The couple lived together from 1960 until Leigh's death in 1967. An impressive list of Hollywood's top actresses, including Katharine Hepburn and Bette Davis, had long been vying for the part by the time Leigh, who was on a two-week vacation in California, took and passed the screen test. [18] When her father died on 8 February 1982, Suzanne inherited the Zeals house. "Vivien is several thousand miles away, trembling on the edge of a cliff, even when she's sitting quietly in her own drawing room," Olivier once said. "[50], Quoted in a 2006 biography of Olivier, Olivia de Havilland defended Leigh against claims of her manic behaviour during the filming of Gone with the Wind: "Vivien was impeccably professional, impeccably disciplined on Gone with the Wind. [56] Waterloo Bridge (1940) was to have starred Olivier and Leigh; however, Selznick replaced Olivier with Robert Taylor, then at the peak of his success as one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most popular male stars. "Please please my angel send me word of what the doctor said, + if it is possible ask him to send me a report," he wrote from Paris. [95] Olivier returned her to their home in Britain, where, between periods of incoherence, Leigh told him she was in love with Finch and had been having an affair with him. Leigh took a break from filming and was never able to fully recover enough to continue the focus on the role of Cleopatra. [74] After their divorce, according to the style granted to the divorced wife of a knight, she became known socially as Vivien, Lady Olivier. Leigh and Olivier went on to star together in films such as 21 Days Together (1940) and That Hamilton Woman (1941), as well as a stage performance of Romeo and Juliet on Broadway. Olivier helped Merivale make funeral arrangements and stayed with Leigh until her body was removed. This negative review made Leigh become fixated on failure and terrified of receiving other negative criticisms. [143] Leigh was also portrayed by Katie McGuinness in the Netflix miniseries Hollywood (2020). [66] Winston Churchill arranged a screening for a party that included Franklin D. Roosevelt 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." 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. In a letter to Leigh, Olivier advised her it was for the best, according to the Guardian. Her fragile mental state made every day of filming more and more difficult, but she managed to finished and Ship of Fools received rave reviews. [25] John Betjeman, the future poet laureate, described her as "the essence of English girlhood". About 30 minutes later (by now 8 July), he entered the bedroom and discovered her body on the floor. At one point in the pre-production, Katharine Hepburn was considered for the role of Mary Treadwell, but dropped out and was replaced by Leigh. Vivien Leigh - IMDb Getty Images. The actress was immediately sent back home to Britain, where she underwent period of incoherence and confessed to her husband that shed been having an affair with Finch, according to The Guardian. The pair continued to co-star in movies and plays, but tried to stay out of the limelight, often taking breaks of several years between filmsthis was partly due to the deteriorating state of Leigh's mental health, as increasingly severe bouts of manic depression strained her relationship with Olivier and made it difficult for her to perform. RM F2AWB8 - British actress Vivien Leigh shown with Canadian born actor John Merivale. While filming Caesar and Cleopatra in 1945, Leigh learned she was pregnant but soon suffered a miscarriage, which is said to have happened after the actress slipped on set. [123] The ceremony was conducted as a memorial service, with selections from her films shown and tributes provided by such associates as George Cukor, who screened the tests that Leigh had made for Gone with the Wind, the first time the screen tests had been seen in 30 years. [101], In 1956, Leigh took the lead role in the Nol Coward play South Sea Bubble, but withdrew from the production when she became pregnant. [11] One of her friends there was future actress Maureen O'Sullivan, two years her senior, to whom Vivian expressed her desire to become "a great actress". Actors Sir Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, at the wedding of actor Frank Thring and model Joan Cunliffe, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, November. database and images (https . In 1994, the National Library of Australia 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. [9] Gertrude Hartley tried to instill an appreciation of literature in her daughter and introduced her to the works of Hans Christian Andersen, Lewis Carroll and Rudyard Kipling, as well as stories of Greek mythology and Indian folklore. Thomas, Bob quoting Olivia de Havilland. Despite the couples hardships and Leighs break downs both on and off stage, newly uncovered love letters between the couple reveal important details that outline the evolution of their romance. [115] Merivale first contacted her family and later was able to reach Olivier, who was receiving treatment for prostate cancer in a nearby hospital. In February 1938, Leigh made a request to Myron Selznick that she be considered to play the part of Scarlett O'Hara.
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