Vivien Leigh (/liË /; 5 November 1913 â€" 8 July 1967; born Vivian
Mary Hartley and styled as Lady Olivier after 1947) was a British
stage and film actress. She won two Academy Awards for Best Actress,
for her definitive 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).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).
Lauded for her beauty, Leigh felt that her physical attributes
sometimes prevented her from being taken seriously as an actress.
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.At the time, the public strongly identified Leigh with
her second husband, Laurence Olivier, who was her spouse from 1940 to
1960. Leigh and Olivier starred together in many stage productions,
with Olivier often directing, and in three films. She earned a
reputation for being difficult to work with, and for much of her adult
life, she had bipolar disorder, as well as recurrent bouts of chronic
tuberculosis, which was first diagnosed in the mid-1940s and
ultimately killed her at the age of 53. 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.
Mary Hartley and styled as Lady Olivier after 1947) was a British
stage and film actress. She won two Academy Awards for Best Actress,
for her definitive 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).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).
Lauded for her beauty, Leigh felt that her physical attributes
sometimes prevented her from being taken seriously as an actress.
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.At the time, the public strongly identified Leigh with
her second husband, Laurence Olivier, who was her spouse from 1940 to
1960. Leigh and Olivier starred together in many stage productions,
with Olivier often directing, and in three films. She earned a
reputation for being difficult to work with, and for much of her adult
life, she had bipolar disorder, as well as recurrent bouts of chronic
tuberculosis, which was first diagnosed in the mid-1940s and
ultimately killed her at the age of 53. 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.
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