A Bird of Paradise

vivien leigh

A Bird of Paradise

By

Vivien Leigh’s death certificate officially lists her date of death as July 8, 1967 (it wasn’t filed until July 10). However, some people (myself included) observe the date on July 7. The discrepancy comes from Vivien’s partner Jack Merivale, who told several Vivien Leigh biographers about returning home from the theatre late on the night of July 7. After checking in on Vivien, he went downstairs to heat up a tin of soup for dinner. He then went back upstairs and found Vivien unresponsive on the floor. Noel Coward gives a more complete picture in his diaries, based on what Jack told Coward’s partner, Cole Lesley:

“Sunday 16 July [1967]

I can’t even remember the date of the morning that Coley came into my suite at the Savoy and told me that Vivien had died. The shock was too violent. I mind too deeply to go on about it very much. She was a lovely, generous and darling friend, and I shall miss her always. Apparently Jacko [Coward’s nickname for Merivale] came back from his theatre, saw her sleeping peacefully and went to warm up some soup for himself…”

The next part of Coward’s diary entry helps to clear up an ambiguous description in Laurence Olivier’s autobiography Confessions of an Actor. Olivier wrote about Jack calling him to 54 Eaton Square on the morning of July 8 and letting him in to Vivien’s bedroom to be alone with her. This is where it gets controversial and understandably angered those who knew Vivien and felt such details were private and inappropriate. Olivier reported noticing a stain on the floor, and remarked that it was ironic that fate should deliver that particular little death blow when Vivien had been so dainty regarding such matters when she was alive.

“When [Jack] came back a few minutes later she was lying on the floor in a welter of blood, having had a hemorrhage [her official cause of death is listed as “chronic pulmonary tuberculosis.” No inquest was made.]. Jacko, with almost incredible courage and tact, cleaned up all the hideous mess because he knew that she would hate anybody, even the doctor, to see her like that. Then he telephoned the doctor. Jacko is a good and kind man.”

But enough with the grizzly details. This post isn’t about death. It’s about celebrating a woman whose life and work continues to inspire 47 years after her departure. Vivien Leigh is currently experiencing a renaissance; a renewed interest in her legacy. We know a lot about her already, but isn’t it fascinating and exciting to think that there’s still more to learn?

In remembrance of Vivien, a photo retrospective of the woman Noel Coward referred to as a “Bird of Paradise.”

*Some of these photos are published in Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait

… Continue reading

Vivien Leigh: Stardom and Screen Image

essays vivien leigh

Vivien Leigh: Stardom and Screen Image

By

Back in February I was invited to give a lecture on Vivien Leigh for a symposium highlighting the recently acquired Vivien Leigh Archive at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Curators Keith Lodwick and Kate Dorney spoke about censorship and A Streetcar Named Desire, and scholar/author Helen Taylor gave a wonderful presentation on the associations between Vivien and Scarlett O’Hara. I was asked to present on the evolution of Vivien’s screen image, and therefore did more of a survey of her entire film career.

The technician at the V&A supposedly recorded the entire symposium, but it hasn’t appeared online as yet, so I thought I’d post the text for my segment here. I hope you find it informative!

*Note: There were more clips in my presentation but they’ve been replaced here with screencaps.

Vivien Leigh: Stardom and Screen Image

Written and presented by Kendra Bean
Vivien Leigh: Scarlett, Streetcar, Struggle and Success
V&A, London, February 2014

In 1966, actress Paula Laurence played Zinaida in Vivien Leigh’s final play, Ivanov. Two years later, after Vivien had died, Laurence published a memorial tribute to her late friend and colleague, in which she wrote the following:

“For me, Vivien’s acting on the stage was too rigid, too meticulous. She had figured out what was best for her and she stuck to it. Having learned all her lines before the first rehearsal, she never varied a reading of them nor an accompanying gesture. She was like the most exquisite and expensive watch in the world – everything ticked and everything was accurate but it was never thrilling, not to me. Nor was it ever as exciting or volatile as she was off-stage…However, I thought her film acting superb. She was an uncanny listener in life and this truly hearing and reacting to what she heard was magnificently captured on-screen. Her extraordinary beauty, almost too fragile and delicate for the stage, was made for films.”

Laurence wrote these words with heartfelt honesty, rather than the intent to offend. And she wasn’t alone in her opinion. Many of Vivien’s actor friends expressed similar sentiments, particularly during the years of her partnership with Laurence Olivier, whose shadow seemed overwhelming. Speaking for myself, I never had the opportunity to see Vivien perform on stage and so can’t pass judgement on her skills as a theatrical performer. But I do know that audiences packed in to see her, regardless of how old she was, what role she played, or where she was performing. She had star quality in abundance, and what came across on stage was magnified on the screen.

… Continue reading

#AskTheCurator: Starring Vivien Leigh

london photography vivien leigh

#AskTheCurator: Starring Vivien Leigh

By

Vivien Leigh by Bertram Park, 1935 © NPG

Last week, Twitter launched an initiative called #MuseumWeek wherein the denizens of the social media network got virtual tours behind the scenes at some of Europe’s hallowed cultural institutions. I have had the good fortune to team up with Terence Pepper and Clare Freestone to co-curate the Starring Vivien Leigh: A Centenary Celebration, currently on in room 33 at the National Portrait Gallery. And I was honored to be asked to represent the NPG for #AskTheCurator day.

On Friday from 2-3pm, I answered questions about the display, and about what it’s like to curate a museum exhibit. (It’s really fun. I think I’ve found my calling!) You can view the entire conversion below:

 ♠ ♣ ♠ ♣ ♠

Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait

Clarence Sinclair Bull: The man who shot Gable and Leigh

gone with the wind photography vivien leigh

Clarence Sinclair Bull: The man who shot Gable and Leigh

By

A couple of years ago, London’s National Portrait Gallery mounted a major exhibition in partnership with the John Kobal Foundation titled Glamour of the Gods, a photographic retrospective paying tribute to some of the greatest portrait photographers in Hollywood history. Among those included were Laszlo Willinger, George Hurrell, Robert Coburn, and perhaps the greatest of them all, Clarence Sinclair Bull.

… Continue reading

Vivien Leigh: A star in wartime

essays photography vivien leigh

Vivien Leigh: A star in wartime

By

I was honored to be asked to do a recent blog post for the National Portrait Gallery about Vivien Leigh‘s wartime contributions. Take a look. Comments welcome and encouraged on the NPG website:

One of my favourite items on display in Starring Vivien Leigh: A Centenary Celebration is the eye-catching issue of LOOK magazine from 17 December 1940. Earl Theisen’s striking cover photograph of Leigh posing stoically against a loud red, white, and blue background whilst knitting for Bundles for Britain highlights one of several interesting ways the actress used her fame to contribute to the British war effort.

Leigh was in California in September 1939 when Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced that England was at war with Germany. She had signed a typical seven-year film contract with Selznick International Pictures in exchange for the coveted role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind, but these new political complications threw any plans of contractual fulfilment into disarray.  Fiercely patriotic, Leigh, along with her fiancé Laurence Olivier, wanted to return to London as soon as possible. However, they were advised by Minister of Information Duff Cooper that British actors in Hollywood would be of more use by staying put for the time being.
Leigh’s first unofficial wartime assignment was the 1940 tearjerker Waterloo Bridge, for which she was loaned to Hollywood’s most powerful studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The following year she appeared in a more overtly patriotic film: Alexander Korda’s Lady Hamilton, a propagandist biopic in which she played Emma Hamilton to Olivier’s Horatio Nelson. In her spare time she took part in several ensemble radio broadcasts, performing dramatic readings from famous works, including Noel Coward’s ‘Cavalcade’. She also appeared at Red Cross charity events in New York where she and Olivier ended an unsuccessful production of Romeo and Juliet, and knitted clothing for British soldiers as part of the Bundles for Britain initiative headed by Natalie Wales Latham.

****

Read the full article at the National Portrait Gallery website

 ♠ ♣ ♠ ♣ ♠

Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait