One of my favorite actresses, Vivien Leigh was born this day in 1913.
I could go on forever about her life, loves, films, and influence, but I’ve posted about her several times before, and it’s Friday; I’m sure you’ve things to do!
Vivien Leigh was considered to be one of the most beautiful actresses of her day, and rightfully so in my opinion.
She wasn’t just a great beauty; she was a great actress on both stage and screen, and filmmakers did all they could to enhance and monopolize on that beauty.
Leigh had her own opinion of her acting skills as well as her looks, and considered herself to ‘…look fairly reasonable…’
She added that she thought beauty could be a great handicap.
Director George Cukor described Leigh as a “consummate actress, hampered by beauty”, and Laurence Olivier said that critics should “give her credit for being an actress and not go on forever letting their judgments be distorted by her great beauty.”
Other critics claimed her ‘stunning beauty hampered her career.’
Well, maybe not so much, she did win two Academy Awards!
Her personal life was more tragic than most.
After a lifetime of manic depression that manifested itself in scandalous and dangerous sexual escapades, she married superstar Laurence Olivier only to divorce him in 1960.
Her relationship with John Merivale, which lasted from 1960 until her death, proved to be a stabilizing influence for her.
Later in life, she was said to have offered that she “…would rather have lived a short life with Larry than face a long one without him.”
Her last film was Ship of Fools, a triumph by all standards.
Even though she was ill, she had the courage to go ahead and make the film.
The director said her ‘…performance tinged with paranoia and outbursts…’ marred her relationships with her costars but enhanced the finished product.
In May of 1967, she was rehearsing for Albee’s A Delicate Balance when her tuberculosis resurfaced.
Seeming to recover, her partner, Merivale, left to perform in a play and returned home to find her asleep.
About a half an hour later, he found her body on the floor as she had collapsed while trying to reach the bathroom.
Her lungs filled with fluid, and she suffocated.
Her death was announced the following day, she was 53 years old.
Whether she’s your Scarlett, Blanche, Mary Treadwell, or That Hamilton Woman, her legacy is large.
In my mind, she’s forever Scarlett, forever the 26-year-old playing a 16-year-old Georgia Belle, hampered by beauty.
