Gift from Fontaine's Daughter Will Fund Refurbishments Of

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PATRICKTEHAN /]VERCURY NEWS PHOTOGRAPHS KathleenFilice of Saratogagoes for a hikeFriday at the top of.thePoet's.W?!1i,yuy at Villa Montalvo in Saratoga.The nearbyLilian FontaineGarden Theatre, named for actressLilian Fontaine, dates back to 1912.' o ' n$rrgbackhistory Gift from Fontaine's daughterwill fund refurbishmentsof garoens,l. slgnage ,, . ByRichard Scheinin .i,: [email protected] ' The Montalvo Arts Center's famousoutdoor theater dates to 1912,a showcasefor thespiansof as well as for Al Greenand #sr:ar*rc,innireg Ma.Even its nameconveys : The Lilian FontaineCar- ii{:tr*sti"Fc}inn ,{hbatre,as it's been known F*ntaine, a}*ng l.l'it&a ,e;'1978,is namedfor the late and Saratoga doyenne, JoanFontaine, daughter of LilianFontaine, for whom The Lilian h*r sist*n{}lir'fur qtr*: asheswere spread on the FontaineGarden Theatre is named, is funding refurbishments of mdssurrounding the theater. the entrancesto the theaterand the Poet'sWalkwav. tr$;rs illa:"!qt- SI"c\\.rip [f youever wonder about me." in S;ln,ut*gm*tnetr first fu daidto havetold a friend ory at Montalvo. She is funding commitmentby Miss Fontaineto- her death in 1975,"come the refurbishment of the sardens ward re-engagingwith this institu- ac{*c}in the }$ij*s is'garden.and I'll be here ... around the theater and im-proving tion. I'm very touchedby this. It's at l.iiila &{q:y$ai\'{r around." the weather-worn signagebearing bringingback some of the impor- ian'sdaughter, Oscar- Lilian's name. tant historythat makesMontalvo m]]elc!'th*: dir*:*tiom actressJoan Fontaine - "It's a five-figure gift," said special." old and living in Carmel Angela McConnell, Montalvo's *$ ieernamther, Lilian rrins her mother'smem- executive director, "a signiflcant ^9eeFONTAINE, Page 5 }.km*eine. Fontaine

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Joan Fontaine, whose older sister is the equallyleg- endary Holllvood actress OI- ivia de Havilland, asked Mon- talvo not to disclosethe exact sum. She declined to be in- teiviewed, as she "wants this to be about her mother, not about her," said Susan Pfei- ffer, an assistant to Fontaine, in an e-mail. "Joan wanted to preserve her mother's love for theater by helping to maintain this wonderful -DIace." Born in England in 1886, Lilian Ruse lived for a time in Tokyo with her first husband, British patent attorney Wal- .ter de Haviiland, and their two daughters. (She later married GeorgeF ontaine.) In 1923,the family settled in Saratoga, where Lilian joined the social circle of James D. Phelan, a former U.S. senator who in 1912had established the l75-estate, PATRICKTEHAN / IVERCURYNE known for most of its history DanManou of SanJose walks Friday on the Poet's as Villa Montalvo. Walkwayat Saratoga'sVilla Montalvo. As part of the Lilian Fontaine had her improvementsat thetheater, Montalvo's garden curator own career in film, alongside wantsto givethe landscaping a Shakespearean feel. the likes of Laraine Dav, Jane W;'rnan and daughter Joan, and she was Montalvo's flrst artistic director, fuom 1942 to 1962.She coached drama students in Saratosa and showcasedtheir efforts in the sarden theater. "And she's credited with having lorought Shakespeareanplays to Mon- talvo," said McConnell."And that is absolutely a dream fbr us. to have Shakespeare- in our theater again." The e'ift.o'; lrom Joan Fon- taine -- who jumped from Los Gatos High to Holiyrvood, starring in Alfred Hitchcock's ILqi,vrvsHev andscanedzreas 2s wellas sipnasehearins Fontaine s "Rebecia" and "Suspicion," name.will be included in the theater's restoration, for which she won an Oscar - will be used to reframe the planted with "really bold ar- And the Montalvo director landscapearound the theater, chitectural piants from the already is imagining a second which was renovated in 1987. Canary Islands," he said, phase to the refurbishment: Olivia de Havilland attended "kind of like a yucca, but "I'm sending a proposalto the dedication ceremony. softer and with flowers." He Olivia de Havilland, who lives Delmar McComb, Mon- alsoenvisions a trellisedrose- in Paris" - and hasbeen fa- taivo's garden curator, said strewn pathway leading into mouslyestranged from sister he would like to planLa six- the theater from the south. Joan for years. "I'11ask for to eight-foot hedge behind and alonq the sides of the theater. This will "frame "Ifyou everwonderabout me," Lilian the amphitheater and unify Fontaineis saidto havetold a friend it," he said, "creating more intimacy and a little more beforeher de'ath,"r:{;r-ne to this garden, seDaration" from lhe surrounding landscape. and I'11trehere ... some\\rherearound." The effect would be "al- most like that of a Shake- "t thinkil t';rnbe an expe- her suppott for something speareantheater, with arches riencr.:in and of itself, just to that was so beloved by her cirt into the hedserow. ... Aurd go inro that theater,"he said. family. It would be incredibiy these arches would direct "That's the intention. Let's rewarding to play a part," your eye out into the wood- make it fun and beautiful and McConnell said, in having the lands behind the theater" restful." sisters "share some kind of as well as into surrounding McConnell hopes ,Ioan joy at this connection." lawns, garden areas and Fontaine will visit Montalvo pathways. early in the fall as the project ContactRichard Scheininat Some of those would be beeins. 408-920-s069.