'The girl I select must be possessed of the devil and charged with electricity,' Cukor insisted at the time. 'Gone with the Wind'Īround the same time, American director George Cukor was hunting for the perfect actress to play the lead role of Scarlett O'Hara in his film adaptation of Gone with the Wind. The two soon embarked on a highly collaborative and inspired acting relationship-not to mention a very public love affair. There, she met and fell in love with Laurence Olivier, a respected actor who, like Leigh, already happened to be married.

She starred in the play The Bash, which wasn't particularly successful but it allowed Leigh to make an impression on producer Sydney Carroll, who soon cast the actress in her first London play and landed the lead role in the aptly titled movie Things are Looking Up (1935).Īlthough Leigh was initially typecast as a fickle coquette, she began to explore more dynamic roles by doing Shakespearean plays at the Old Vic in London, England. Leigh made both her onstage and film debuts in 1935.

Replacing the 'a' in her first name with the less commonly used 'e,' Hartley used her husband's name to craft a more glamorous stage name, Vivien Leigh. She went on to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but put her career temporarily on hold at age 19, when she married a lawyer named Leigh Holman and had his daughter. A year later, the precocious Hartley announced to classmate Maureen O'Sullivan that she 'was going to be famous.' She was right, though her fame would eventually come under a different name.Īs a teen, Vivian Hartley attended schools in England, France, Italy and Germany, becoming fluent in both French and Italian. The family returned to England when Hartley was six years old. Leigh was born Vivian Mary Hartley on November 5, 1913, in Darjeeling, India, to an English stockbroker and his Irish wife. Selznick's production of Gone with the Wind. Leigh earned international popularity and an Academy Award for her unforgettable portrayal of Scarlett O'Hara in David O. Vivien Leigh was convent-educated in England and throughout Europe and was inspired by her schoolmate Maureen O'Sullivan to embark on an acting career.

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