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Noel Coward called the beautiful actress Vivien Leigh Shakespeare’s ‘lass unparalleled’.  She shone as the gutsy Scarlett in “Gone with the Wind“; wrenched hearts in “Waterloo Bridge” and was the perfect choice for the tormented Blanche in Tennessee William’s “A Streetcar named Desire“.  Magnetic and talented, Vivien Leigh had a brilliant career and a great love affair with the handsome young English actor Laurence Olivier.  Unfortunately, her life was afflicted with severe manic depression for which there was no cure.  If Vivien had not had to endure this, her career may have been even more illustrious and her marriage to Laurence Olivier may have lasted.

Born in India on November 5, 1913, exotic looking young Vivien came from an Irish, French and Roman Catholic heritage.  Like Scarlett in “Gone with the Wind”, the most famous character she played, Vivien was convent educated.  She went to school in England after her parents returned from India in 1920.

Skilled at drama, Vivien was accepted into the prestigious Academy of Dramatic Art, but her studies were cut short when she married Herbert Leigh Holman, a barrister, at the tender age of eighteen.  Herbert was much older at thirty-one.  They had a daughter, Suzanne, but Vivien was ambitious and showed more interest in acting than motherhood.

Her film career began with a minor role in “Things are Looking Up”.  After Vivien decided to adopt Leigh as her professional surname she made three more minor films, but remained relatively unnoticed, to her chagrin.  Pretty and vivacious, Vivien was determined to get ahead. 

Her luck changed when Alexander Korda, the great producer, spotted her, casting her as a lady-in-waiting in “Fire Over England“, about the English queen, Elizabeth 1.  This was not only the turning-point in her film career:  Vivien played next to the dashing and charismatic Laurence Olivier.  Passionate and good-looking, the young couple, both married to others, could not hide their attraction to each other.  It was love at first sight for Vivien, at least, as soon as she saw the tall and darkly handsome Olivier.                     

Gone with the Wind became a bestseller in 1939. As soon as it became known that David O’Selznick would direct the film, famous actresses, such as Norma Shearer and Bette Davis clamored for the part of Scarlett.  Scarlett, a beautiful young Southern belle, lost everything in the Civil War but managed to begin again.  The book had everything: unrequited love, war, suffering and an unforgettable heroine in Scarlett, and hero in Rhett Butler.  When Vivien Leigh first read this great drama she was determined to play Scarlett.

David O’Selznick began filming “Gone With The Wind” without his Scarlett.  Although actress after actress tested for the part all were deemed unsuitable.  Vivien was in Hollywood at the time with Laurence, who was acting in “Wuthering Heights” with William Wyler.  Wyler, impressed with Vivien’s talent, introduced her to his agent, the brother of David O’Selznick.  Myron knew that Vivien could be the Scarlett his brother needed.

He took her to the set as the first scene ‘The Burning of Atlanta’ was being filmed.  Scarlett and Rhett have to guide an old wagon through an Atlanta cruelly set on fire by Sherman’s army in this scene.  The problem was that there was no Scarlett.  The back lot really was set alight, and the scene was set, except for Scarlett.  As green-eyed, raven-haired Vivien stepped onto the set lit up by the brilliant glow of the flames, Myron told his brother:  “David, I want you to meet Scarlett O’Hara.”

Myron was right.  No other actress could have played Scarlett better than Vivien, who made this selfish but courageous and lively character come to life.  Deservedly, she won the Oscar for best actress.

This is her best-known and undoubtedly best-loved role but Vivien also made other memorable films. These included “Waterloo Bridge”, in which she played a young girl forced to turn to prostitution to make a living during The Second World War, and “That Hamilton Woman“, in which she played Emma to Laurence Olivier’s Nelson.

Vivien unfortunately started to suffer severely because her manic episodes increased.  During the filming of “Elephant Walk”, set in Sri Lanka, she drank and began an affair with the Australian Peter Finch.  Eventually she had to be taken back to England and another actress, Elizabeth Taylor, took over.  Manic depression was not understood in those days and Vivien was sent to a psychiatric hospital where she had to endure hydrotherapy and terrifying electric shock treatment.  Her miscarriage at the age of forty-two only made her more depressed.

Laurence Olivier continued to achieve brilliant success on the stage and in films.  He was knighted in 1947, but Vivien’s career continued to head downhill.  This upset her greatly.

When Vivien discovered that Laurence had begun to see another actress, Joan Plowright, Vivien became even more unhappy and bought a place in Sussex where she could spend some time alone.  Laurence married Joan Plowright three months after their divorce in 1960.

Vivien married again - to Jack Merivale, a fellow actor whom she had met long before in the stage production of “Romeo and Juliet”.  In spite of her sadness about Larry, the love of her life, and her continuing manic depression she managed to achieve some success in the sixties, winning a Tony and a second Oscar.   Vivien Leigh died in 1967 of TB.