Vivien: The Life of Vivien LeighGrove Press, 1994 - 342 Seiten "My birth sign is Scorpio and they eat themselves up and burn themselves out. I swing between happiness and misery. I am part prude and part non-conformist. I say what I think and I don't pretend and I am prepared to accept the consequences of my actions."--Vivien Leigh When Vivien Leigh died in 1967, headlines around the world proclaimed, "Scarlett O'Hara is Dead!" Perhaps more than any of her contemporaries, Vivien Leigh became the very embodiment of the roles she made famous, from Gone With the Wind's immortal heroine to her harrowing portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. Vivien's beauty, determination, and enormous charisma were her triumph, whether it was a matter of charming George Bernard Shaw in order to become his personal choice for the part of Scarlett--or winning the then-married Laurence Olivier as her husband. Her twenty-years' partnership with Olivier, both onstage and off, made them the "royal couple" of the theater, and garnered unparalleled critical and popular acclaim. But the achievement had its darker side, for Vivien became so immersed in her roles that she began to take on their characteristics in real life--often at enormous cost: playing Blanche DuBois actually "tipped her into madness"; and while filming Ship of Fools, she found herself hammering co-star Lee Marvin's face with very real--and painful--blows of her spiked heel. The public glamour of her fairy tale marriage to Olivier--so desperately important to them both--hid a private nightmare of violence and frequent infidelity. She was consumed by devastating battles against tuberculosis, to which she finally succumbed, and manic-depression, which she sought to keep at bay through a voracious sexual appetite, having affair after affair--sometimes serious, as with Peter Finch, sometimes with whichever taxi driver happened to bring her home. Based on previously unpublished interviews with her friends, family, and colleagues, as well as with Vivien Leigh herself, Vivien is an extraordinary picture of a unique and complex woman, as willful as she was beautiful, who knew what she wanted--whether the coveted role of Scarlett or that, equally coveted, of Lady Olivier--and got it. With its telling anecdotes, fascinating insights, and unforgettable glimpses into Hollywood's heyday, it is sure to stand as the definitive portrait of one of the most talented and tormented actresses of all time. |
Inhalt
Foreword and Acknowledgments | 1 |
Notley Abbey | 7 |
LEIGH | 19 |
I wont sing Ill recite | 21 |
You deserve to be kissed | 28 |
Had a baby a girl | 38 |
I will not be ignored | 49 |
What a virile performance | 62 |
Walking corpses | 183 |
I dont love you any more | 195 |
Why not Peter Finch? | 204 |
I thought you were my friend | 210 |
But darling the godparents have been chosen | 218 |
Eva Peron was lucky she died at thirtythree | 230 |
JACK | 241 |
I love you every day of the year | 243 |
Were in love | 75 |
I shall play Scarlett OHara | 84 |
LARRY | 97 |
Ill only be gone a few days | 99 |
Please do not tell anybody about this | 110 |
I shall never be happy here | 121 |
Send back the wine | 134 |
Perhaps I saw you as a danger | 147 |
Time is very precious to us all | 157 |
I have everything at Notley including Larry | 172 |
Warren shall we dance? | 255 |
What time is it in London? | 267 |
Does Larry know? | 275 |
My love will be keeping you company | 285 |
Tickerage | 296 |
Chronology | 305 |
Bibliography | 312 |
Source Notes | 314 |
331 | |
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Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
actor actress Alan Dent American Anthony Quayle appeared arrived asked Aumont beauty began Binkie Beaumont Bobby Helpmann called cast child Cleopatra contract Cukor David dressing-room Duel of Angels England English eyes feel Felix Barker felt Frewen friends garden George Cukor Gertrude Gielgud girl Godfrey Winn going Gone guests Hartley Hollywood husband Ibid Jack Merivale Jill Esmond Joan Plowright John Gliddon knew Korda Lady Larry later Laurence Olivier Leigh Holman London look marriage married Miss Leigh mother never night Noël Coward Notley Old Vic Olivier and Vivien Olivier's opening party performance Peter Finch Peter Hiley play production Rachel Kempson Radie Harris recalls rehearsals role romantic Scarlett O'Hara scene screen shooting stage star studios Suzanne theatre theatrical things thought Tickerage told took tour turned V.L. to author Vivien and Olivier Vivien Leigh wanted weeks wife woman wrote York
Beliebte Passagen
Seite iii - Husband, I come: Now to that name my courage prove my title! I am fire and air; my other elements I give to baser life.