Vivien Leigh

Vivien Leigh was an actress who is best known for her role as Scarlett O'Hara in the movie Gone with the Wind. She won two Academy Awards for Gone With the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire. She also performed regularly on stage. She was married and divorced to director Laurence Olivier. She died from tuberculosis in 1967.

Fast Facts

1. Full Name: Vivian Mary Hartley
2. Born: November 5, 1913
3. Birthplace: Darjeeling, India
4. Died: July 8, 1967
5. Starred in Gone With the Wind
6. Won two Oscars
7. Starred in A Streetcar Named Desire
8. Husbands: Herbert Leigh Holman and Laurence Olivier
9. One daughter, Suzanne
10. Died of tuberculosis

Quotes

"After all, tomorrow is another day."--1939, as Scarlett O'Hara ¹

"Doing love scenes with Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind was not that romantic. His dentures smelled something awful."-- ²

"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."-- ³

"Comedy is much more difficult than tragedy-and a much better training, I think. It's much easier to make people cry than to make them laugh."-- ⁴

Personal Life

Vivien Leigh was an only child, born and raised in Ootacamund, India. At age six, she attended boarding school in Roehampton, England. She attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She ended her studies to marry barrister, Herbert Leigh Holman in 1931. Her daughter Suzanne was born two years later.

She began her acting career in 1935 with a small part in Things are Looking Up, after which she changed her name to Vivien Leigh and began acting in more films and plays. She reached international fame with her role as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind. Leigh married director and theater producer Laurence Olivier in 1940, and they worked on several projects together, primarily stage productions.

In 1944, Leigh was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She also suffered from bipolar disorder, which often affected her ability work. In 1953, due to an episode, she was replaced by Elizabeth Taylor in the film Elephant Walk. In 1960, she and Olivier divorced. She died from tuberculosis on July 8, 1967.

Notable Roles

• Cynthia in Fire Over England (1937)
• Victoria "Vickie" Gow in Storm in a Teacup (1937)
• Elsa Craddock in A Yank at Oxford (1938)
• Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (1939)
• Wanda in 21 Days (1940)
• Myra in Waterloo Bridge (1940)
• Cleopatra in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
• Anna Karenina in Anna Karenina (1948)
• Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Notable Stage Roles

• The Mask of Virtue (1935)
• The Skin of Our Teeth (1946)
• The School for Scandal (1948)
• A Streetcar Named Desire (1949)
• Antony and Cleopatra (1951)
• Caesar and Cleopatra (1951)
• The Sleeping Prince (1953)
• Twelfth Night (1953)
• Macbeth (1953)
• Titus Andronicus (1953)

Related Pages on Mahalo

Gone with the Wind Movie | Academy Awards | Clark Gable | Marlon Brando | Laurence Olivier | tuberculosis | Bipolar Disorder | Elizabeth Taylor

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