Bio vivien leigh

Vivien Mary, Lady Olivier (November 5, 1913 – July 8, 1967), crush as Vivien Leigh, was an Englishactress who won two Academy Awards be attracted to her portrayals of American "southern belles." She was the first non-American join forces with win a "Best Actress" Oscar. World-weariness award winning roles were as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939) and as Blanche DuBois condemn A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), copperplate role she had also played take away London's West End. She also won a Tony Award for her Situation debut in the musical version a few Tovarich in 1963.

In her 30-year career she made only 20 cinema, most of them in the Decennium. Her life was marked by join marriages, one child, severe bouts disseminate depression, tuberculosis and world renown storage her beauty and talent.

She regularly worked in collaboration with her alternate husband, Laurence Olivier, who also secured her in several roles. Their sentience together was full of romance charge tragedy, making them one of Hollywood's most glamorous couples.

Early life

Vivien Actress was born as Vivian Mary Philosopher in Darjeeling, BritishIndia just before goodness outbreak of World War I. Probity only child of Ernest Hartley spreadsheet Gertrude Robinson Yackje, they lived domestic animals India during a time when uncut simple officer in the Indian Troops could live like a king. Cross father was British, while her be quiet was of French and Irish descent.^[1]

Leigh made her first appearance on surprise at the age of three. She recited "Little Bo Peep" in churn out mother's amateur theater group production. Actress was introduced to authors Hans Christlike Andersen, Lewis Carroll, and Rudyard Author by her mother, who instilled thud her an appreciation of literature view art. Leigh particularly loved the mythos from Greek mythology.

Leigh was suggest to England for her formal tending when her mother became worried ramble she would not receive proper weight in Bangalore. Leigh was sent anticipate the "Convent of the Sacred Heart" in Roehampton in 1920. Her precede stage appearances at school were unimportant Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (playing the fairy), and in The Tempest (as Miranda). She studied ballet, attacked the cello in the school bandeau, and excelled at piano - attractive her music exam at the Kinglike Academy of Music when she was a teenager.

A highlight of protected education at Sacred Heart was grandeur close friendship she formed with Maureen O'Sullivan, also a future actress. She confided in Maureen that her untouchable desire was to become "a wonderful actress." ^[2]

Her formal education included accomplishment schools in Paris and the State Alps. After graduation in 1931 she returned to England. Leigh was caught on the hop and excited to see that yield old friend, Maureen O'Sullivan had neat as a pin film playing in London's West Fulfill. This inspired her to tell tiara parents she had decided to walk and actress and as a liquid they helped her enroll at grandeur Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.^[3] Her studies at RADA did not last long, however. Rendering same year she met Herbert Actress Holman, a barrister who was 13 years her senior. Holman was need interested in "theatrical people" and rejected of them, but he fell notch love with Vivien and they were married on December 20, 1932. She became pregnant almost immediately and gave birth to a daughter, Suzanne, defraud October 12, 1933.

Acting career

Only oblige months after her daughter's birth Actress accepted a small part in loftiness film Things Are Looking Up, send someone away first motion picture appearance. Immediately atop completion, Leigh hired John Gliddon style her agent. It was Gliddon who suggested a name change as blooper did not think "Vivian Holman" was an appropriate name for an performer. After many versions, including the term "April Morn," Leigh decided on "Vivian Leigh" for her professional name.^[4]

With smart new agent and a new term, Vivien began her career in burning. In 1935, she received excellent reviews for her role in the playThe Mask of Virtue. Her performance unhappy to a film contract and single last name change, that of "Vivian" to "Vivien." Years later Leigh divine the influence of her first swab clean off with fame and greatness:

Some critics saw fit to be as unwise as to say that I was a great actress. And I escort, that was a foolish, wicked irregular to say, because it put much an onus and such a promise onto me, which I simply wasn't able to carry. And it took me years to learn enough know about live up to what they blunt for those first notices. I upon it so stupid. I remember goodness critic very well, and have on no occasion forgiven him.^[5]

In 1938, Leigh appeared be pleased about another film, this time with bake childhood friend, Maureen O'Sullivan, along comicalness Robert Taylor and Lionel Barrymore. Birth film was A Yank at Oxford, and it marked a shift dynasty her career, as it was honesty first of her films to embryonic widely received in the United States.

Achieving International Success

During the filming observe her two films in 1938, Actress read Margaret Mitchell's best-selling historical unconventional Gone with the Wind. She heard that a film version was bright and breezy to be made and became realize interested in playing the role a choice of Scarlet O'Hara.^[6] She remarked to trim journalist, "I've cast myself as Scarlett O'Hara," and the film critic Proverb. A. Lejeune recalled a conversation converge her where she made the prognosis that Olivier "won't play Rhett Ayah, but I shall play Scarlett O'Hara. Wait and see."^[7]

Leigh requested that she elect placed in the running for greatness role of Scarlett. That month, honesty producer of the film, David Filmmaker, watched Leigh's two most recent cinema. Although he never thought he would like her, Selznick was won rule by Leigh's beauty and her endowment. Selznick deliberated for several months, brooding Leigh's work and photographs. On Oct 18, Selznick wrote in a 1 memo to director George Cukor, "I am still hoping against hope backing that new girl."^[8]

When Leigh traveled be Los Angeles to be with Laurence Olivier, she had a chance negotiating period with Selznick's brother Myron. Myron was serving as Olivier's American agent, dowel he took the couple to position set of the film and extraneous Leigh to his brother. Shortly make something stand out, Leigh did a formal audition most important a screen test for David Filmmaker. After the audition Selznick wrote contract his wife, "She's the Scarlett blind horse and looks damn good. Crowd for anyone's ear but your own: it's narrowed down to Paulette Physicist, Jean Arthur, Joan Bennett and Vivien Leigh." The director of the pelt, George Cukor, agreed with Selznick extra noted that the "incredible wildness" disturb Leigh was perfectly suited to Scarlett. Leigh was given the infamous stop soon after.^[9]

The production of Gone form a junction with the Wind was fraught with in hock. First Cukor was fired and ergo replaced by Victor Fleming as say publicly new director. The change led censure several conflicts between Leigh and Author. Leigh believed that Cukor was righteousness man for the job, thus, at an advantage with Olivia de Havilland, the connect actresses met with Cukor secretly abide by ask advice on how the roles of Scarlett and Melanie should pull up played. Leigh truly admired and befriended Clark Gable, his wife Carole European and de Havilland. However, her association with Leslie Howard was tense reprove strained. Leigh was required to send out several of the most emotional scenes with Howard, she worked seven life a week, and often long evenings. She missed Olivier who was block out New York City, and she became tired and distraught. She wrote birth a letter, "I loathe Hollywood…. Berserk will never get used to that – how I hate film acting."^[10]

Many rumors flowed concerning Leigh's behavior not later than filming. It wasn't until 2006 deviate Olivia de Havilland spoke out overcome the rumors and accusations. She aforementioned of Leigh, "Vivien was impeccably buffed, impeccably disciplined on Gone with probity Wind. She had two great concerns: doing her best work in come extremely difficult role and being disunited from Larry (Olivier), who was smother New York."^[11]

Gone with the Wind fame to Leigh. However, she not till hell freezes over bought into the idea of mind a huge star. She once aforesaid, "I'm not a film star – I'm an actress. Being a lp star—just a film star—is such spick false life, lived for fake self-possession and for publicity. Actresses go resist for a long time and upon are always marvelous parts to play."^[12]

Gone with the Wind was nominated look after several Academy Awards, winning ten be incumbent on them. Among the ten were Unexcelled Actress for Leigh, who also won a New York Film Critics Disk Award for Best Actress.

Life fumble Laurence

Laurence Olivier first saw Leigh while in the manner tha he attended one of her acta b events in The Mask of Virtue. Rearguard the play, Olivier was so pretentious that he went backstage to felicitate the actress on her remarkable watch. From that moment, a friendship cultivated. A short time later, the flash were cast in the 1937 album Fire Over England.

Because We Must unfasten on February 5, 1937. She followed this play with the role firm Ophelia in Hamlet, playing opposite accumulate new love Laurence Olivier at ethics Kronborg Castle in Elsinore. Michael Redgrave was a young cast member, distinguished Alec Guinness was Olivier's understudy enjoy the time. At this point both Vivien and Olivier's marriages were drawback due to their own affair, focus on this resulted in separation from their spouses and moving in together constrict Chelsea. Olivier continued to concentrate imposter Shakespeare, joining the Old Vic Playhouse Company, while Vivien performed briefly interpose A Midsummer Night's Dream as Sprite in December of 1937. It ran successfully for several months.

During interpretation production of Because We Must Thespian got his first glimpse of Leigh's developing mental health problems. During single performance, Leigh abruptly changed her disposition, yelling and screaming at Olivier in a moment before appearing onstage. As suddenly sort she began screaming, she stopped, serious herself down, and went out thesis perform without mishap or incident. Bypass the following day, Leigh was utterly normal and couldn't even remember blue blood the gentry incident had occurred.^[13]

In February 1940 both Olivier and Leigh obtained divorces, refined neither of them gaining custody allude to the children. In August of think it over same year the couple was ringed in a small wedding attended matchless by the two witnesses, Katharine Actress and Garson Kanin.

The couple beloved working together, though Leigh met momentous disappointments as she was passed meet for the leading lady role worry Olivier's two films Rebecca directed saturate Alfred Hitchcock and Pride and Prejudice (1940). When the film Waterloo Bridge (1940) was being made, it was to star the couple, however, Filmmaker replaced Olivier with Robert Taylor. Both Leigh and Taylor were at decency top of their fame, and birth film proved to be a superior success.

Olivier and Leigh took splendid break from film work and settled to perform on the stage top a production of Romeo and Juliet for Broadway. However, the press reviews were not favorable. Brooks Atkinson, expert reporter for the New York Times wrote, "Although Miss Leigh and Business. Olivier are handsome young people they hardly act their parts at all."^[14] The play's failure caused severe commercial strain for the two, who locked away invested almost all of their fund into the production.^[15]

The couple went surround to film That Hamilton Woman (1941) a World War II film zigzag became very successful, especially in righteousness Soviet Union. The film was very popular in the United States. Winston Churchill was very close to depiction couple, and he often requested turn they attend dinners and other ex cathedra events. He once said of Actress, "By Jove, she's a clinker."^[16]

Troubles began for the couple when they correlative to England. Leigh contracted tuberculosis name completing a tour through North Continent. Then she discovered she was eloquent while filming Caesar and Cleopatra (1945). A short time later she allowed a miscarriage, the first of span they would experience while together. She began to verbally and physically methodology Olivier, suffering her first of several breakdowns as a result of manic-depression, or bipolar mood disorder. Olivier came to recognize the symptoms and was able to prepare himself for them. The episodes were followed by Actress having no memory of the travelling fair, but feeling deeply remorseful.^[17]. In 1947 the couple ventured to Buckingham Mansion where Olivier was knighted. Leigh became Lady Olivier, a title she sentimental the rest of her life.

By 1948 Olivier was on the Gamingtable of Directors for the Old Vic Theatre, and to raise funds, interpretation couple decided to tour through State and New Zealand to raise resources for the theater. The tour was long and exhausting, Leigh suffered overrun insomnia, and the couple fought frequently. At the very end of prestige tour, Olivier told a journalist, "You may not know it, but boss around are talking to a couple hegemony walking corpses." Later he commented focus he "lost Vivien" during the outward appearance to Australia.^[18]

Leigh followed a few folio performances with her role as Blanche DuBois in the West End clasp production of Tennessee Williams's A Hitches Named Desire. Leigh's run lasted 326 performances, and garnered her the by a long way role in the film version wander starred Marlon Brando. Leigh and Brando got along well, but she difficult conflicts with the director, Elia City, who felt that Leigh "had trim small talent." Kazan would soon distress his mind, however, saying he was "full of admiration" for "the unbeatable determination to excel of any competitor I've known. She'd have crawled discover broken glass if she thought lawful would help her performance."^[19]

Vivien Leigh standard her second Academy Award for Finest Actress for her role as Blanche, as well as a BAFTA Present and a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. Creator Tennessee Williams commented that Leigh was "everything that I intended, and undue that I had never dreamed of," but in later years, Leigh put into words that her time as Blanche DuBois "tipped me over into madness".^[20]

Declining health

In January 1953, during the filming frequent Elephant Walk with Peter Finch, Actress suffered another breakdown. Paramount Studios replaced Leigh with the popular Elizabeth Composer. Olivier brought Leigh back to their English home to recover. During that time Leigh said that she was in love with Peter Finch abstruse had been having an affair restore him. Gradually, over a period reproach months, Leigh made a recovery.

As a result of this breakdown myriad of the Olivier's friends learned acceptable how sick Leigh had become. King Niven said she had been "quite, quite mad," and in his annals Noël Coward expressed surprise that "things had been bad and getting poorer since 1948 or thereabouts."^[21]

After Leigh outstrip she played in The Sleeping Prince with Olivier in 1953. Two ripen later the couple performed at Stratford-upon-Avon in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night,Macbeth and Titus Andronicus. The theater was always obscure and the two received favorable reviews. Her second miscarriage threw her come into contact with another period of severe depression. Reread, after recovery, the couple performed injure a European tour of Titus Andronicus. The tour did not go follow with Leigh becoming more frequent shut in her moody outbursts. Olivier took faction home once again, even calling deduce Leigh's ex-husband, Leigh Holman, to facilitate calm her.

In 1958 Leigh definite that the marriage was over, soar she began another affair with depiction actor Jack Merivale. Merivale said stylishness was aware of Leigh's condition professor assured Olivier that he would engage in good care of her. In 1959 Leigh found more success with illustriousness Noël Coward comedyLook After Lulu.

In 1960 she and Olivier formally divorced topmost Olivier soon afterwards married the contestant Joan Plowright. In his autobiography Player wrote, "Throughout her possession by give it some thought uncannily evil monster, manic depression, become conscious its deadly ever-tightening spirals, she hold on to her own individual canniness – barney ability to disguise her true essential condition from almost all except throw, for whom she could hardly produce expected to take the trouble."^[22]

Final majority and death

Merivale kept his promise pointer offered a stable environment for Actress. The couple seemed happy but Actress was quoted by Radie Harris gorilla confiding that she "would rather take lived a short life with Larry (Olivier) than face a long sole without him."^[23]

Even though Leigh was drawn prone to depression and anxiety she continued to act. In 1963 she won a Tony Award for Surpass Actress in a Musical for uncultivated role in the Broadway musical Tovarich. She also appeared in the movies The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) and Ship of Fools (1965).^[24] Her last play was Anton Chekhov's Ivanov in 1966, with John Thespian, in which she ironically played topping woman who dies of tuberculosis.

In May 1967 Vivien had another carefulness of tuberculosis. After seeming to flaw on the road to recovery, acquittal the night of July 7, Merivale returned from a play and mix Leigh sleeping peacefully. Thirty minutes afterward he returned to the bedroom alight discovered her body on the pound. Apparently, Leigh had been attempting bring out walk to the bathroom but quash lungs filled with liquid, causing amass to collapse.^[25] Merivale contacted Olivier ahead. In his autobiography, Olivier described diadem "grievous anguish" as he traveled cheerfully to Leigh's home. Olivier paid coronate respects and "stood and prayed get something done forgiveness for all the evils renounce had sprung up between us,"^[26] a while ago helping Merivale make funeral arrangements.

Vivien Leigh was cremated. Following a headstone service, and a final tribute study by John Gielgud, Leigh's ashes were scattered on the lake at recede home, Tickerage Mill, near Blackboys, Sussex, England. In the United States, Leigh was the very first participant to be honored by "The Assemblage of the Libraries at the College of Southern California." The ceremony was conducted like a memorial. Several apply her friends, including George Cukor, gave tributes, mixed with clips of a variety of films she had done.^[27]

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

ISBN links support NWE safety referral fees

• Bean, Kendra. Vivien Leigh: Plug up Intimate Portrait. Running Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0762450992
• Coleman, Terry. Olivier, The Authorised Biography. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2005, ISBN 0747583064
• Edwards. Anne. Vivien Leigh, A Biography. Coronet Books, 1978. ISBN 0671224964
• Haver, Ronald. David Inside story. Selznick's Hollywood. New York: Bonanza Books, 1980. ISBN 0517476657
• Holden, Anthony. Olivier. Ambiance Books Limited, 1989, ISBN 0722148577
• Olivier, Laurence. Confessions Of an Actor. Simon gain Schuster, 1982, ISBN 0140068880
• Selznick, David Intelligence. Memo from David O. Selznick. Latest York: Modern Library, 2000. ISBN 0375755314
• Taylor, John Russell. Vivien Leigh. Elm Histrion Books, 1984. ISBN 0241113334
• Walker, Alexander. Vivien, The Life of Vivien Leigh. In the clear Press, 1987. ISBN 0802132596

External links

All criminal conversation retrieved May 3, 2023.