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| Vivien Leigh - Her Story | |||
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| Vivien Leigh - Her Story | |||
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A bold, determined, charming and confident aristocrat of French Irish descent, Vivian Mary Hartley (born in Darjeeling, India, on November 5, 1913) seemed destined to one day portray Hollywood’s most famous heroine, Scarlett O’Hara. For six years, Vivian lived the life of a little princess in Calcutta, in a near perfect imitaton of British society created by the Englishmen living there at the time. Her father, Ernest Hartley, a businessman, was an exceptional actor in his spare time, and would perform for his friends at the English amateur theater. Soon, the astonishingly beautiful Vivian was asked to perform as well, aged only three at the time. Her Catholic mother, Gertrude Yackjee, was concerned about the little girl’s education in such an exotic environment. Therefore, it was decided that Vivian would be sent to the Sacred Heart, a convent school in Roehampton, England. Aged seven, she was the youngest girl ever to be admitted to the institution, and because she was so polite and pretty, the nuns and the other girls were soon trying to make her feel better. She was even allowed a pet cat. Vivian grew up with the firm intention to become, in her words, "a great actress", and finished her education in France, Italy and Germany. In 1931, this beautiful young woman decided to enrol at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA). It was around that time that she met Herbert Leigh Holman, the man that would become her first husband (1932) and father of her only daughter, Suzanne (1933). Even though Vivian enjoyed life as a married woman and mother, it wasn’t enough to make her forget her acting career, so she was back at RADA and pursuing a career in films by 1934. The following year she appeared in small parts in the films The Village Squire, Things Are Looking Up, Look Up and Laugh and Gentlemen's Agreement. It was also in 1935 that she would be acclaimed as a great performer, after the success of her second professional play, The Mask of Virtue-- the first one had been The Green Sash, in the same year. She signed a contract with Alexander Korda and was advised to change her name, so Vivian Holman became Vivien Leigh. By that time she had fallen in love with a fellow actor, Laurence Olivier. Married to actress Jill Esmond and father of a little boy, Olivier was a rising star of the English theater. He wasn’t able to resist Vivien for long. They became lovers also on the silver screen, when Korda signed them to star in Fire Over England (1937). By July of that year, the lovers decided to live together. Vivien would appear in Dark Journey, Storm in a Teacup, A Yank at Oxford (1938) and Sidewalks of London (1938). In 21 Days (1940), she and Olivier were together again. In 1938, Laurence left for Hollywood to play Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights (1939). Vivien sailed to America after him, and since their plan of having her star opposite him had failed, she was determined to land the part of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind. Producer David O. Selznick had been searching for the perfect girl to portray Margaret Mitchell’s stubborn heroine for almost two years. Every star and starlet had been tested, thousands of dollars had been spent, and still there was no Scarlett. Since Olivier’s agent in America was Selznick’s brother, Myron, Vivien had no trouble getting to him. In the night of December 10, 1938 David was burning old sets at MGM's back lot to make room for his 1860s Atlanta, and filming it as "the burning of Atlanta" scene. It was there, in the light of the fading flames, that he first saw Vivien Leigh in her wide black hat, with her magnolia skin and feline eyes. She was cast in less than two weeks time. The overwhelming phenomenon of Gone with the Wind was unprecedented, and Vivien was awarded an Oscar for her unforgettable performance of a Southern Belle. From that moment onwards, wherever she went, she would always be recognised as Scarlett O’Hara. In the 1940s, Vivien became the second Mrs. Olivier (1940), starred in Waterloo Bridge (1940), her favorite among her films, and once again with Laurence in That Hamilton Woman (1941). They became the most famous and romantic couple in theater, and Olivier’s career flourished. In 1943, during the shooting of Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), Vivien suffered a miscarriage, and in 1945, recovered from tuberculosis. In 1947, Olivier was knighted (Vivien became Lady Olivier) and in 1948, Vivien starred in Anna Karenina. By this time she was having maniac-depressive attacks, and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In 1949, Olivier directed Vivien in the London production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. Given her condition, the play was an enormous effort for Vivien and her performance of Blanche DuBois was fantastic. In 1951 she won her second Oscar, for the film version of A Streetcar Named Desire. Her portrayal of yet another southern woman was the one performance capable to compete with the myth of Scarlett. She suffered a nervous breakdown while filming Elephant Walk (1954) in Ceylon, and was replaced by Elizabeth Taylor. Her next film would be The Deep Blue Sea (1955). In 1957 she suffered another miscarriage. By the end of the decade, the Oliviers' marriage was sinking. They were divorced in 1960. By this time, Vivien had become involved with John (Jack) Merivale, the man who would be her lover, companion and caretaker for the rest of her life. Her last major film role was that of actress Karen Stone in Tennessee Williams' The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961). In 1963, she won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Tovarich) and in 1965 she made her last film, Ship of Fools. O July 7, 1967 she was found dead by Jack Merivale, after a severe attack of tuberculosis. The next day, the lights in London's theater district were blacked out for an hour in tribute to the actress, and newspaper headlines all over the world read "Scarlett O’Hara found dead". The End © 2008 by Fabricio Longo
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