Vivien Leigh (270 photos)

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Vivian Mary Hartley was born in November 1913 in India, which was then a British colony. Her mother, a devout Catholic, sent her seven-year-old daughter to a convent school, already in England. The girl did not like the monastic asceticism, but it was he who instilled in Vivian a strong will and the ability to go towards her goal. She studied well and eventually received an excellent education. She especially loved history, literature, painting, and music. Very early on I realized my talent and made the decision: 'I will become a great actress!'

It so happened that immediately after school, Vivian married lawyer Lee Holman, who was 14 years older than her. A year later they had a daughter, but Vivian did not give up her dream of the screen and stage. The husband was against these plans, and yet Vivian managed to play tiny roles in commercials, episodes in films, and in the theater. Her first success came when Vivien Leigh (this became her artistic pseudonym) played in the play 'The Mask of Virtue'. In theater circles in London, the aspiring actress was taken seriously.

Meanwhile, Vivien Leigh experienced a real shock - actor Laurence Olivier became her idol both in heart and in art. She went to all his performances, met Larry, and firmly decided to link her destiny with him forever. But the actor was married, Vivienne herself was also married, and at first their relationship remained just sympathy. Olivier later recalled that he was fascinated by Vivienne’s “amazing, unimaginable” beauty. Together they went to Hollywood to film the film Fire Over England. Passionate love broke out here, as it turned out for Vivien - until the end of her life.

Neither Laurence Olivier's wife nor Vivien Leigh's husband gave a divorce for a long time. The star couple was able to officially get married only six years later. By that time, Vivienne was already famous throughout the world. The epic 'Gone with the Wind' won the hearts of millions of moviegoers.
Success and the beginning of tragedy

The novel Gone with the Wind was almost a national treasure of the United States. When the message came that a film adaptation of it was being prepared, all of America was watching who would play the main roles in the future film. Almost one and a half thousand actresses, including the most famous Hollywood stars, applied for the role of the main character Scarlett. And when the producer chose the Englishwoman Vivien Leigh, many were overcome by doubts. But Vivien played so brilliantly that the Americans recognized her as one of their own. She received her first Oscar for this role (she will receive her second twelve years later for the film A Streetcar Named Desire).

Vivien Leigh's fame on both sides of the Atlantic was unheard of. Films with her participation (for example, the well-known 'Lady Hamilton' and 'Waterloo Bridge') were received with delight. The husband began to treat Vivienne’s success with a degree of irritation and jealousy. Relations in the acting family were not as rosy as Larry and Vivienne said in public, as the press wrote about it. The acting couple acted in films together, played on stage together, and from the outside their life looked like a happy fairy tale. But, as in fairy tales, behind the facade of success and joy a cruel drama was brewing.

Back in 1945, Vivien Leigh was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. The disease affected the actress’s psyche; fits of madness began, during which Vivien threw herself at her husband with her fists, and then did not remember anything. She was treated for both tuberculosis and mental illness, including terrible electric shock sessions, but it only got worse. Vivienne was not a very diligent patient; she believed that the best medicine was Larry's love. She wanted to have a child, but it didn’t work out for her. In rare moments, Vivien managed to perform in films and on stage. However, the progressive illness led both Laurence Olivier and Vivienne to greater and greater despair.
The last wind of death

Tired of hopelessness, Laurence Olivier started an affair with a young actress. On Vivien’s 45th birthday, he gave his wife a wildly expensive Rolls-Royce and immediately announced a divorce. Of course, Vivien went through the divorce very hard, but she never allowed anyone to speak badly about Larry. And although there were men near her - from new to old friends, Vivien did not go on love affairs, hoping, contrary to common sense, that Larry would return to her.

After Vivien Leigh's death, it was established that doctors, when prescribing her treatment for tuberculosis, prescribed a drug that turned out to cause mental disorders. It turns out that the more she was treated, the more she was destroyed. The actress needed peace, affection, love, and gentle treatment most of all. But that was precisely what she lacked. And the attacks were very severe - once, in a fit of madness, Vivien Leigh even tried to jump out of a plane while moving.

Only the strong-willed character of a girl from a convent school allowed Vivien to find the strength for many years to smile and joke, to be a good friend to her friends, and to remain a great actress who continues to delight fans of theater and cinema. But everything comes to an end. In the last days of May 1967, the attending physician told Vivien that tuberculosis had taken over both lungs, that the situation was critical and that she needed help.long stay in the hospital. Tired of the useless treatment, Vivien refused. And a month and a half later, on July 7, 1967, the greatest actress of the 20th century died. She was just over fifty years old, her talent had not yet dried up, she could also dance on stage and play a tragedy. But evil fate made her life and death a tragedy. The last wind carried Vivien Leigh into the now posthumous glory.