If a film were made of the life of Vivien Leigh, it would open in India just before World War I, where a successful British businessman could live like a prince. In the mountains above Calcutta, a little princess is born. Because of the outbreak of World War I, she is six years old the first time her parents take her to England. Her mother thinks she should have a proper English upbringing and insists on leaving her in a convent school - even though Vivien is two years younger than any of the other girls at the school. The only comfort for the lonely child is a cat that was in the courtyard of the school that the nuns let her take up to her dormitory. Her first and best friend at the school is an eight-year-old girl, 'Maureen O'Sullivan .
(October 1997) Ranked #48 in Empire magazines "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.
Suffered from bipolar disorder (referred to as "manic depression" at the time of her diagnosis).
Lived with John Merivale from 1959 until her death in 1967.
A heavy smoker, Leigh was smoking almost four packs a day during filming of Gone with the Wind .
Gertrude Hartley, while awaiting the birth of her child in Darjeeling, spent 15 minutes every morning gazing at the Himalayas in the belief that their astonishing beauty would be passed to her unborn child.
After cremation at Golders Green, London, her ashes were scattered on the mill pond at her home, Tickerage Mill, at Blackboys in Sussex.
Scarlett OHara might have been played by an actress called April Morn, a stage name she briefly considered before settling on Vivien Leigh.
Laurence Olivier s first wife, Jill Esmond , named Vivien as co-respondent in her February 1940 divorce from Olivier on grounds of adultery. Vivien would name Joan Plowright - Oliviers next and last wife - as co-respondent in her 1960 divorce from Olivier, also on grounds of adultery.
The producer of the 1935 play "The Mask of Virtue" suggested to her that she change the a in her first name to an e from "Vivian" to "Vivien".
According to legend, Myron Selznick introduced Vivien to his brother - Gone with the Wind producer David O. Selznick - with the words, "Hey, genius! Meet your Scarlett.".
Married Laurence Olivier at San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara on August 31, 1940, with Katharine Hepburn as matron of honor; they honeymooned on actor Ronald Colman s yacht.
A lover of cats, especially Siamese.
Claimed that when she tested for Gone with the Wind , the costume was still warm from the actress who preceded her.
Was offered the supporting role of Isabella in Wuthering Heights , but decided to gamble and hold out for the lead role of Cathy. Director William Wyler thought she was crazy to pass up the opportunity, telling her, "You will never get a better part than Isabella for an American debut." Shortly after, she landed the plum role of Scarlett OHara.
Pictured on one of four 25 US commemorative postage stamps issued March 23, 1990 honoring classic films released in 1939. The stamp features Clark Gable and Leigh as Rhett Butler and Scarlett OHara from Gone with the Wind . The other films honored were Beau Geste , Stagecoach and The Wizard of Oz .
Her favorite role was that of Myra Lester, which she played in Waterloo Bridge .
She took her then husbands first name (Leigh) as her last name when she began acting professionally.
Godmother of actress Juliet Mills and Suzanna Leigh.
Reportedly used one of her two Oscars to doorstop her bathroom.
Kept Laurence Olivier s photograph beside her bed and on her dressing table even after they divorced. Until her death, she was addressed as "Lady Olivier".
She desperately wanted to play the second Mrs. De Winter in Rebecca opposite her husband Laurence Olivier , but producer David O. Selznick thought the role would dilute her value as a Scarlett OHara type and cast Joan Fontaine instead. His decision severely strained her professional relationship with Selznick; neither she nor Olivier ever appeared in one of his films again. Fontaine won her first Academy Award nomination in the role.
Had an affair with actor Peter Finch that nearly ended her marriage to Laurence Olivier. The movie The V.I.P.s is based on an incident from Leighs and Oliviers marriage, when she was about to leave him for Finch but Olivier wooed her back.
Although she was a British subject for her whole life, her ancestry was French and Irish.
Won Broadways 1963 Tony Award as Best Actress for "Tovarich".
Was named #16 Actress on The American Film Institutes 50 Greatest Screen Legends.
She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6773 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.
She was supposed to star in the Paramount film Elephant Walk with Peter Finch and Dana Andrews , but after appearing in a few scenes she was replaced by Elizabeth Taylor. The reasons for Leighs dismissal were rumored to be her difficult nature, having just been diagnosed as a manic-depressive. Further complications may have erupted because of an affair she had with co-star Finch while she was still married to Laurence Olivier , and Leigh and Olivier were still married in 1954.
Laurence Olivier wrote in his autobiography, "Confessions of an Actor", that sometime after World War II, Leigh announced calmly that she was no longer in love with him, but loved him like a brother. Olivier was emotionally devastated. What he did not know at the time was that Leighs declaration -- and her subsequent affairs with multiple partners -- was a signal of the bipolar disorder that eventually disrupted her life and career. Leigh had every intention of remaining married to Olivier, but was no longer interested in him romantically. Olivier himself began having affairs (including one with Claire Bloom in the 1950s, according to Blooms own autobiography) as Leighs eye and amorous intentions wandered and roamed outside of the marital bedchamber. Olivier had to accompany Leigh to Hollywood in 1950 in order to keep an eye on her and keep her out of trouble, to ensure that her manic-depression did not get out of hand and disrupt the production of A Streetcar Named Desire . In order to do so, he accepted a role in William Wyler s Carrie (1952) that was shot at the same time as Streetcar. The Oliviers were popular with Hollywoods elite, and Elia Kazan and Marlon Brando both liked "Larry" very much (that was the reason that Brando gave in his own autobiography for not sleeping with Leigh, whom he thought had a superior posterior -- he could not raid Oliviers "chicken coop" as "Larry was such a nice guy".) None of them knew the depths of the anguish he was enduring as the caretaker of his mentally ill wife. Brando said that Leigh was superior to Jessica Tandy -- the original stage Blanche DuBois -- as she was Blanche. Ironically, Olivier himself had directed Leigh in the role on the London stage.
Peter Finch was discovered by Laurence Olivier in 1948 when Olivier and his theatrical company, which included wife Leigh, were conducting a tour of Australia, Olivier signed the young Aussie to a personal contract and Finch became part of Oliviers theatrical company. He then proceeded to cuckold his mentor and employer by bedding Leigh. Olivier was personally humiliated but ever the trouper, he kept the talented Finch under contract after having brought him back to England, where Finch flourished as an actor. Finch and Leigh carried on a long affair, and since Leigh was bipolar and her manic-depression frequently manifested itself in nymphomania, some speculate that Olivier subconsciously might have been grateful for Finch as he occupied Leighs hours and kept her out of worse trouble and Olivier from even worse embarrassment. Their on-again, off-again affair reportedly reached a crisis point on the movie Elephant Walk , when they had renewed their affair. However, the instability of their relationship allegedly triggered a nervous breakdown in Leigh, and Olivier had to step in to take care of her.
Her performance as Scarlett OHara in Gone with the Wind is ranked #3 on Premiere magazines 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
Eventually, Vivien needed shock therapy to control her manic depression. Sometimes, she would go on stage just hours after her treatments, without missing a beat in her performance.
Was obsessed with hiding her large hands. Gloves were a favorite cover-up, she owned more than 150 pairs. Interestingly enough, one of the frequent descriptions of Viviens most famous character Scarlett OHara in the novel Gone with the Wind is that she has extremely small hands.
Her father was a full-blooded Englishmen, while her mother was of French and Irish ancestry.
Despite her legendary stature, Leigh made fewer than twenty films in her career.
Was close friends with Rachel Kempson , the mother of Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave.
Had four great-grandchildren: Ashua, Amy, Sophie and Tessa. The great-grandchildren, the girls in particular, bear a striking resemblance to Suzanne.
Was the first British actress to receive an Academy Award. She won the Best Actress Oscar for Gone with the Wind in February 1940.
As of 2013, she is only one of six actors who have a 2-0 winning record when nominated for an acting Oscar. The others are Luise Rainer for The Great Ziegfeld and The Good Earth ; Helen Hayes for The Sin of Madelon Claudet and Airport ; Kevin Spacey for The Usual Suspects and American Beauty ; Hilary Swank for Boys Dont Cry and Million Dollar Baby ; and Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained .
When making Gone with the Wind , super macho director Victor Fleming wanted Scarlett, for at least once in the film, to look like his hunting buddy Clark Gable s type of woman. So, when wearing the stunning low-cut burgundy velvet dress with rhinestones that Scarlett wears to Ashley Wilkes birthday party in the second half of the film, to achieve the desired cleavage for Fleming, Walter Plunkett had to tape Vivien Leighs breasts together.
After Joan Crawford quit filming Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte , Leigh was offered her role which she turned down. Olivia de Havilland , Leighs co-star in Gone with the Wind was then offered and accepted the role.
The nickname Vivling was given to her by her father. Its a combination of her name and the word darling.
Was offered the role of Alice Aisgill in Room at the Top , which she turned down. Simone Signoret was cast instead and she went on to receive a Best Actress Oscar for her performance.
Stepmother of Tarquin Olivier.
Returned to work sixteen months after giving birth to her daughter Suzanne Farrington in order to begin performing in the stage production entitled "The Green Sash".
She died after collapsing at home from complications from an attack of tuberculosis on July 7, 1967. That evening lights of West End theater marquees were kept dark for an hour in her honor.
Became pregnant twice (in 1944 and 1955) during her marriage to Laurence Olivier ; she suffered miscarriages on both occasions.
For her performance as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire , she won the first British Academy Award for Best Actress at the newly inaugurated BAFTA Awards ceremony in 1953.
Is one of 14 Best Actress Oscar winners to have not accepted their Academy Award in person, Leighs being for A Streetcar Named Desire . The others are Katharine Hepburn , Claudette Colbert , Joan Crawford , Judy Holliday , Anna Magnani , Ingrid Bergman , Sophia Loren , Anne Bancroft , Patricia Neal , Elizabeth Taylor , Maggie Smith , Glenda Jackson and Ellen Burstyn.
Was the 14th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for Gone with the Wind at The 12th Academy Awards on February 29, 1940.
Along with Glenda Jackson and Dame Maggie Smith she is one of only three British actresses to have won an Academy Award on two occasions: Leigh won Best Actress for Gone with the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire while Jackson won Best Actress for Women in Love and A Touch of Class and Smith won Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Best Supporting Actress for California Suite . Although Elizabeth Taylor - who won Best Actress for BUtterfield 8 and Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - was born in London, her parents were American and she was raised in the United States from the age of three.
Is one of 11 actresses who won the Best Actress Oscar for a move that also won the Best Picture Oscar (she won for Gone with the Wind ). The others are Claudette Colbert for It Happened One Night , Luise Rainer for The Great Ziegfeld , Greer Garson for Mrs. Miniver , Louise Fletcher for One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest , Diane Keaton for Annie Hall , Shirley MacLaine for Terms of Endearment , Jessica Tandy for Driving Miss Daisy , Jodie Foster for The Silence of the Lambs , Gwyneth Paltrow for Shakespeare in Love and Hilary Swank for Million Dollar Baby .
Is one of 12 actresses who won the Best Actress Oscar for playing a character who is pregnant at some point during the film; hers being for Gone with the Wind . The others are Helen Hayes for The Sin of Madelon Claudet , Luise Rainer for The Good Earth , Ginger Rogers for Kitty Foyle , Olivia de Havilland for To Each His Own , Jane Wyman for Johnny Belinda , Anna Magnani for The Rose Tattoo , Julie Christie for Darling , Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl , Liza Minnelli for Cabaret , Sissy Spacek for Coal Miners Daughter and Frances McDormand for Fargo .
Gave birth to her only child at age 19, a daughter named Suzanne Mary Holman (aka Suzanne Farrington ) on October 10, 1933 in a London nursing home. Childs father is her now ex-first ex-husband, Herbert Holman.
Had three grandsons: Neville Farrington (born December 4, 1958), Jonathan Farrington (born May 13, 1961) and Rupert Farrington (born August 31, 1962).
Her only child, daughter Suzanne Farrington , died on March 1, 2015 at age 81.
Although she is British, she won both her Oscars for portraying American southern belles.
The houses Leigh lived in when filming Gone with the Wind and Ship of Fools are shown in Hollywood Mouth 3 . The director of that film, Jordan Mohr , had portrayed Simone Signoret in the stage play "Two Simones: de Beauvoir and Signoret in Hollywood" in which Signoret recalled being invited to the elegant dinner parties Leigh gave during "Ship of Fools" (Signoret was one of the other stars in the film): "They were cooked by a real Cordon Bleu chef. She was as beautiful as she had been at the time of Scarlett OHara; she had fabulous memories of this town, and she clung to them. At the end of the evenings the phonograph played the theme from Gone with the Wind; it made her sad, but she did it deliberately. From one moment to another she was scintillating or desperate.".
Actresses go on for a long time and there are always marvelous parts to,play.
Most of us have compromised with life. Those who fight for what they,want will always thrill us.
Life is too short to work so hard. .
