Hey everyone,
Long time, no q&a post! Here’s the next installment. As always, thank you to everyone who wrote in with a question. I’m so impressed with the variety of the questions you continue to ask–it’s lovely to know that people are so interested in the different aspects of Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier’s careers and lives!
I hope you enjoy this one; next one will be from London!
To have your questions answered in a video post, please leave them over at the vivandlarry.com formspring.
Edit re: the question about Pickfair. Douglas Fairbanks was Mary Pickford’s second husband, not first.
Thanks again for another great video post.
I personally think that Leslie Howard’s disinteredness in GWTW helped his performance. After all, Ashley Wilkes was supposed to be a disillusioned idealist, who lost touch with reality. However, I may just be biased towards Leslie Howard, as he is one of my favorite actors.
I’m looking forward to the next one from London!
for the most part your info on larry and vivien was fairly spot on…..you are obviously well read on these very talented and courageous people. i do have to make one correction however. douglas fairbanks was not marys first husband. they were both in fact married to other people when the began their affair, and even when they purchased pickfair. when both divorces were finalized the two did marry.
as for larry and vivien, i too have read, i suppose, all there is to read on these two, and seen every documentary known to man. my mother took me to see gone with the wind against my will when i was probably 10 or so. from that time on, i was hooked, and im now in my 40’s.
take care,
layla
Thanks for catching the Mary Pickford/Douglas Fairbanks bit, Layla. I actually corrected it in writing below the video right after I posted it 🙂
I have read Curtain several times. Korda’s facts are way off so it’s pretty much fan fiction. It’s just loosely based on Viv and Larry and some things that happened to them including leaving their spouses after performing in Hamlet, a Romeo and Juliet tour, bipolar disorder, etc.. The fictional Viv and Larry (Felicia and Robbie) look like the real Viv and Larry and have some of their characteristics. There are many references to theatre in the book so if you are a theatre person you will like it a lot (I am and I do like this book!). This book also has a dark, Gothic tone. At certain parts it’s almost like a horror story. This book also has lots of dirty, graphic sex scenes. Just thought I would warn you! lol
It’s not the book you need to read if you want to learn about Viv and Larry but it is a fun read. I think this book is actually out of print. I got mine at a used book store about 5 years ago. It is hard to find but there are usually some copies on eBay and Amazon.
The bipolar thing is so sad:(
I would definitely be interested to see Viv in Wuthering Heights. Too bad it didn’t happen.
Lord Olivier wasn’t always a very nice man. I’d like to hear more about his nastiness. He was
the most beautiful male on 2 legs in his early 30s, though, I think. What were some of his rudest
moves?