Vivien Leigh

Born in Darjeeling, Bengal Presidency, British India, Vivien Leigh was convent-educated in England and throughout Europe, becoming fluent in both French and Italian. She went on to study acting at RADA, but put her career temporarily on hold at age 19 when she married Leigh Holman and had his daughter. Replacing the 'a' in her first name with an 'e', Vivian Hartley used her husband's name to craft a more glamorous stage name, Vivien Leigh. She made both her onstage and film debuts in 1935, starring in the play The Bash, and landing the lead role in the movie Things are Looking Up. Performing Shakespearean plays at the Old Vic was where she met and fell in love with Laurence Olivier, and embarked on a very public affair. In 1940 they married, forming a powerhouse couple in the showbusiness world. It was in 1939 that she achieved film immortality, playing the iconic role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind.

Vivien Leigh succumbed to tuberculosis at the age of 53.

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