Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier (5 November 1913 – 7 July 1967) was an
EnglishThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity as a people is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn....
actress. She won two
Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
Academy Awards for playing "
southern belleA southern belle is an archetype for a white young woman of the American Old South's upper class....
s":
Scarlett O'HaraScarlett O'Hara is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and in the later film of the same name...
in
Gone with the WindGone with the Wind is a 1939 American drama romance film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name and directed by Victor Fleming...
(1939) and
Blanche DuBoisBlanche DuBois is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Streetcar Named Desire...
in the film version of
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), a role she had also played on stage in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
's
West EndWest End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's "Theatreland". Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking world...
.
She was a prolific stage performer, frequently in collaboration with her husband,
Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Alec Guinness and Ralph Richardson...
, who directed her in several of her roles. During her 30-year stage career, she played parts that ranged from the heroines of
Noël CowardSir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of Richmond upon Thames, London, Coward...
and
George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays...
comedies to classic
ShakespeareanWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
characters such as Ophelia, Cleopatra,
JulietJuliet Capulet is one of the title characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the other being Romeo Montague. The story has a long history that precedes Shakespeare himself. The heroine's name was Giulietta in some earlier versions...
and
Lady MacbethLady Macbeth is a character in Shakespeare's Macbeth . She is the wife to the play's antagonist, Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman. After goading him into committing regicide, she becomes Queen of Scotland, and later suffers pangs of guilt for her part in the crime. She dies off-stage in the last act,...
.
Lauded for her beauty, Leigh felt that it sometimes prevented her from being taken seriously as an actress, but ill health proved to be her greatest obstacle. Affected by
bipolar disorderBipolar disorder, also known as manic depressive disorder, manic depression or bipolar affective disorder, is a serious mental disorder that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated mood clinically referred to as mania or, if...
for most of her adult life, she gained a reputation for being difficult to work with, and her career went through periods of decline. She was further weakened by recurrent bouts of chronic
tuberculosisTuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria...
, with which she was first diagnosed in the mid-1940s. She and Olivier divorced in 1960, and Leigh worked sporadically in film and theatre until her death from tuberculosis, in 1967.
Early life and acting career
Leigh was born
Vivian Mary Hartley in
St Paul's SchoolSt Paul's School is a boys' independent school, founded in 1509 by John Colet, located on a large site in the London suburb of Barnes. It was one of the original nine English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868, originally located in the City of London...
,
DarjeelingDarjeeling is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal.It was part of Nepal. When India was ruled by British a treaty was signed to keep all three countries involved safe Sugauli Treaty was signed, in which many parts of Nepal were made Indian...
,
West BengalWest Bengal is a state in eastern India. With Bangladesh, which lies on its eastern border, the state forms the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. To its northeast lie the states of Assam and Sikkim and the country Bhutan, and to its southwest, the state of Orissa...
,
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
, to Ernest Hartley, a
BritishThe British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, one of the Channel Islands, or of one of the British overseas territories, and their descendants. In a historical context, the term refers to the ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain south of the...
Officer in the
Indian CavalryThe Indian Army , now sometimes called the British Indian Army to distinguish it from the modern army of the Republic of India, was the principal army of the British Raj in India during the last half-century before the partition of India in 1947.The Indian Army served both in India and,...
, and Gertrude Robinson Yackje, who was of
GermanicThe Germanic peoples are a historical ethno-linguistic group, originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Common Germanic in the course of the Pre-Roman Iron Age...
descent. They were married in
KensingtonKensington is a district of West London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, located west of Charing Cross. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the...
, London in 1912. In 1917, Ernest Hartley was relocated to
BangaloreBangalore , also known as Bengaḷūru , is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and fifth-most populous urban agglomeration.Though historical references to the city predate 900...
, while Gertrude and Vivian stayed in
OotacamundOoty , short for Ootacamund , is a town, a municipality and the district capital of the Nilgiris district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu....
. Vivian Hartley made her first stage appearance at the age of three, reciting "
Little Bo Peep‘Little Bo Peep’ or ‘Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep’ is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 6487.-Lyrics:As with most products of oral tradition, there are many variations to the rhyme...
" 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 AndersenHans Christian Andersen was a Danish author and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "The Snow Queen", "The Little Mermaid", "Thumbelina", "The Little Match Girl", and the "The Ugly Duckling".During his lifetime he was acclaimed for having delighted...
,
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer...
and
Rudyard KiplingRudyard Kipling was a British author and poet. Born in Bombay, British India, he is best known for his works of fiction The Jungle Book , Kim , many short stories, including The Man Who Would Be King ; and his poems, including...
, as well as stories of
Greek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
and Indian folklore. An only child, Vivian Hartley was sent to the Convent of the Sacred Heart in
RoehamptonRoehampton is a district in south-west London, forming the western end of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies between the town of Barnes to the north, Putney to the east, Wimbledon Common to the south and Richmond Park Golf Course to the west of the neighbourhood. In between which is...
, England (now
Woldingham SchoolWoldingham School is an all-girls, independent, Roman Catholic, boarding and day school in Woldingham, Surrey, United Kingdom.-History:The school was founded as the Convent of the Sacred Heart in 1842 in Berrymead, London, by the Society of the Sacred Heart.The Society had been founded in France in...
) in 1920 at the age of six-and-a-half. Her closest friend at the convent school was the future actress
Maureen O'SullivanMaureen Paula O’Sullivan was an Irish actress who was considered Ireland's first film star.-Early life:O'Sullivan was born in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland, the daughter of Mary Lovatt and Charles Joseph O'Sullivan, an officer in The Connaught Rangers who served in The Great War...
, to whom she expressed her desire to become "a great actress".
Vivian Hartley completed her later education in Europe, returning to her parents in England in 1931. She discovered that one of Maureen O'Sullivan's films was playing in
London's West EndThe West End of London is an area of Central London, England, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, businesses, headquarters and the commercial West End theatres. Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
and told her parents of her ambitions to become an actress. Both were highly supportive, and her father helped her enroll at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic ArtThe Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , in Bloomsbury, London, is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in Britain.-Admissions:...
(RADA) in London.
In late 1931, she met Herbert Leigh Holman, known as Leigh, a
barristerA barrister is a lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions that employ a split profession in relation to legal representation. In split professions, the other types of lawyers are mainly solicitors...
13 years her senior. Despite his disapproval of "theatrical people", they were married on 20 December 1932, and upon their marriage she terminated her studies at RADA. On 12 October 1933, she gave birth to a daughter, Suzanne, but felt stifled by her domestic life. Her friends suggested her for a small part in the film
Things Are Looking Up, which marked her film debut. She engaged an agent, John Gliddon, who believed that the name "Vivian Holman" was not suitable for an actress, and after rejecting his suggestion, "April Morn", she took "Vivian Leigh" as her professional name. Gliddon recommended her to
Alexander KordaSir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British film director and producer. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion Films, a film distributing company.The elder brother of future filmmakers Zoltán Korda and Vincent Korda,...
as a possible film actress, but Korda rejected her as lacking potential.
Cast in the play
The Mask of Virtue in 1935, Leigh received excellent reviews followed by interviews and newspaper articles, among them one from the
Daily ExpressThe Daily Express is a conservative, British tabloid newspaper. It is a middle-market title, the flagship title of Express Newspapers and is currently owned by Richard Desmond...
in which the interviewer noted "a lightning change came over her face", which was the first public mention of the rapid changes in mood that became characteristic of her.
John BetjemanSir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack". He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...
, the future
Poet LaureateA Poet Laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for State occasions and other government events....
, also wrote about her, describing her as "the essence of English girlhood". Korda, who attended her opening-night performance, admitted his error and signed her to a film contract, with the spelling of her name revised to "Vivien Leigh". She continued with the play, but when Korda moved it to a larger theatre, Leigh was found to be unable to project her voice adequately, or to hold the attention of so large an audience, and the play closed soon after. In 1960 Leigh recalled her ambivalence towards her first experience of critical acclaim and sudden fame, commenting, "some critics saw fit to be as foolish as to say that I was a great actress. And I thought, that was a foolish, wicked thing to say, because it put such an onus and such a responsibility onto me, which I simply wasn't able to carry. And it took me years to learn enough to live up to what they said for those first notices. I find it so stupid. I remember the critic very well, and have never forgiven him."
Meeting Laurence Olivier
Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Alec Guinness and Ralph Richardson...
saw Leigh in
The Mask of Virtue, and a friendship developed after he congratulated her on her performance. Olivier and Leigh began an affair after appearing together as lovers in
Fire Over EnglandFire Over England is a 1937 London Film Productions film drama, notable for providing the first pairing of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. It was directed by William K. Howard and written by Clemence Dane from a novel by A. E. W...
(1937). Olivier was at that time married to the actress
Jill EsmondJill Esmond was an English actress.Esmond was born in London, the daughter of stage actors Henry V. Esmond and Eva Moore. While her parents toured with theatre companies, Esmond spent her childhood in boarding schools until she decided at the age of fourteen to become an actress...
. During this time Leigh read the
Margaret MitchellMargaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937 for her novel Gone with the Wind. The novel is one of the most popular books of all time, selling more than 30 million copies...
novel
Gone with the WindGone with the Wind is a romantic drama and the only novel written by Margaret Mitchell. It is set in Jonesboro and Atlanta, Georgia during the American Civil War and Reconstruction...
and instructed her American agent to suggest her to
David O. SelznickDavid O. Selznick, born David Selznick , was one of the iconic Hollywood producers of the Golden Age. He is best known for producing the epic blockbuster Gone with the Wind which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture. Not only did Gone with the Wind gross the highest amount of money in the U.S...
, who was planning a film version. She remarked to a journalist, "I've cast myself as
Scarlett O'HaraScarlett O'Hara is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and in the later film of the same name...
", and
The ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In about the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a left-liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-History:The...
s film critic
C. A. LejeuneCaroline Alice Lejeune was a British writer, best known as the film critic of The Observer from 1928 to 1960.She was born in Manchester, youngest of a large Victorian family. Her father was a cotton merchant who had come to England from Frankfurt, and her mother was the daughter of the...
recalled a conversation of the same period in which Leigh "stunned us all" with the assertion that Olivier "won't play
Rhett ButlerRhett Butler is a fictional character, and one of the main protagonists of Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.-Role:In the beginning of the novel, we first meet Rhett at the Twelve Oaks Plantation barbecue, the home of John Wilkes and his son Ashley and daughter India Wilkes...
, but I shall play Scarlett O'Hara. Wait and see."
Leigh played Ophelia to Olivier's
HamletThe Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father, the King, and then...
in an Old Vic Theatre production, and Olivier later recalled an incident during which her mood rapidly changed as she was quietly preparing to go onstage. Without apparent provocation, she began screaming at him, before suddenly becoming silent and staring into space. She was able to perform without mishap, and by the following day, she had returned to normal with no recollection of the event. It was the first time Olivier witnessed such behaviour from her. They began living together, as their respective spouses had each refused to grant either of them a divorce.
Leigh appeared with
Robert TaylorRobert Taylor was an American film and television actor.-Early life:Born Spangler Arlington Brugh in Filley, Nebraska, he was the son of Ruth Adaline and Spangler Andrew Brugh, who was a farmer turned doctor. As a teenager, he was a track star and played the cello in his high school orchestra...
,
Lionel BarrymoreLionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, radio and film. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul .-Early life:...
and
Maureen O'SullivanMaureen Paula O’Sullivan was an Irish actress who was considered Ireland's first film star.-Early life:O'Sullivan was born in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland, the daughter of Mary Lovatt and Charles Joseph O'Sullivan, an officer in The Connaught Rangers who served in The Great War...
in
A Yank at OxfordA Yank at Oxford is a British 1938 film comedy produced by the British branch of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Jack Conway from a screenplay by John Monk Saunders and Leon Gordon. The film was remade in 1984 as Oxford Blues.- Plot Summary :...
(1938), the first of her films to receive attention in the United States. During production she developed a reputation for being difficult and unreasonable, and Korda instructed her agent to warn her that her option would not be renewed if her behaviour did not improve. Her next role was in St. Martin's LaneSt. Martin's Lane is a street in Central London, which runs from the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, after which it is named, near Trafalgar Square northwards to Long Acre.A narrow street with relatively little traffic, St...
(1938) with Charles LaughtonCharles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and two-time director.While best known for his historical roles in films, he started his career as a remarkable stage actor...
.
Achieving international success
Olivier had been attempting to broaden his film career. Despite his success in Britain, he was not well known in the United States and earlier attempts to introduce him to the American market had failed. Offered the role of HeathcliffHeathcliff is a fictional character in the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. Owing to the novel's enduring fame and popularity, he is often regarded as an archetype of the tortured Romantic Byronic hero whose all-consuming passions destroy both himself and those around him...
in Samuel GoldwynSamuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
's production of Wuthering HeightsWuthering Heights is a black and white film, directed by William Wyler and produced by Samuel Goldwyn. It is based on the celebrated novel, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. The film only depicts sixteen of the novel's thirty-four chapters, eliminating the second generation of characters. The...
(1939), he travelled to Hollywood, leaving Leigh in London. Goldwyn and the film's director, William WylerWilliam Wyler was a motion picture director.-Early life:Wyler was born Wilhelm Weiller to a Swiss father and a German mother, in Mulhouse in the French region of Alsace...
, offered Leigh the secondary role of Isabella, but she refused it, saying she would only play Cathy, a role already assigned to Merle OberonMerle Oberon was an Indian-born British actress.She began her film career in British films, and a prominent role, as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII , brought attention to her...
.
Hollywood was in the midst of a widely publicised search to find an actress to portray Scarlett O'HaraScarlett O'Hara is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and in the later film of the same name...
in David O. SelznickDavid O. Selznick, born David Selznick , was one of the iconic Hollywood producers of the Golden Age. He is best known for producing the epic blockbuster Gone with the Wind which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture. Not only did Gone with the Wind gross the highest amount of money in the U.S...
's production of Gone with the WindGone with the Wind is a 1939 American drama romance film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name and directed by Victor Fleming...
(1939). Leigh's American agentAn Agent in Commercial Law is a person who is authorised to act on behalf of another to create a legal relationship with a Third Party...
was the London representative of the Myron Selznick AgencyMyron Selznick was an American film producer and talent agent.Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was the son of film executive Lewis J. Selznick and brother of renowned producer David O. Selznick...
(Myron was David's brother), and in February 1938, she asked that her name be placed in consideration for the role of Scarlett. That month, David Selznick watched her in Fire Over England
and A Yank at Oxford, and from that time she became a serious contender for the part. Between February and August, Selznick screened all of her English pictures, and by August he was in negotiation with producer
Alexander KordaSir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British film director and producer. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion Films, a film distributing company.The elder brother of future filmmakers Zoltán Korda and Vincent Korda,...
, to whom Leigh was under contract, for her services later that year. On 18 October, Selznick wrote in a confidential memo to director
George CukorGeorge Cukor was an American film director who mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed a string of impressive films including What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David...
, "I am still hoping against hope for that new girl." Leigh travelled to
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
, ostensibly to be with Olivier. When Myron Selznick, who also represented Olivier, met Leigh, he felt that she possessed the qualities his brother David O. Selznick was searching for. Myron Selznick took Leigh and Olivier to the set where the burning of the Atlanta Depot scene was being filmed, and introduced Leigh. The following day, Leigh read a scene for Selznick, who organised a
screen testA screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film and/or in a particular role.The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a camera to see if they are suitable...
and wrote to his wife, "She's the Scarlett dark horse and looks damn good. Not for anyone's ear but your own: it's narrowed down to
Paulette GoddardPaulette Goddard was an American film and theatre actress. A former child fashion model and in several Broadway productions as Ziegfeld Girl, she was a major star of the Paramount Studio in the 1940s. She was married to several notable men, including Charlie Chaplin, Burgess Meredith and Erich...
,
Jean ArthurJean Arthur was an American actress and a major film star of the 1930s and 1940s. She remains arguably the epitome of the female screwball comedy actress. "No one was more closely identified with the screwball comedy than Jean Arthur...
,
Joan BennettJoan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies through half a century of the sound era...
and Vivien Leigh". The director,
George CukorGeorge Cukor was an American film director who mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed a string of impressive films including What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David...
, concurred and praised Leigh's "incredible wildness"; she received the part soon after.
Filming proved difficult for Leigh; Cukor was dismissed and replaced by
Victor FlemingVictor Fleming was an Academy Award-winning American film director, cinematographer, and producer...
, with whom Leigh frequently quarrelled. She and
Olivia de HavillandOlivia Mary de Havilland is an actress. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. De Havilland is one of the last surviving female stars from 1930s Hollywood. She is also the last living lead from Gone with the Wind....
secretly met with Cukor at night and on weekends for his advice about how they should play their parts. She befriended
Clark GableWilliam Clark Gable was an American film actor, nicknamed "The King of Hollywood" in his heyday. In , the American Film Institute named Gable seventh among the greatest male stars of all time....
, his wife
Carole LombardCarole Lombard was an American actress. She was particularly noted for her comedic roles in several classic films of the 1930s, most notably in the 1936 film My Man Godfrey...
and de Havilland, but she clashed with
Leslie HowardLeslie Howard Steiner , better known by his stage name Leslie Howard, was an English stage and film actor, director, and producer...
, with whom she was required to play several emotional scenes. Adding to her distress, she was sometimes required to work seven days a week, often late into the night, and she missed Olivier, who was working in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. She wrote to Leigh Holman, "I loathe Hollywood [...] I will never get used to this – how I hate
film acting."
In 2006, de Havilland responded to claims of Leigh's manic behaviourMania is a severe medical condition characterized by extremely elevated mood, energy, unusual thought patterns and sometimes psychosis...
during filming Gone with the Wind
, published in a biography of Olivier. She defended Leigh, saying, "Vivien was impeccably professional, impeccably disciplined on Gone with the Wind
. She had two great concerns: doing her best work in an extremely difficult role and being separated from Larry [Olivier], who was in New York."
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 always marvellous parts to play."
Among the 10 Academy AwardsThe Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
won by Gone with the Wind
was a Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
award for Leigh, who also won a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActressThe New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-1930s:-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:...
.
Marriage and joint projects
In February 1940, Jill Esmond agreed to divorce Olivier, and Holman also 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, and Holman was granted custody of Suzanne, his daughter with Leigh. On 31 August 1940, Olivier and Leigh were married in Santa Barbara, CaliforniaSanta Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the west coast, between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the sea, and having a Mediterranean climate, it is called California's...
, in a ceremony attended only by their witnesses, Katharine HepburnKatharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, television and stage.Hepburn holds the record for the most Best Actress Oscar wins with four, from 12 nominations. Hepburn won an Emmy Award in 1976 for her lead role in Love Among the Ruins, and was nominated for four other Emmys, two...
and Garson KaninGarson Kanin was an American writer and director of plays and films. Born in Rochester, New York, he is most notable for...
.
Leigh hoped to star with Olivier and made a screentest for RebeccaRebecca is a psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock as his first American project, and his first film produced under his contract with David O. Selznick. The film's screenplay was an adaptation by Joan Harrison and Robert E...
, which was to be directed by Alfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British filmmaker and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in his native United Kingdom in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
with Olivier in the leading role, but after viewing her screentest Selznick noted that "she doesn't seem right as to sincerity or age or innocence", a view shared by Hitchcock, and Leigh's mentor, George Cukor. Selznick also observed that she had shown no enthusiasm for the part until Olivier had been confirmed as the lead actor, and subsequently cast Joan FontaineJoan Fontaine is a British American actress. She became an American citizen in April 1943. She is the younger sister of actress Olivia de Havilland, also an Academy Award winner. Along with Luise Rainer, Gloria Stuart, Shirley Temple, Deanna Durbin and Olivia de Havilland, Fontaine is one of the...
. He also refused to allow her to join Olivier in Pride and PrejudicePride and Prejudice is a 1940 film adaptation of Jane Austen's novel of the same name. Robert Z. Leonard directed, and Aldous Huxley served as one of the screenwriters of the film. -Plot:Mrs...
(1940), and Greer GarsonEileen Evelyn Greer Garson, CBE was a British-born actress who was very popular during World War II. As one of MGM's major stars of the 1940s, Garson received seven Academy Award nominations, winning the Best Actress award for Mrs. Miniver...
took the part Leigh had envisioned for herself. Waterloo BridgeWaterloo Bridge is a 1940 remake of the 1931 film of the same title.The film was made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sidney Franklin and Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay is by S. N. Behrman, Hans Rameau and George Froeschel, based on the popular Broadway drama by...
(1940) was to have starred Olivier and Leigh; however, Selznick replaced Olivier with Robert TaylorRobert Taylor was an American film and television actor.-Early life:Born Spangler Arlington Brugh in Filley, Nebraska, he was the son of Ruth Adaline and Spangler Andrew Brugh, who was a farmer turned doctor. As a teenager, he was a track star and played the cello in his high school orchestra...
, then at the peak of his success as one of Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., or MGM, is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B...
's most popular male stars. Leigh's top billing reflected her status in Hollywood, and despite her reluctance to participate without Olivier, the film not only proved to be popular with audiences and critics, but it also became her favorite film.
She and Olivier mounted a stage production of Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young "star-cross'd lovers" whose untimely deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet and Macbeth, is...
for BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
. The New York press publicized the adulterous nature that had marked the beginning of Olivier and Leigh's relationship, and questioned their ethics in not returning to England to help with the warWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
effort; and critics were hostile in their assessment of the production. Brooks AtkinsonJustin Brooks Atkinson was an American theatre critic. He worked for The New York Times from 1925 to 1960. In his obituary, the Times called him "the most important reviewer of his time."...
for the New York Times wrote, "Although Miss Leigh and Mr. Olivier are handsome young people they hardly act their parts at all." While most of the blame was attributed to Olivier's acting and direction, Leigh was also criticised, with Bernard GrebanierBernard Grebanier was an American drama historian, critic, writer and poet, most notable for his studies of the works of William Shakespeare.Grebanier was a professor of English at Brooklyn College from 1926 until 1964...
commenting on the "thin, shopgirl quality of Miss Leigh's voice." The couple had invested almost their entire savings into the project, and its failure was a financial disaster for them.
They filmed That Hamilton WomanThat Hamilton Woman , originally titled Lady Hamilton, is a historical film drama, produced and directed by Alexander Korda for Alexander Korda Films....
(1941) with Olivier as Horatio Nelson and Leigh as Emma Hamilton. With Britain engaged in World War II, it was one of several Hollywood films made with the aim of arousing a pro-British sentiment among American audiences. The film was popular in the United States and an outstanding success in the Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
. Winston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer...
arranged a screening for a party that included Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , the only U.S. President elected to more than two terms, was a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
and on its conclusion addressed the group, saying, "Gentlemen, I thought this film would interest you, showing great events similar to those in which you have just been taking part." The Oliviers remained favourites of Churchill, attending dinners and occasions at his request for the rest of his life, and of Leigh he was quoted as saying, "By Jove, she's a clinker."
The Oliviers returned to England, and Leigh toured through North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
in 1943, performing for troops before falling ill with a persistent cough and fevers. In 1944 she was diagnosed as having tuberculosisTuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria...
in her left lungThe lung or pulmonary system is the essential respiration organ in air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located in the chest on either side of the heart...
, but after spending several weeks in hospital, she appeared to be cured. In spring she was filming Caesar and CleopatraCaesar and Cleopatra is a 1945 film starring Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh, produced and directed by Gabriel Pascal from the 1901 play by George Bernard Shaw. The film was nominated an Academy Award for Best Art Direction . -Plot synopsis:...
(1945) when she discovered she was pregnant, but suffered a miscarriageMiscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...
. She fell into a deep depressionMajor depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
which reached its nadir when she turned on Olivier, verbally and physically attacking him until she fell to the floor sobbing. This was the first of many major breakdowns related to bipolar disorder. Olivier came to recognise the symptoms of an impending episode – several days of hyperactivity followed by a period of depression and an explosive breakdown, after which Leigh would have no memory of the event, but would be acutely embarrassed and remorseful.
She was well enough to resume acting in 1946, in a successful London production of Thornton WilderThornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. His best known work is his play Our Town.-Early years:...
's The Skin of Our TeethThe Skin of Our Teeth is a play by Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It opened on October 15, 1942 at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, before moving to the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway on November 18, 1942...
, but her films of this period, Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) and Anna KareninaAnna Karenina is a 1948 British film based on the 19th century novel, Anna Karenina, by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. The film was directed by Julien Duvivier, and starred Vivien Leigh in the title role...
(1948), were not great successes.
In 1947 Olivier was knighted, and Leigh accompanied him to Buckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
for the investiture. She became Lady Olivier and, after their divorce, per the style granted the divorced wife of a knight, she became socially known as Vivien, Lady Olivier.
By 1948 Olivier was on the Board of Directors for the Old Vic Theatre, and he and Leigh embarked on a tour of AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
and New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
to raise funds for the theatre. During their six-month tour, Olivier performed Richard IIIRichard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591, depicting the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified as...
and also performed with Leigh in The School for ScandalThe School for Scandal is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on May 18, 1777...
and The Skin of Our Teeth. The tour was an outstanding success, and although Leigh was plagued with insomniaInsomnia is a symptom of any of several sleep disorders, characterized by persistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep despite the opportunity. Insomnia is a symptom, not a stand-alone diagnosis or a disease. By definition, insomnia is "difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, or both"...
and allowed her understudy to replace her for a week while she was ill, she generally withstood the demands placed upon her, with Olivier noting her ability to "charm the press." Members of the company later recalled several quarrels between the couple, the most dramatic occurring in ChristchurchChristchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area. It is one third the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of Christchurch.The city was named by...
when Leigh refused to go onstage. Olivier slapped her face, and Leigh slapped him in return and swore at him before she made her way to the stage. By the end of the tour, both were exhausted and ill, and Olivier told a journalist, "You may not know it, but you are talking to a couple of walking corpses." Later he would comment that he "lost Vivien" in Australia.
The success of the tour encouraged the Oliviers to make their first West EndThe West End of London is an area of Central London, England, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, businesses, headquarters and the commercial West End theatres. Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
appearance together, performing the same works with one addition, AntigoneAntigone is a tragedy by Sophocles written before or in 442 BC. Chronologically, it is the third of the three Theban plays but was written first...
, included at Leigh's insistence because she wished to play a role in a tragedyTragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that, paradoxically, offers its audience pleasure...
.
Leigh next sought the role of Blanche DuBoisBlanche DuBois is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Streetcar Named Desire...
in the West EndThe West End of London is an area of Central London, England, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, businesses, headquarters and the commercial West End theatres. Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
stage production of Tennessee WilliamsTennessee Williams , né Thomas Lanier Williams, was an American playwright who received many of the top theatrical awards for his works of drama...
's A Streetcar Named Desire, and was cast after Williams and the play's producer Irene Mayer SelznickIrene Mayer Selznick was an American theatrical producer.Born Irene Gladys Mayer in Brooklyn, New York, she was the daughter of future MGM studio mogul, Louis B. Mayer and his first wife, Margaret Shenberg....
saw her in the The School for Scandal and AntigoneAntigone is a tragedy by Sophocles written before or in 442 BC. Chronologically, it is the third of the three Theban plays but was written first...
, and Olivier was contracted to direct. Containing a rape scene and references to promiscuity and homosexuality, the play was destined to be controversial, and the media discussion about its suitability added to Leigh's anxiety, but she believed strongly in the importance of the work.
When the West End production of Streetcar opened in October 1949, J. B. PriestleyJohn Boynton Priestley, OM was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster.-Early years:Priestley was born in what he described as an "ultra-respectable" suburb of Bradford...
denounced the play and Leigh's performance, and the critic Kenneth TynanKenneth Peacock Tynan was an influential and often controversial British theatre critic and writer well known for being the first person to say "fuck" on the BBC.-Early life:...
commented that Leigh was badly miscast because British actors were "too well-bred to emote effectively on stage". Olivier and Leigh were chagrined that part of the commercial success of the play lay in audience members attending to see what they believed would be a salacious and sensationalist story, rather than the Greek tragedy that they envisioned, but the play also had strong supporters, among them Noël CowardSir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of Richmond upon Thames, London, Coward...
who described Leigh as "magnificent."
After 326 performances, Leigh finished her run. However, she was soon engaged for the film version. Her irreverent and often bawdy sense of humour allowed her to establish a rapport with her co-star Marlon BrandoMarlon Brando, Jr. was an American actor whose body of work spanned over half a century. He was named the fourth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute, and part of Time magazine's Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century He is widely considered one of the...
, but she had difficulty with the director Elia KazanElia Kazan, , was a Turkish-born American film and theatre director, film and theatrical producer, screenwriter, novelist and co-founder of the influential Actors Studio in New York in 1947...
, who did not hold her in high regard as an actress. He later commented that "she had a small talent", but as work progressed, he became "full of admiration" for "the greatest determination to excel of any actress I've known. She'd have crawled over broken glass if she thought it would help her performance." Leigh found the role gruelling and commented to the Los Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California since 1881. It is distributed throughout the Western United States. It is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and the fourth-most widely distributed newspaper in the United States...
, "I had nine months in the theatre of Blanche DuBois. Now she's in command of me." Olivier accompanied her to Hollywood where he was to co-star in William WylerWilliam Wyler was a motion picture director.-Early life:Wyler was born Wilhelm Weiller to a Swiss father and a German mother, in Mulhouse in the French region of Alsace...
's CarrieCarrie is a 1952 feature film based on the novel Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser.Directed by William Wyler, the film stars Jennifer Jones in the title role and Laurence Olivier as Hurstwood. Carrie received two Academy Award Nominations: Costume Design, and Best Art Direction...
.
The film won glowing reviews for her, and she won a second Academy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, a BAFTAThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation...
Award and a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActressThe New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-1930s:-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:...
. Tennessee Williams commented that Leigh brought to the role "everything that I intended, and much that I had never dreamed of", but in later years, Leigh would say that playing Blanche DuBois "tipped me over into madness."
Continuing illness
In 1951, Leigh and Olivier performed two plays about Cleopatra, William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Antony and CleopatraAntony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Life of Markus Antonius and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony from the time of the Parthian War to...
and George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays...
's Caesar and CleopatraCaesar and Cleopatra, a play written in 1898 by George Bernard Shaw, was first staged in 1901 and first published with Captain Brassbound's Conversion and The Devil's Disciple in his 1901 collection, Three Plays for Puritans. It was first performed at Newcastle-on-Tyne on March 15, 1899...
, alternating the play each night and winning good reviews. They took the productions to New York, where they performed a season at the Ziegfeld TheatreThe Ziegfeld Theatre was a Broadway theater formerly located at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and 54th Street in Manhattan. It was built in 1927, and despite public protests, it was razed in 1966....
into 1952. The reviews there were also mostly positive, but the critic Kenneth TynanKenneth Peacock Tynan was an influential and often controversial British theatre critic and writer well known for being the first person to say "fuck" on the BBC.-Early life:...
angered them when he suggested that Leigh's was a mediocre talent which forced Olivier to compromise his own. Tynan's diatribe almost precipitated another collapse; Leigh, terrified of failure and intent on achieving greatness, dwelt on his comments, while ignoring the positive reviews of other critics.
In January 1953, Leigh travelled to CeylonSri Lanka , officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India...
to film Elephant WalkElephant Walk is a 1954 Paramount Pictures film, directed by William Dieterle, and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Dana Andrews, Peter Finch and Abraham Sofaer....
with Peter FinchPeter Finch was a British - born Australian actor. He is best remembered for his role as 'crazed' television anchorman Howard Beale in the film, Network, which earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Actor, his fifth Best Actor award from the BAFTA, and a Best Actor award from the Golden...
. Shortly after filming commenced, she suffered a breakdown, and Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is a Worldwide American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is the world's oldest existing American film studio; it is also the last...
replaced her with Elizabeth TaylorDame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, DBE , also known as Liz Taylor, is an English-born British-American actress. Known for her acting skills and beauty, as well as her Hollywood lifestyle, including many marriages...
. Olivier returned her to their home in England, where between periods of incoherence, Leigh told him that she was in love with Finch, and had been having an affair with him. She gradually recovered over a period of several months. As a result of this episode, many of the Oliviers' friends learned of her problems. David NivenJames David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was an English actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Litton, a.k.a. "the Phantom," in The Pink Panther.-Early life:David Niven was born in London, England...
said she had been "quite, quite mad", and in his diary Noel CowardSir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of Richmond upon Thames, London, Coward...
expressed surprise that "things had been bad and getting worse since 1948 or thereabouts."
Leigh recovered sufficiently to play The Sleeping Prince
with Olivier in 1953, and in 1955 they performed a season at Stratford-upon-AvonStratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of the county town, Warwick. It is the main town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers a...
in Shakespeare's Twelfth NightTwelfth Night, or What You Will is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1600-01 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season...
, MacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth, commonly just Macbeth, is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
and Titus AndronicusTitus Andronicus may be Shakespeare's earliest tragedy; it is believed to have been written in the early 1590s. It depicts a Roman general who is engaged in a cycle of revenge with his enemy Tamora, the Queen of the Goths. The play is by far Shakespeare's bloodiest work...
. They played to capacity houses and attracted generally good reviews, Leigh's health seemingly stable. Noël CowardSir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of Richmond upon Thames, London, Coward...
was enjoying success with the play South Sea BubbleSouth Sea Bubble is a play by British actor and playwright Noël Coward. It written in 1949 but not performed until 1951. The play was moderately successful but failed to match the popularity of Coward's pre-war hits.-Background:...
, with Leigh in the lead role, but she became pregnant and withdrew from the production. Several weeks later, she miscarried and entered a period of depression that lasted for months. She joined Olivier for a European tour with Titus Andronicus, but the tour was marred by Leigh's frequent outbursts against Olivier and other members of the company. After their return to London, her former husband Leigh Holman, who continued to exert a strong influence over her, stayed with the Oliviers and helped calm her.
In 1958, considering her marriage to be over, Leigh began a relationship with the actor
Jack MerivaleJohn Herman Merivale , also known as Jack Merivale, was a British theatre actor, and occasional supporting player in British films.-Biography:...
, who knew of Leigh's medical condition and assured Olivier he would care for her. She achieved a success in 1959 with the Noël Coward comedy Look After Lulu
, with The Times critic describing her as "beautiful, delectably cool and matter of fact, she is mistress of every situation."
In 1960, she and Olivier divorced, and Olivier married the actress
Joan PlowrightJoan Ann Olivier, Baroness Olivier, DBE , better known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English actress. She was awarded a CBE in 1970 and was made a Dame in the New Year's Honours of 2004.-Early life:...
. In his autobiography he discussed the years of problems they had experienced because of Leigh's illness, writing, "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 hardly be expected to take the trouble."
Final years and death
Merivale proved to be a stabilizing influence for Leigh, but despite her apparent contentment she was quoted by
Radie HarrisRadie Harris was a journalist and newspaper columnist noted for her close relationships with Broadway denizens and stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood, as well as for her breezy chronicles on the world of entertainment....
as confiding that she "would rather have lived a short life with Larry [Olivier] than face a long one without him".
Her first husband, Leigh Holman, also spent considerable time with her. Merivale joined her for a tour of Australia, New Zealand and
Latin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,501 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
that lasted from July 1961 until May 1962, and Leigh enjoyed positive reviews without Olivier sharing the spotlight with her. Though she was still beset by bouts of depression, she continued to work in the theatre and in 1963 won a
Tony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live American theatre and are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are for Broadway productions and...
for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in the Broadway musical
TovarichTovarich is a 1963 musical play in two acts with book by David Shaw; music by Lee Pockriss and lyrics by Anne Croswell; based on the comedy by Jacques Deval and Robert E...
. She also appeared in the films The Roman Spring of Mrs. StoneThe Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone is a 1961 British motion picture made by Seven Arts-Warner Bros.. It was directed by José Quintero and produced by Louis De Rochemont with Lothar Wolff as associate producer. The screenplay was written by Gavin Lambert and Jan Read and based on the novel by Tennessee...
(1961) and Ship of FoolsShip of Fools is a 1965 film which tells the overlapping stories of several passengers aboard an ocean liner during the 1930s. It stars Vivien Leigh, Simone Signoret, José Ferrer, Lee Marvin, Oskar Werner, Michael Dunn, Elizabeth Ashley, George Segal, José Greco and Heinz Rühmann.The movie was...
(1965).
In May 1967, she was rehearsing to appear with Michael RedgraveSir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author.He twice won Best Actor trophies in the Evening Standard Awards and twice received the Variety Club of Great Britain 'Actor of the Year' Award...
in Edward AlbeeEdward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright best known for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Zoo Story, A Delicate Balance and Seascape . His works are considered well-crafted, often unsympathetic examinations of the modern condition...
's A Delicate Balance when she became ill with a recurrent bout of the
tuberculosisTuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria...
from which she had been suffering for more than twenty years but, after resting for several weeks, had seemed to be recovering. On the night of 7 July, Merivale left her as usual, to perform in a play, and returned home around midnight to find her asleep. About thirty minutes later (by now 8 July), 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, she had collapsed. Merivale contacted Olivier, who was receiving treatment for
prostate cancerProstate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly the bones and lymph nodes. Prostate cancer may cause pain, difficulty in urinating, problems...
in a nearby hospital. In his autobiography, Olivier described his "grievous anguish" as he immediately travelled to Leigh's residence, to find that Merivale had moved her body onto the bed. Olivier paid his respects, and "stood and prayed for forgiveness for all the evils that had sprung up between us", before helping Merivale make funeral arrangements.
She was
crematedCremation is the process of reducing human remains to basic chemical compounds in the form of gases and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high temperatures and vaporization....
at the
Golders Green CrematoriumGolders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. It is owned by the London Cremation Co plc, and opened in 1902, designed by the architect Sir Ernest George....
, and her ashes were scattered on the lake at her home, Tickerage Mill, near Blackboys,
East SussexEast Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey, Brighton and Hove and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:See main article:History of Sussex...
, England. A memorial service was held at
St Martin-in-the-FieldsSt. Martin-in-the-Fields is an Anglican church at the northeast corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Its patron is Saint Martin of Tours.-Roman era:Excavations at the site in 2006 led to the discovery of a grave dated about 410...
, with a final tribute read by
John GielgudSir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor/director/producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
. In the United States, she became the first actress honoured by "The Friends of the Libraries at the
University of Southern CaliforniaThe University of Southern California is a private, nonsectarian, research university located in the University Park neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, USA...
". The ceremony was conducted as a memorial service, with selections from her films shown and tributes provided by such associates as
George CukorGeorge Cukor was an American film director who mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed a string of impressive films including What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David...
.
Critical comments
Vivien 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 a handicap, she said, "people think that if you look fairly reasonable, you can't possibly act, and as I only care about acting, I think beauty can be a great handicap, if you really want to look like the part you're playing, which isn't necessarily like you."
George CukorGeorge Cukor was an American film director who mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed a string of impressive films including What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David...
commented that Leigh was a "consummate actress, hampered by beauty", and Laurence Olivier said that critics should "give her credit for being an actress and not go on forever letting their judgments be distorted by her great beauty."
Garson KaninGarson Kanin was an American writer and director of plays and films. Born in Rochester, New York, he is most notable for...
shared their viewpoint and described Leigh as "a stunner whose ravishing beauty often tended to obscure her staggering achievements as an actress. Great beauties are infrequently great actresses — simply because they don't need to be. Vivien was different; ambitious, persevering, serious, often inspired."
Leigh explained that she played "as many different parts as possible" in an attempt to learn her craft and to dispel prejudice about her abilities. She believed that comedy was more difficult to play than drama because it required more precise timing, and said that more emphasis should be placed upon comedy as part of an actor's training. Nearing the end of her career, which ranged from
Noël CowardSir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of Richmond upon Thames, London, Coward...
comedies to Shakespearean tragedies, she observed, "It's much easier to make people cry than to make them laugh."
Her early performances brought her immediate success in Britain, but she remained largely unknown in other parts of the world until the release of Gone with the Wind
. In December 1939 the New York Times
wrote, "Miss Leigh's Scarlett has vindicated the absurd talent quest that indirectly turned her up. She is so perfectly designed for the part by art and nature that any other actress in the role would be inconceivable", and as her fame escalated, she was featured on the cover of TimeTime is an American newsmagazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong. As of 2009, Time no longer publishes a Canadian advertiser edition...
magazine as Scarlett. In 1969 critic
Andrew SarrisAndrew Sarris is a U.S. film critic and a leading proponent of the auteur theory of criticism. He is generally credited with popularizing this theory in the Americas and coining the term "auteur theory" in his essay, "Notes on the Auteur Theory," which was inspired by critics writing in Cahiers du...
commented that the success of the film had been largely due to "the inspired casting" of Leigh, and in 1998 wrote that "she lives in our minds and memories as a dynamic force rather than as a static presence."
Leonard MaltinLeonard Maltin is an American film critic and film historian. He has authored several mainstream books on the cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
described the film as one of the all-time greats, writing in 1998 that Leigh "brilliantly played" her role.
Her performance in the
West EndThe West End of London is an area of Central London, England, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, businesses, headquarters and the commercial West End theatres. Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
production of A Streetcar Named Desire, described by the theatre writer
Phyllis HartnollPhyllis Hartnoll was a British poet, author and editor.Hartnoll studied at the University of Oxford, where she won the Newdigate Prize for poetry in 1929. Later she worked as an editor on many Oxford University Press publications, including the Oxford Companion to the Theatre.-External links:*...
as "proof of greater powers as an actress than she had hitherto shown", led to a lengthy period during which she was considered one of the finest actresses in British theatre. Discussing the subsequent film version,
Pauline KaelPauline Kael was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. Earlier in her career she was published by City Lights, McCall's and The New Republic....
wrote that Leigh and
Marlon BrandoMarlon Brando, Jr. was an American actor whose body of work spanned over half a century. He was named the fourth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute, and part of Time magazine's Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century He is widely considered one of the...
gave "two of the greatest performances ever put on film" and that Leigh's was "one of those rare performances that can truly be said to evoke both fear and pity."
Kenneth Tynan ridiculed Leigh's performance opposite Olivier in the 1955 production of
Titus AndronicusTitus Andronicus may be Shakespeare's earliest tragedy; it is believed to have been written in the early 1590s. It depicts a Roman general who is engaged in a cycle of revenge with his enemy Tamora, the Queen of the Goths. The play is by far Shakespeare's bloodiest work...
, commenting that she "receives the news that she is about to be ravished on her husband's corpse with little more than the mild annoyance of one who would have preferred foam rubber." He was one of several critics to react negatively to her reinterpretation of
Lady MacbethLady Macbeth is a character in Shakespeare's Macbeth . She is the wife to the play's antagonist, Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman. After goading him into committing regicide, she becomes Queen of Scotland, and later suffers pangs of guilt for her part in the crime. She dies off-stage in the last act,...
in 1955, saying that her performance was insubstantial and lacked the necessary fury demanded of the role; however, after her death he revised his opinion, describing his earlier criticism as "one of the worst errors of judgment" he had ever made. He came to believe that Leigh's interpretation, in which Lady Macbeth uses her sexual allure to keep Macbeth enthralled, "made more sense [...] than the usual battle-axe" portrayal of the character. In a survey of theatre critics conducted shortly after Leigh's death, several named it as one of her greatest achievements in theatre.
In 1969, a plaque to Leigh was placed in the actors' church,
St Paul's, Covent GardenSt Paul's Church, also commonly known as the Actors' Church, is a church located in Covent Garden, London, England.As well as being the parish church of Covent Garden, the church gained its nickname by a long association with the theatre community....
, and in 1985 a portrait of her was included in a series of
postage stampA postage stamp is adhesive paper evidence of a fee paid for postal services. Usually a small rectangle attached to an envelope, the stamp signifies the person sending it has fully or partly paid for delivery...
s, along with
Alfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British filmmaker and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in his native United Kingdom in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, Charles Chaplin,
Peter SellersRichard Henry Sellers, CBE, commonly known as Peter Sellers was a British comedian and actor best known for his roles in Dr...
and
David NivenJames David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was an English actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Litton, a.k.a. "the Phantom," in The Pink Panther.-Early life:David Niven was born in London, England...
to commemorate "British Film Year".
The
British LibraryThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is located in London and is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; books, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, patents,...
in London purchased the papers of Laurence Olivier from his estate in 1999. Known as The Laurence Olivier Archive, the collection includes many of Vivien Leigh's personal papers, including numerous letters written by her to Olivier. The papers of Vivien Leigh, including letters, photographs, contracts and diaries, are owned by her daughter, Mrs Suzanne Farrington. In 1994 the
National Library of AustraliaThe National Library of Australia is the country's largest reference library, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
purchased a photograph album, monogrammed "L & V O" and believed to have belonged to the Oliviers, containing 573 photographs of the couple during their 1948 tour of Australia. It is now held as part of the record of the history of the performing arts in Australia.
Awards and nominations
| Year |
Award |
Work |
| 1939 |
Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(won)
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActressThe New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-1930s:-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:...
(won) |
Gone with the WindGone with the Wind is a 1939 American drama romance film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name and directed by Victor Fleming...
|
| 1951 |
Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(won)
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading RoleBest Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :...
(won)
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture DramaThe Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...
(nominated)
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActressThe New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-1930s:-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:...
(won)
Venice Film Festival - Volpi CupThe Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the Lido, Venice,...
(won) |
A Streetcar Named Desire |
| 1963 |
Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical is the Tony Awards award given to the actress who was voted as the best actress in a musical, whether a new production or a revival...
(won) |
Tovarich Tovarich is a 1963 musical play in two acts with book by David Shaw; music by Lee Pockriss and lyrics by Anne Croswell; based on the comedy by Jacques Deval and Robert E...
|
See also
- For a full chronology of Leigh's theatre and film work, see Vivien Leigh chronology of stage and film performances
The following provides a chronological list of the stage and film performances given by the British actress Vivien Leigh.Although successful as a film star, she preferred the theatre, and worked more extensively in this medium, therefore her theatre performances are listed first.-Theatre...
.
External links