Vivien Leigh

BORN

November 5, 1913

DIED

July 8, 1967

OCCUPATION

actress

FAMOUS FOR

role of Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind"

Facts

Romanced with...

John Buckmaster
Peter Finch

Favorite perfume

'Joy' by Jean Patou

Lacked talent with...

painting - Viv was initially interested in it and even took classes to learn to draw, but with very poor results.

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Career

timeframe	events
1920-1935	childhood years
1935	first agent, first play, work with Basil Dean
1935	The Mask of Virtue (play)
1936-1937	failed productions, Fire Over England
1937-1938	busy years before Gone with the Wind
1940-1941	Rebecca, Waterloo Bridge, Romeo and Juliet, That Hamilton Woman
1942-1945	The Doctor’s Dilemma, Caesar and Cleopatra
1945-1948	The Skin of Our Teeth, Anna Karenina, The School for Scandal
1949-1954	Antigone, A Streetcar Named Desire, two Cleopatras, Elephant Walk
1953-1960	The Sleeping Prince, The Deep Blue Sea, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre plays, South Sea Bubble, Duel of Angels, Look After Lulu
1949-1954	The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, Tovarich, Ship of Fools, La Contessa, Ivanov

Childhood years

birth
initial theatre contact
leaving India for convent

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Family

father: Ernest Hartley
mother: Gertrude Robinson Yackje
daughter: Suzanne Farrington

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Personality

agreeableness

40%

conscientiousness

95%

extraversion

90%

neuroticism

80%

openness

80%

reputation

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Relationships

timeframe	with	status
1932-1940	Herbert Leigh Holman	married
1940-1960	Laurence Olivier	married
1960-1967	Jack Merivale	in a relationship

History of mental illness

timeframe	events
1913-1931	childhood in India, move to a convent
1938-1945	Gone with the Wind, World War 2
1945-1954	Caesar & Cleopatra, Elephant Walk
1956-1967	end of Olivier marriage, relationship with Merivale

Physical health problems, death

Leigh's history of neglecting and abusing of her body
recurring cases of pulmonary tuberculosis
cause of death

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Various articles

	subject
	Leigh's WW2 contributions
	Schools attended
	Houses owned/rented
	Cats of Vivien Leigh

Trivia

Vivien Leigh was the first ever British actress to receive an Oscar. She won it in the "Best actress" category for her biggest classic - Gone with the Wind.
Vivien Leigh's parents were French and Irish and so were Scarlett O’Hara’s (Gone with the Wind's main character's). This coincidence might have helped her land that role.
Inspired by Rudyard Kipling's novel Kim, Vivien Leigh's mom played a game with her while Vivien was still a baby: she would put different objects on a tray, wait for her daughter to memorize them and cleared the tray. Viv had to say which objects had been there and where they were exactly. The game must have greatly contributed to Vivien's amazing memory in adult life.

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Interviews

year	title	interviewer
1958	Small World	Edward R. Murrow