Vivien Leigh Biography: The Life Behind Hollywood’s Iconic Characters

Vivian Mary Hartley was born in 1913 in India. After marrying and having her daughter, Vivian went on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, soon landing small roles in films. She then changed her name from Vivian to Vivien, adopting her husband’s surname, Leigh. One of her early films was Look Up and Laugh (1935). Her delicate voice and cherubic face initially led many to doubt her future success, but she persisted in theater, achieving great acclaim with The Mask of Virtue, which caught the attention of actor Laurence Olivier.

In 1937, she starred alongside Olivier in Fire Over England. That same year, she demonstrated her comedic talent in Storm in a Teacup with Rex Harrison, and later impressed alongside Charles Laughton as a street performer in St. Martin’s Lane.

In the United States, Vivien was chosen to play the Southern heroine Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). The role won her the first of two Academy Awards. Her career continued with major successes such as A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), which earned her a second Oscar.

Her final film role was in Ship of Fools (1965). Vivien Leigh passed away from tuberculosis in 1967 at the age of 53.

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Carla Marinho Leal

Writer, traveler and above all, curious about many subjects. She has studied cinema since 2002 and is a Specialist in Cinematographic Studies from UNICAP. Founder of the blog Purviance and the website Cinemaclássico. She loves Charles Chaplin, Raj Kapoor and constantly browses films from all over the world.

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