Sadly, both Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier have been dead for years, and so today's fans, especially younger ones, will never get the chance to see them or meet them in person. We have to rely on books and films to "get to know them." There are stories though, of ordinary people encountering the greatest stars of their day, and luckily, some have recorded their sightings. On this page you will find such stories; from diaries, submissions via e-mail and stories I was lucky enough to hear in person a couple years ago overseas.

To get an idea of how big the Oliviers were in their heyday, here are a couple of scans from newspaper articles of the day. They were, particularly Larry as he became a giant in the theatre world in the mid 1940's, the popular idols of their time. Click photos for larger versions.

 

• From "WWII: The People's War", an archive of WWII memories--written by the public, gathered by the BBC.

Excerpt from "My Darling Diary, Part 3, 1944" written and submitted by Inga Jacoby.

8th January 1944
I have seen them! And spoken to them! Listen: When Pam heard that Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh were at Helford she said: "Let's cycle there and see if we're luckier this time than you were on Thursday." We went in the morning and arrived at the Ferry Boat Inn at about 11am. I asked the receptionist if it was possible to see Mr Olivier and Miss Leigh - and as I spoke they came into the foyer, looking exactly as they do in their films. We gazed at them, and were transfixed. "These two young ladies would like to see you," the receptionist said. Both Olivier and Leigh turned to us. "And where have you come from?" Olivier asked, with a wonderful smile. As Pam didn't speak I had to, though I didn't think I could, my heart was beating so fast.
"We cycled here from Falmouth and we'd like your autographs, please," I said. My voice sounded very strange to me. "You cycled all the way from Falmouth? Don't call me to rescue you if you collapse on your way back, will you?" he said. We laughed, and handed them our autograph books, which they signed. We thanked them very much but were too overcome to say anything else. They said goodbye and walked out of the hotel. We followed in a minute or two and watched them go onto the beach and get into a rowing boat. They saw us and waved. "Want to join us?" Laurence Olivier called to us. We knew he was only joking so we just waved back and shook our heads. How I would love to have gone rowing with Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, but my legs wouldn't have made it as far as the boat, as I felt quite weak in the knees with excitement. For the rest of the day I could think of nothing else, and I had to describe every detail of what had taken place between me and two of the most famous film stars in the world to everyone I met.

Read the rest of Inga's wartime diary, and view other BBC submissions here at the BBC website.

• In the summer of 2005, while I was studying abroad at Sussex University in Brighton, England, I took the train to London on my last day there to meet my friend Alex and see a West End show. I had all day to explore to I took the tube to Leicester Square and started wandering around looking for old book shops. I saw one that caught my eye called "Pleasures of Pastimes" which is owned by a nice old man called David Drummond. I'm really into bookstores that are old and musty with huge piles of old stuff everywhere, and this particular shop specializes in theatre and film books. So after browsing around, I asked Mr. Drummond if he had any "Vivien Leigh or Laurence Olivier things." Not only did he have some really rare and awesome stuff, but it turns out he had a great story as well. I had written it in my Livejournal when I got back that day, and here's what I wrote on August 18, 2005:

I took the tube to Leicester Square where I was supposed to meet Alex at 6, and I wandered around for a while, checking things out, and I wandered into a lane that had all of these rare and used book stores, like cool little musty ones with old people running them, which I LOVE! I found one that sold theatre and film stuff, so I go in there and you won't believe what i found! The guy running it was so nice, and he showed me all of these rare things like a collection of SUPER RARE Vivien Leigh photographs of her at her last home, Tickerage Mill, which I wanted to buy but it was like a few hundred pounds so I had to settle, but that's ok, because he dug through his stacks of rare things at my request and pulled out a manilla folder full of vintage theatre playbills of Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier productions, so the two that I chose (since they were $20 each) were one from Ceasar and Cleopatra at the St James's from May, 1951, and the other was from the London production of A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Larry Olivier, and someone wrote in it "Saturday evening, 15 November, 1951." I about flipped at them, I'm so excited! But that's not all. I had an hour long conversation with that old man about how he saw both of the Oliviers perform on stage, met Vivien Leigh and also went to her memorial at St Martin-in-the-fields, and remembered how John Gielgud read the memorial and all. He knew everyone and was telling me stories of random facts about their plays and films and all. He said he saw Ceasar and Cleopatra on stage...

me: "Was Vivien Leigh just gorgeous?"
him: "Yes, she really was...I remember when I met her once after the closing of her and Laurence's play, Titus Andronicus at the St. James. She was an odd woman, she kept screaming at Larry who was walking in the aisles talking to people but I found her utterly fascinating...I once breathed the same air as her, she was standing right next to me." He also saw Larry do King Lear and was telling me of all the theatres around the area and who performed what. A wealth of knowledge! He asked me if I was involved in the theatre, and I said no, but I like it a lot! So we chatted about how I want to be a film historian and how I loved London and loved seeing plays, and he shook my hand when he was ready to close his shop and said he was sure he'd see me again some day.

If you're ever in London and have a chance to stop by Mr. Drummond's shop, I'd really recommend it. He's got some great stories to tell, and maybe, if you're lucky, he'll show you some cool stuff from his hoard of theatre treasures! It's located at 11 Cecil Court, Westminster, London, WC2N 4EZ. Also, if you're ever in Brighton, ask the older people if they remember Larry and Viv. Chances are, they'll tel you some neat stories. A lot of people I talked to remembered seeing him with his kids to the beach in the 1960's.

• Another encounter from August 1, 2005. My friends Genie, Marina, Robert and I took the train to Windsor for the day:

I had the most interesting conversation with the nice old lady who was the usher for the entrance to Queen Mary's Doll House at the palace. Here's how it went down: So we were at the front of the line and Genie starts talking to this lady about what we're doing there, etc, and she mentions that we want to go to Eton, and she says, "Kendra wants to because Laurence Olivier went there." And the lady turned to me and said: "Did Laurence Olivier go to Eton?" I told her I'd read it somewhere but I could be mistaken (note: Larry didn't attend Eton, but his son, Tarquin did). Then I asked if she liked him, and she said "Oh yes, he was marvelous. Real quick before I let you guys in there...When I used to work at the airport (I assumed she meant Heathrow), I was taking tickets at the counter, not really paying attention to the names on the tickets, this was back when no one cared about security. Anyway, I had this ticket in my hand, and all of the sudden I hear this marvelous deep voice, and I look up and there's Sir Laurence Olivier, with a bunch of his people. I looked at the ticket and it said "Lord Olivier" on it, and I was astonished. I couldn't believe it, and he was so kind, he didn't have to do this, but he came right up to me and said 'Thank you' for taking his ticket." What a cute story, I said, and how lucky was she! Then we started talking about other people, and I said "Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier are my favorite couple." And she agreed, and said "It's so sad the way Vivien went. They were just gorgeous people, so glamourous and talented and we all thought they were just royalty; just perfect. And then it's sad it didn't last." Agree. Whole heartedly.

• David Barry, one of the players (he was 14 at the time) who toured with the Oliviers on their European showcase of Titus Andronicus, was kind enough to allow me to put his rememberance up on this site. Here's what he had to say, along with an excerpt from his book, Flashback published in 2006:

They were both wonderful to work with, and because I was a 14-year-old, she spoilt me rotten. I did witness some meg rows, which I have written about in my book; but of course I've been totally honest, and it is through the eyes of a youngster, so most of the time she was sweetness and light.
Recently was the centenary of Olivier's birth, and because of my book I was invited to a posh party at Notley Abbey. I was the only one there who remembered visiting them at their home. Apart from Tarquin Olivier, his son by Jill Esmond, and I sat at the same table as him.

They arrived in a flurry of excitement, and the avuncular Peter Brook bounded over to our corner and introduced me as Young Luicius, grandson of Titus Andronicus. Apart from Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, there was an imposing entourage, and this retinue seemed scary as it loomed over me. but I was a mere 4'8" then, and I was suddently overcome by an attack of shyness. They all tried to make me feel at ease and I melted beneath the gaze of Scarlett O'Hara. Her eyes blazed just as I remembered from the film. But the man next to her was no Rhett Butler. My first impression of Olivier was of a pleasant, ordinary man in a suit, pretty much like my father wore to the office, but less shiny...

Once during rehearsals, he (Peter Brook) came down heavily on Vivien Leigh, criticizing her performance. I saw her looking towards her Larry for support, but Olivier was staring at his feet, determined not to get involved. It seemed everyone had the greatest respect for Peter Brook, and his word was law. When this particular rehearsal ended, Vivien Leigh swept out, followed by Olivier, who resembled nothing more than a henpecked husband as he trailed in her wake. From outside the rehearsal room doors we all heard the muffled start of a quarrel and Vivien Leigh's voice like a shrew as she berated him.

It had been an astonishing scene to witness. Performing, Olivier had been mighty, a believably tragic Roman general, whose sudden laugh in the midst of the horror sent shivers down everyone's spine. But as soon as the rehearsal ended he became a small man in the presence of his wife. It was like watching role reversal, as if she wanted to bring his actor's greatness down to size.

Years later I discovered it was well known that Vivien Leigh was at that time having an affair with Peter Finch, so it must have been a turbulent time for them both. Apparently, Olivier, who knew about the affair, never did play the outraged husband and simply accepted and ignored it. but, apart from witnessing the occasional scene from a floundering marriage, the rehearsals were quite exhilarating.

• Today (February 15, 2008), I had the pleasure of helping one of the emeritus professors at my former university move boxes of files from the history department to his house in near by Newport Beach. I was basically rented out by my boss, but it was okay, I was glad to help. Professor Sam McCulloch, the man I was helping, turned out to be really interesting. He was a professor of English history at Rutgers, San Francisco State, and UCI, where he still works sometimes now. He is 91 years old. Anyway, he asked me what I had majored in in school and I told him I'd majored in film studies. We got to talking about classic films and I ended up telling him my favorite actress was Vivien Leigh, and he said "Oh, she was wonderful, she won the Academy Award for Gone with the Wind and was married to Laurence Olivier." I smiled and nodded, telling him I knew that, and that they were my favorite couple.

He started to tell me about how he came to America from Australia and married during the war, but while he was engaged to his now-wife, Sandy (who was very nice), he had small parts in two films: Charlie's Aunt with Jack Benney and Kay Francis, and Above Suspicion with Fred MacMurray and Joan Crawford, and that he used to see everyone from John Wayne to Ginger Rogers just walking around town (in Hollywood). But that wasn't even the best part. When Sam was given a scholarship to go to London in 1955 to write a book, he visited a wealthy family friend up near Stratford. The woman's daughter took him down to see some plays at the theatre there, and what did he tell me he saw?? First, Twelfth Night with Vivien as Viola and Larry as Malvolio, which he liked very much. Then, MacBeth! He said, "Olivier was the best MacBeth I had ever seen. Vivien was of course, Lady MacBeth, and she was very, very good. She had marks on her face from the electroshock therapy because she was depressive. The London Times reporters were there. It was a wonderful play, very different."

I almost fell out of my chair. Here was a guy, who I had never met before because he doesn't come in to the office often (probably because he's 91), but he'd seen my favorite couple in one of the most criticaly acclaimed plays they ever did together. It was amazing! I was so glad I got to talk to him. He didn't save his playbills from either show, but his description of what it was like was great. And so, that's how Professor Sam McCulloch made my day!

If you or someone you know has a story of meeting either Vivien or Larry, or both of them at the same time, and you'd like to share it on this website, please e-mail me at vivandlarry@gmail.com.