By 1951, Vivien Leigh had achieved world-wide fame. She had won two Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role and her marriage to Laurence Olivier made her part of the theatre and film world’s golden couple. In England she was classed as royalty and there was none whom she had not completely charmed. The public were captivated by the romance and magic of her success, yet it was at this time when acute mental illness had forced the radiance from her life. Sadly, the media would soon discover that they had been reporting on nothing more than a desperate attempt to keep up appearances.
Having completed an alternating run of Anthony and Cleopatra and Caesar and Cleopatra with husband Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh refused to take a vacation from work, instead choosing to dive straight into another production. She flew to Sri Lanka and started work on the film Elephant Walk but unfortunately was unable to finish it. Until that point, few outside the immediate family knew of her ever-worsening illness. But the cast and crew of Elephant Walk could hardly fail to notice the extreme changes in her personality. The always sweet and charming Vivien alarmed all those who came into contact with her, flying into intense rages or showing uncharacteristic petulance. Stepson Tarquin Olivier speaks of these episodes as heartbreaking. Those to whom she was beastly forgave her easily, for when she came back to herself, there was none so enchanting.
Psychiatric Care
Vivien soon suffered a nervous breakdown and Laurence Olivier flew to Sri Lanka immediately to bring her home, muttering through lengthy moments of incoherence that she had been having an affair with Elephant Walk director, Peter Finch. These actions did not go unnoticed by the press and now the public had proof that all was not right with their treasured actress. With every media outlet in England expressing genuine concern for Vivien’s health, the details of which were not made available to them, Vivien returned to Notley Abbey. During this period she was admitted to a series of nursing homes where she received an horrific number of electroshock treatments.
At this stage in her illness, it was inevitable that she would behave badly during her visits to those nursing homes. Once she returned home, however, and her depression became a little lighter, she never failed to write letters of apology to all those who had cared for her.
Pregnancy and Disaster
In 1954 Vivien went back to work again in the film version of Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea. In July of 1959, whilst performing Noël Coward’s South Sea Bubble, 42 year old Vivien announced that she was expecting her second child. Vivien left the production on August 11th of that same year. The following day she suffered another miscarriage. For the Oliviers, this meant the failure of their last chance of happiness and Vivien fell into a depression which lasted for months.
Divorce from Olivier
Vivien knew that she would soon lose her husband, aware that new actress Joan Plowright had caught his eye. In his autobiography, Laurence Olivier writes that his growing love for Joan and Vivien’s illness made it impossible for him to stay married. There are those who find it easy to criticize Olivier for this type of betrayal, but one must always take into account the enormous affect Vivien’s condition took on his life. Laurence Olivier was, in fact, quite a moral and a very patient man who had, for more than a decade, put up with both physical and verbal abuse from Vivien, as well as being kept up nearly every night by her insomnia. Olivier learned to anticipate Vivien’s episodes of depression and explosive breakdowns as they usually followed days of hyperactivity and overt enthusiasm. Vivien, of course, was always horrified by the way she treated him, although she rarely had any memory of her actions, and would do anything she could to make it up to him when she came around.
Olivier may, however, be criticized for the inexcusable act of asking Vivien for a divorce on her 45th birthday. Vivien finally consented to this request in 1960. Despite this, until the day she died, Vivien Leigh continued to be addressed as 'Lady Olivier'.
For the final article in this series, please click here.
Sources
Laurence Olivier - Confessions of An Actor - Orion - 1994
Walker,A. - Vivien: Life of Vivien Leigh (Legends) - Orion Books Ltd. - 1994
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