2. Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier (5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967) was
a British stage and film actress. Vivien Leigh is best
remembered for her Academy Award-winning roles as the
American southern belles Scarlett O'Hara and Blanche
DuBois.
Born Vivian Mary Hartley in the campus of St. Paul's School,
Darjeeling in the then Bengal Presidency of British India,
she was the only child of Ernest Hartley, an English officer
in the Indian Cavalry, and his wife, Gertrude Mary Frances
(née Yackjee; 1888–1972), a devout Roman Catholic,
believed to be of Irish and Armenian descent. Ernest and
Gertrude Hartley were married in 1912 in Kensington,
London.
In 1917, Ernest Hartley was transferred to Bangalore,
while Gertrude and Vivian stayed in Ootacamund. Young
Vivian made her first stage appearance at the age of
three, reciting "Little Bo Peep" for her mother's amateur
theatre group. Gertrude Hartley tried to instill in her
daughter an appreciation of literature and introduced her
to the works of Hans Christian Andersen, Lewis Carroll and
Rudyard Kipling, as well as stories of Greek mythology and
Indian folklore. At the age of six, Vivian Hartley was sent
to the Convent of the Sacred Heart (now Woldingham
School) in Roehampton, south-west London, fromLoreto
Convent, Darjeeling, by her mother. One of her friends there
3.
4.
5. Vivien was proficient
in the cello and
piano, and took an
interest in studying
ballet. She also
loved languages and
Egyptian history. In
January 1932 Vivien
met Leigh Holman and
they married in
December of that
year. A year later
she gave birth to
their daughter
6.
7. The first film Vivien
had a small part in
was "Things Are
Looking Up" (1934), but
her one line was cut.
During the same year
she saw Laurence
Olivier in a play and
was so star struck
that she was
convinced one day they
would marry.
A year later she got
the leading role in her
first big play "The
8. Meeting Laurence Oliv
Laurence Olivier saw
Leigh in The Mask of
Virtue, and a friendship
developed after he
congratulated her on her
performance. Olivier and
Leigh began an affair
while acting as lovers
in Fire Over England
(1937), but Olivier was
still married to
9. Olivier had been
attempting to broaden
his film career. He was
not well known in the
United States despite
his success in
Britain, and earlier
attempts to introduce
him to American
audiences had failed.
Offered the role
of Heathcliff in Samue
l Goldwyn's production
of Wuthering
Heights (1939), he
10. Around this time
Vivien read
Margaret
Mitchell's timeless
novel "Gone With
the Wind". She
became
determined to
land the role of
Scarlett in the
much talked about
film. That same
year Vivien did a
screen test for
"Gone With the
12. Gone with the
Wind brought Leigh
immediate attention
and fame; but she
was quoted as
saying, "I'm not a
film star – I'm an
actress. Being a film
star – just a film
star – is such a
false life, lived for
fake values and for
publicity. Actresses
go on for a long time
and there are
20. In February 1940, Jill
Esmond agreed to divorce
Olivier, and Leigh Holman
agreed to divorce Leigh,
although they maintained
a strong friendship for
the rest of Leigh's life.
Esmond was granted
custody of Tarquin, her
son with Olivier. Holman
was granted custody of
Suzanne, his daughter
with Leigh. On 31 August
1940, Olivier and Leigh
were married at the San
Ysidro Ranch in Santa
Barbara, California, in a
ceremony attended only
by their
witnesses, Katharine
21.
22. In 1937, after acting in "Hamlet"
with Olivier, she left her
husband and moved to Chelsea
with the new love of her life.
Vivien's daughter went to live
with her grandmother.
She was also offered the lead
in the film "Waterloo Bridge".
Leigh Holman filed for divorce
in 1940, the same year that
Vivien won Best Actress at the
Academy Awards for her
phenomenal portrayal of
heroine Scarlett O'Hara. "That
23.
24.
25. During the war Vivien
filmed "Caesar &
Cleopatra" (1944).
While shooting Vivien
suffered a
miscarriage after a
fall. Around this time
she began
experiencing moodswings and severe
health problems, a
result of manicdepression and
tuberculosis, which
damaged her
marriage to Olivier.
26.
27. The year 1947
saw Vivien
playing Anna
Karenina in the
film. While
shooting she
suffered bouts of
depression. Most
likely while in
one of these
depressions she
told Olivier she
no longer loved
30. In 1960, she and Olivier divorced
and Olivier soon married
actress Joan Plowright. In his
autobiography, Olivier
discussed the years of
problems they had experienced
because of Leigh's illness:
"Throughout her possession by
that uncannily evil monster,
manic depression, with its
deadly ever-tightening spirals,
she retained her own individual
canniness – an ability to
disguise her true mental
condition from almost all
except me, for whom she could
31. In May 1967, she was rehearsing to
appear with Michael
Redgrave in Edward Albee's A
Delicate Balance when she suffered
a recurrence of
tuberculosis.[47]Following several
weeks of rest, she seemed to
recover. On the night of 7 July
1967, Merivale left her as usual, to
perform in a play, and returned
home around midnight to find her
asleep. About thirty minutes
later, he returned to the bedroom
and discovered her body on the
floor. She had been attempting to
walk to the bathroom and, as her
lungs filled with liquid, collapsed.
She was cremated at the Golders
32. Legacy
Leigh was considered
one of the most
beautiful actresses
of her day, and her
directors emphasised
this in most of her
films. When asked if
she believed her
beauty had been an
impediment to being
taken seriously as
an actress, she
said, "People think
that if you look
33. Some interesting Facts
1. When she began working with a talent agent at the beginning of her
career, her married name was Vivian Holman. Her agent wanted her to
change her name to ―april morn.‖ She inStead choSe vivien (changed
spelling) Leigh, after her husband Herbert Leigh Holman.
2. Vivien and her ex-husband Leigh Holman remained close throughout her
life.
3. Vivien Leigh was quoted as saying that she never forgave the first
critic who gave her a favorable review and called her a ―great
actreSS‖ becauSe it put what She deScribed aS ―Such an onuS and Such a
reSponSibility onto me, which i Simply waSn’t able to carry.‖
4. She ultimately won the role of Scarlett over Paulette Goddard, Jean
Arthur, Joan Bennett, who had been narrowed down for the part.
5. both Scarlett o’hara’S and vivien leigh’S parentS were french and iriSh.
6. in the famouS ―i’ll never be hungry again‖ Scene in Gone With the Wind—
the part where Scarlett snarfs down a radish, then vomits—the vomiting
noises had to be recorded by Olivia de Havilland. Whether this was
because Vivien Leigh could not produce a realistic enough retching sound
or refuSed to do it becauSe it waSn’t ladylike remainS a point of diSpute.
7. Vivien Leigh was paid between $25,000 and $30,000 for her role of
Scarlett. (Clark Gable was paid $120,000 for his role as Rhett Butler.)
8. Vivien Leigh was 25 when she filmed Gone With the Wind. The actress who
