Vivien Leigh
Vivian Mary Hartley arrived in the world on the 5th of November 1913 within the British Indian hill station of Darjeeling. Her father Ernest Richard Hartley served as a broker while her mother Gertrude Mary Frances Yackjee maintained Catholic devotion. The family moved to Bangalore when Vivian was three years old and she made her first stage appearance reciting Little Bo Peep for an amateur theatre group. At age six she attended Loreto Convent before being sent to the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Roehampton Middlesex. One school friend named Maureen O'Sullivan later became an actress and Vivian expressed her desire to become one herself. Her parents removed her from that school and they traveled across Europe for four years attending institutions in Dinard Biarritz San Remo and Paris. She returned to Britain in 1931 after becoming fluent in both French and Italian languages.
Hollywood searched widely for an actress to portray Scarlett O'Hara in David O Selznick's production of Gone with the Wind released in 1939. Myron Selznick represented Leigh and introduced her to his brother who initially thought she too British for the role. A legendary encounter occurred at the burning Atlanta Depot set where Myron introduced them saying Hey genius meet your Scarlett O'Hara. George Cukor directed screen tests and praised her wildness before securing the part. Filming proved difficult as she quarreled frequently with Victor Fleming who replaced Cukor. She worked seven days a week often late into the night while missing Laurence Olivier who was working in New York City. On telephone calls she declared I hate film acting and never want to do another film again. The film won ten Academy Awards including Best Actress for Leigh alongside a New York Film Critics Circle Award.
Leigh married Laurence Olivier on the 31st of August 1940 at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara California. Their relationship began during filming of Fire Over England in 1937 while both were still married to other people. They mounted a stage production of Romeo and Juliet for Broadway which became a financial disaster costing them almost all their combined savings of forty thousand dollars. Critics like Brooks Atkinson wrote that they hardly acted their parts despite being handsome young people. In January 1941 they returned to Britain and toured North Africa in 1943 as part of a revue for armed forces. During this tour she fell ill with persistent coughs and fevers leading to a tuberculosis diagnosis in 1944. A miscarriage followed by deep depression marked her first major bipolar disorder breakdown where she fell to the floor sobbing hysterically. Her husband later recognized symptoms of impending episodes involving days of hyperactivity followed by explosive breakdowns.
Leigh played Blanche DuBois in the West End production of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire opening in October 1949. J B Priestley denounced the play while Kenneth Tynan commented British actors were too well bred to emote effectively on stage. The run lasted 326 performances before she reprised the role in film version directed by Elia Kazan. She won glowing reviews including a second Academy Award for Best Actress alongside a Volpi Cup from Venice Film Festival. Williams stated she brought everything he intended plus much more than he had dreamed of. However Leigh told the Los Angeles Times I had nine months in the theatre of Blanche DuBois and now she is in command of me. Playing the character tipped her over into madness according to her own later reflections. Olivier accompanied her to Hollywood where he co-starred with Jennifer Jones in William Wyler's Carrie released in 1952.
In January 1953 Leigh traveled to Ceylon to film Elephant Walk with Peter Finch but suffered a nervous breakdown shortly after filming commenced. Paramount Pictures replaced her with Elizabeth Taylor and Olivier returned her to their home in Britain. During periods of incoherence she claimed to be in love with Finch and having an affair with him. David Niven described her as quite mad while Noël Coward noted things had been bad since 1948. In 1956 she withdrew from the Noël Coward play South Sea Bubble when pregnant then miscarried entering months of depression. Her former husband Leigh Holman stayed with them helping calm her during these episodes. By 1959 critics like The Times described her as beautiful delectably cool and matter of fact mastering every situation despite underlying struggles. She achieved success with Look After Lulu! before beginning a relationship with John Merivale who knew of her medical condition.
Leigh won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Tovarich in 1963 and appeared in films including Ship of Fools released in 1965. Producer Stanley Kramer planned to star her unaware of her fragile mental state until later. She displayed courage taking on difficult roles though paranoia resulted in outbursts marred by relationships with other actors. In one instance during an attempted rape scene she hit Lee Marvin so hard with a spiked shoe it marked his face. On the 7th of July 1967 she was rehearsing A Delicate Balance when tuberculosis resurfaced after several weeks of rest. About 30 minutes past midnight on the 8th of July her partner found her body on the floor having collapsed while walking to the bathroom. Her lungs filled with fluid causing suffocation. Lights of every theatre in central London were extinguished for an hour following public announcement of her death at age fifty-three.
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Common questions
When and where was Vivien Leigh born?
Vivian Mary Hartley arrived in the world on the 5th of November 1913 within the British Indian hill station of Darjeeling.
What role did Vivien Leigh play in Gone with the Wind?
Hollywood searched widely for an actress to portray Scarlett O'Hara in David O Selznick's production of Gone with the Wind released in 1939. The film won ten Academy Awards including Best Actress for Leigh alongside a New York Film Critics Circle Award.
Who did Vivien Leigh marry and when did they wed?
Leigh married Laurence Olivier on the 31st of August 1940 at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara California. Their relationship began during filming of Fire Over England in 1937 while both were still married to other people.
Which character did Vivien Leigh play in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Leigh played Blanche DuBois in the West End production of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire opening in October 1949. She won glowing reviews including a second Academy Award for Best Actress alongside a Volpi Cup from Venice Film Festival.
How did Vivien Leigh die and what was her age at death?
On the 8th of July 1967 her partner found her body on the floor having collapsed while walking to the bathroom after tuberculosis resurfaced. Her lungs filled with fluid causing suffocation and she died at age fifty-three.