And Vivien automatically became Lady Olivier.īut by now there were ugly rumours in Piccadilly that she was not conducting herself in a lady-like manner. For his superb artistry, he was knighted. Olivier rapidly became England’s greatest actor, culminating in his remarkable production of Hamlet. She divorced her husband, bade her daughter a tearful farewell, and ended the first act of her real-life drama by throwing herself into Olivier’s eager arms.įor a while, all was serene. If sufficiently aroused, she could kick over the traces of her past life. They already knew that for her, love was an all-embracing and overpowering emotion. During the successful run of the play, Fire Over London, the most torrid love scenes undoubtedly took place backstage.įriends of Vivien, aware of what was going on, were worried about her.

That Vivien Leigh was leading a strange double life first came to public notice a few months ago, when it was learned that the actress had made a trip to Paris in the company of playwright Terence Rattigan.īut Vivien’s Parisian adventure was not the only incident that has kept London’s West End tattlers gossiping about the actress’ dual personality.Īctually, it all began when she landed a part in a new play co-starring with one of England’s most rapidly rising young stars, Laurence Olivier.Īlthough Vivien was already married and the mother of a beautiful little girl, she was unable to resist the attentions of Olivier. In gesture, in voice, in other ways, Vivien was even acting out the role of a tormented woman off the stage.

Vivien Leigh’s real-life breakdown, years later, seems to parallel her Streetcar role in more ways than one.Įven at the height of her success in this play, close friends of the actress were already noting how fervently she was throwing herself into the part. “Miss Leigh’s lust,” wrote one critic, “rolls off the stage like a tropical storm cloud, causing vague stirrings in old codgers far past their prime.”īut it was the closing minutes of the play that would later be regarded with such deep significance– when the sex-mad heroine, unable to satisfy her craving for more and more lascivious adventures, suffers a complete mental breakdown. Playgoers sat silently in rapt attention as she went through the uninhibited sexual gyrations of a nymphomaniac. The London audience that jammed the theatre to see Vivien Leigh enact the role of Blanche in the sizzling play version of A Streetcar Named Desire will never forget her starkly realistic portrayal of a sex-ridden woman.

Dark star vivien leigh