Vivien leigh and laurence olivier

British actress (1913–1967)

Vivien Leigh (LEE; born Vivian Mary Hartley; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. After completing her drama school education, Leigh appeared in small roles in four films in 1935 and progressed to the role of heroine in Fire Over England (1937). She then won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for her performances as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939) and Blanche DuBois in the film version of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), a role she had also played on stage in London's West End in 1949. She also won a Tony Award for her work in the Broadway musical version of Tovarich (1963).

Despite her fame as a screen actress, Leigh was primarily a stage performer. During her 30-year career, she played roles ranging from the heroines of Noël Coward and George Bernard Shaw comedies to classic Shakespearean characters such as Ophelia, Cleopatra, Juliet and Lady Macbeth. Later in life, she performed as a character actress in a few films. Although her career had periods of inactivity, in 1999 the American Film Institute ranked Leigh as the 16th-greatest female movie star of classic Hollywood cinema. Also laud

by David Niven
Modern Screen, July 1947

I’ve seen Laurence Olivier play Richard the Third, King Lear, and Oedipus, which critics have labeled the finest acting of our times. But the most exciting performance I ever saw Larry give, took place in my own house one night when I watched him carve a roast goose.

It was during the war in England. I was stationed with my family near Windsor, about ten miles from Denham, where Larry and Viv lived while Larry produced his film masterpiece, Henry V.

The goose was pure manna from Heaven. It arrived one day as a gift from relatives in Scotland. I immediately invited the Oliviers to dinner–but unfortunately I didn’t stop there. In no time, I had twenty eager acceptances for a feast. When my wife took the goose from the oven, I almost fainted. It had shrunken sadly. Four hungry people, I realized, could murder that bird with ease. Larry saw the dismay on my face.

“What’s the matter, old boy?” he asked calmly. I explained.

“Let me carve,” suggested Larry. I handed him the knife and in no time the bones were sliced neatly bare and twenty plates were heaping with goose. I have no idea how he did it. But if there’s been a greater commissary miracle since Moses I don’t know what is!

Another time, I saw Larry conquer another awkward situation–with a different sort of bird–by sheer force of personality and talent.

It was during the war, too, down at Aldershot, where thousands of British soldiers trained. One night he took a dramatic company to the stronghold of the British Tommy. Larry was a Navy man and so were his players. To make matters worse, they were dressed as British soldiers. He was greeted with the English version of the Bronx Cheer, and believe me, a “bird” is just as loud and devastating in Britain as it is in the good old USA.

Larry paid no attention to the raucous Army razz for the Navy–because that’s what it was.

Has spring arrived where you are? We still seem to be stuck in the doldrums of winter here in Northern England. There was a metaphorical bright spot about a week ago when I learned that my book, Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait, was translated into simplified Chinese and published in China! They’ve apparently changed the title to something like Vivien Leigh: Forever Gone With the Wind (because sure, why not!) and the cover is different as well. But the photos and, I’m assuming, the content remain the same. I quite like the design!

What do you all think?

In other news, the weather is horrible today, a perfect excuse to say in with a cup of tea and a box of Viv and Larry ephemera. Work on digitising and cataloguing the Richard Mangan Laurence Olivier Collection continues apace. I’m currently finishing up with box 7 and have repackaged 11 boxes of material, thanks to the support and generosity of the Viv and Larry Patrons. Some people may find cataloguing archives to be boring and tedious, but I actually really like getting stuck in with this sort of work. It gives me an opportunity to carefully look at and consider each photograph, playbill, etc. Plus, it’s kind of soothing. I do it all the time during my day job. Just stick my headphones in, turn on Spotify, and off I go.

Here are some highlights from Box 5. As of this writing, I’m up to 1947 in Olivier’s stage career and have catalogued 784 individual pieces of ephemera.