Joan Fontaine Part II

© K Cruver

By the early fifties, Joan had become as interested in the jet-set lifestyle as she was in acting. She saw that her leading lady days were numbered, but she knew that there was more to life than being a movie star. Among her many other interests were cooking, fox hunting, golf, flying, and even balloon racing (her team won a race in Holland). In addition, she spent a great deal of time absorbed in the European social scene.

Thus, it was no surprise in 1951 when Joan and Dozier decided to go their separate ways. In the coming years the two would constantly battle over custody rights to Debbie. Joan wanted her daughter to travel with her to the sets of her European films. However, she wasn't as interested in being maternal where her social life was concerned. In the end Joan entirely gave up battling Dozier for Debbie. She withdrew from her daughter's life. She wouldn't respond when Debbie tried to contact her as a teenager.

Before the rift between mother and daughter, there was a time that Debbie actually had a sister. In 1952, while Joan was on location in Peru, she met a young Peruvian girl named Martita. She was saddened by the poverty the little girl had to endure and convinced her parents to let her take their daughter to the states for a better life. They agreed, and Joan promised to bring Martita back for a visit. Though she was concerned for the little girl, Joan also wanted another child and a playmate for Debbie.

That same year, Joan married producer Collier Young. Foremost in her mind was the fact that Young got along well with her daughters and would entertain them. Though the family did pass a few peaceful years together, Joan's constant trips to Europe and their growing incompatibility eventually doomed the marriage.

Martita had trouble adjusting to American life, and a trip to visit her parents confused her even more. Eventually, she realized she would not get the support she needed from Joan and she ran away to Maine. There she was adopted by a couple and refused to see Joan again.

Throughout these turbulent times, Joan continued to act. Now, instead of being the shy ingénue of her early movies, she played throaty voiced, worldly women. Some interesting roles in which she explored her new persona included The Bigamist (1953), Casanova's Big Night (1954), and Island in the Sun (1957). Though the movie was not a success, her role as Baby Warren in Tender is the Night (1962) was a prime example of the new Joan Fontaine persona: tough, smart, sometimes bitchy, but always entertaining.

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