Category: vivien leigh

Your Comprehensive Guide to the Vivien Leigh Centenary Celebrations

By Kendra + October 2, 2013

It’s October, and you know what that means! From the recent acquisition of the Vivien Leigh Archive by the Victoria and Albert Museum, to a BFI film season, and much more, the spotlight will be shining brightly on Vivien’s memory this autumn.

I’ve always thought that Vivien was better appreciated for her contributions to Hollywood films than she has ever been here in her native England, but the fact that so many of these events are happening around London shows that this national treasure hasn’t exactly been forgotten. And she’ll be celebrated in the States, too, although it seems to be more of a nod to the 75th anniversary of Gone With the Wind next year than to Vivien’s 100th birthday. Still, there will be no shortage of opportunities for fans to indulge in their appreciation for Vivien Leigh!

Here is your comprehensive guide to the Vivien Leigh centenary celebrations taking place in the coming months

October 10 (UK) and 15 (US): Publication of Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait. Pre-order your copy on Amazon (US | UK) or support your local bookstore (highly recommended)! You can also order it for Kindle and other tablet devices.
Until October 31: Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait featured as TCM’s Book Corner Selection for October. You can enter to win a free copy on their website.
Until October 31: Vivien Leigh: A Century of Fame exhibition at the Topsham Museum, Topsham, Devon. The Topsham Museum in the picturesque county of Devon was the former home of Vivien Leigh’s sister-in-law, Dorothy Holman. They’ve got a permanent display of some of Vivien’s personal items, but this special exhibition focuses on Vivien’s connections to Devon, with items lent by Vivien’s daughter Suzanne and other local archives.
November 3: Susie Lindeman stars in the one-woman play Letter to Larry. Jermyn Street Theatre, 7 pm.
November 5: Select items from the newly acquired Vivien Leigh Archive will go on display in the permanent Theatre and Performance exhibit at the V&A. There will also be a free talk and tour given by curator Keith Lodwick that focuses specifically on Vivien. Also on display will be the Christian Dior dress that Vivien wore in the play Duel of Angels, as well as a headdress that Oliver Messel designed for Vivien to wear in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945). Attendees are to meet in the entrance area of the museum. Running time: 30 mins.
November 5: Centenary celebration at the Actors’ Church, Covent Garden. Actress Susie Lindeman stars as Vivien Leigh in a 45 minute version of her one-woman show Letter To Larry, followed by readings and reminiscences by fellow actors and figures who knew Vivien. I’ll also be there signing copies of Vivien Leigh: A Intimate Portrait. The event starts at 7.15 pm. Ticket price: TBA.
November 5 – January 1: BFI film season and nationwide Gone With the Wind theatrical release. The BFI Southbank has put together a fantastic program of film screenings and special talks to commemorate Vivien’s 100th birthday. Highlights include 13 of Vivien’s films on the big screen, including illusive titles 21 Days Together (1940) and The Deep Blue Sea (1956), a talk by V&A curator Keith Lodwick about the Vivien Leigh Archive, and a new restoration and nation-wide theatrical release of Gone With the Wind. The BFI is also offering fans of vivandlarry.com a special discount on tickets to all Vivien screenings and associated events during the season (as well as the full run of GWTW). Quote the code “BEAN” while booking online or by phone to claim your discount! Tickets go on sale October 8.
November 5: Vivien film tribute on TCM. Everyone’s favorite classic movie channel, TCM (US), will be showing Vivien Leigh films all day on November 5 in honor of her birthday.
November 13: Vivien Leigh: Role Model or Victim Figure? – Lunchtime lecture by University of Huddersfield professor Jayne Sheridan. V&A, Hochauser Auditorium, Sackler Centre, 1 pm. Price: Free.
November 17: Vivien Leigh fan meet-up in London. I’m planning a casual fan meet-up on November 17 in London to celebrate Vivien’s birthday. We’ll be going to the V&A to see the Archive items on display, attending a screening of Waterloo Bridge at the BFI, and going for an early-ish dinner. Attendees are responsible for booking their own film tickets (see above), and MUST email me to confirm.
November 19: Cohen Films Collection releases the Vivien Leigh Anniversary Collection on DVD and Blu-ray. Includes all new restorations of Fire Over England, Dark Journey, Storm in a Teacup, and Sidewalks of London, plus a booklet essay written by yours, truly. The restored films will also be screened at the BFI as part of their Vivien Leigh season.
November 28: Vivien Leigh: A Intimate Portrait – Lunchtime lecture by Kendra Bean. National Portrait Gallery, Ondaatje Wing Theatre, 1.15 pm followed by book signing. Price: Free.
November 30: Official opening of Starring Vivien Leigh exhibit at NPG. Through a variety of rare photographs and ephemera, this exhibit traces the trajectory of Vivien’s career and image as one of the most famous British women of the 20th century.
January 16: Starring Vivien Leigh gallery tour. I’ll be leading a Late Shift tour of the Starring Vivien Leigh exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery, speaking about some of my favorite items on display. 7.30 pm. Price: TBA.
February 8 (tentative): Vivien Leigh seminar, V&A (details TBA)
June 6-8: Gone With the Wind 75th Anniversary Celebration. The Scarlett on the Square Museum in Marietta, Georgia will play host to this three day event commemorating the greatest film of the Hollywood studio era (details TBA).

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Win a signed copy of Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait!

By Kendra + September 10, 2013

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hi, everyone! The UK publicist for Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait sent me an advance copy in the post and I’m so excited to finally be holding it in my hands! Five years from idea stage to finished book – it feels surreal! I couldn’t have done this without the support of Vivien’s fans here and elsewhere on the web. To say thanks for helping to build and sustain this great community, I’m teaming with Running Press and Perseus to give away three FREE signed copies! There are several ways to enter, as listed above. The contest is open to entrants worldwide and will end at midnight on October 10, the date of publication in the UK.

So far, advance reception of the book has been really positive. Kirkus Reviews called it “a worthy tribute to this eternally fascinating star.” That’s encouraging! Not long now until it’s in bookstores!

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Olivia de Havilland remembers Vivien Leigh

By Kendra + July 1, 2013

The divine Olivia de Havilland celebrates her 97th birthday today. She is one of our greatest living film legends. Her career was quite extraordinary. A two-time Academy Award winner, she starred opposite many of the most popular leading men in Hollywood history, worked with some of the most acclaimed directors, and, perhaps most impressively, served her studio, Warner Bros., with a lawsuit over contractual obligations. Passed in 1944, the de Havilland Law stipulated that studios could not add extra time onto the end of stars’ seven-year contracts.

Despite her two Oscars for The Heiress and To Each His Own, de Havilland is perhaps best-known today for playing Scarlett O’Hara’s angelic sister-in-law Melanie Wilkes in Gone With the Wind. She is the only surviving main player from the film, and as such, her memories are cherished by many fans. De Havilland has been very forthcoming over the years about her association with the film. While many, including Vivien Leigh, envisioned that the outcome of Selznick’s epic would be disastrous, de Havilland stipulates that she knew they were making something special.

I was lucky enough to interview Olivia de Havilland whilst writing Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait. She kindly answered my questions in writing from her home in Paris, revealing her sharp mind and a knack for tactfulness. Her character really shines through here. Notice how she is never condescending or malicious in her assessments. One of the things I appreciated most was her honesty about how well she knew Vivien after GWTW. It’s easy to claim we know more about certain situations than we really do, and I think her admitting she wasn’t able to answer certain questions really adds to her credibility.

Below are the signed covering letter and answers to my questions. The sections that are blacked out were chosen to appear in the text of Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait.

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Tickerage Mill: A private view

By Kendra + June 24, 2013

A view of Tickerage Mill from the farm owned by Vivien Leigh

Last week I posted some rare candid images of Vivien Leigh taken by Jack Merivale that showed the woman behind the star image; photographs her fans would likely never have seen had Merivale not graciously lent them to one of her biographers. Several of them showed Vivien at her recently-purchased home Tickerage Mill. The photos in today’s post highlight the same setting. These, however, were intended for public consumption.

British actor Dirk Bogarde told journalist and biographer Alan Dent how Vivien came to own Tickerage in early 1961:

When Vivien had left Notley she once came down to my house, and felt utterly sad because she no longer had a garden…she adored mine, which was rather marvelous. Suddenly she said: “I want a little house…with a view like this, but by water…on a lake or a stream…and with trees…” and I had seen the exact house three days before. I told her, and she was off in a flash and found it to be the very place of her idea…that’s how she got Tickerage Mill. I had wanted it very much for myself, but it was a bit too far from town, I thought, and too small for me. Viv was instantly at home there.

In the summer of 1962, Vivien invited professional Surrey-based photographer Thomas A. Wilkie to photograph her at Tickerage. She had been away for a year and was only now settling in and making the Queen Anne-style house in Sussex a true home.

The photos are part of a larger set that was intended for a magazine but, to my knowledge and the current owner’s, were never published. I first came across the original prints in a famous theatre ephemera store in London back in 2005. I was a college student at the time and couldn’t afford the asking price. “Vivien isn’t cheap, you know,” the shop owner said to me. I went away believing I’d never see them again, so it was a great surprise when Terence Pepper from the National Portrait Gallery asked me to come in and meet a local collector called John who had some Vivien photos to donate for an upcoming exhibit, and there they were. John inherited the photographs from a friend who recently passed away, and I am so grateful to him for letting me share some of them here at vivandlarry.com.

The photos offer an intimate glimpse into Vivien’s home and, like Jack Merivale’s snapshots, show a woman making the best of life after her divorce from Olivier. So many of Vivien’s endearing qualities come through in these pictures: her love for animals, her exquisite taste in interior design, her love of work, and her loyalty. I especially love the photo of her and her dog, Sebastian. It’s not perfect, and she probably wouldn’t have approved it for publication, but the expression on her face is adorable.

I just love this centuries old fireplace. It reminds me of a cozy English pub.

The sitting room

Talking about her upcoming musical, Tovarich

Playing with her poodle, Sebastian – a gift from Jack Merivale

“Gardening – my great love.” Talking to Cook, who was head gardener at Notley Abbey for eight years and left there in order to remain in Vivien’s service.

I simply love this photo

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Vivien Leigh through Jack Merivale’s lens

By Kendra + June 20, 2013

Vivien Leigh leaving Rottnest Island during a break in the Old Vic Australian tour of 1961

There were literally tens of thousands of photographs taken of Vivien Leigh throughout her lifetime. London society and stage photographer Vivienne (née Florence Entwhistle, mother of Anthony Beauchamp who photographed Vivien on the cusp of fame) said that Vivien Leigh was “an artist-photographer’s dream” because of her near-flawless facial features and willingness to be manipulated in order to get the perfect shot. There were studio portraits for stage and film, always depicting the character she was playing either on or off-screen. There were press photographs taken at functions or when she was out and about. But in these photos she was always Vivien Leigh the star; the public figure. Photographers who were allowed in to her home came with her permission, and even then the Vivien Leigh persona was always in place.

What makes candid photographs like the ones below so special is that they show the real Vivien Leigh, the woman those close to her had the privilege of knowing and loving. Vivien was an intensely private person. She didn’t shop her private photos around like many celebrities do today. We rarely see photos of her and Laurence Olivier at Notley Abbey, for example. Olivier’s son Tarquin told me he doesn’t remember his father or Vivien ever carrying a camera around in those days. And if they did, the photos remain in a private collection. This changed when Vivien became involved with Jack Merivale in 1960. She had purchased a 35mm Stereo Realist camera in the 1950s and Jack took it up as a hobby, snapping Vivien while traveling and relaxing at Tickerage Mill with friends and family.

With the exception of one, the photos in this post were taken by Jack Merivale between 1960 and 1962 when Vivien was transitioning into a new life after her difficult divorce from Olivier. He captured a woman making the best of things, happiest in the company of friends. These were originally published in black and white in Hugo Vickers’ biography of Vivien and they offer an intimate and rare glimpse into Vivien’s private world. I thought it would be a treat for visitors of vivandlarry.com to be able to see them here in color.