It was now forty years since six-year-old Vivien Leigh had been sent from India to attend to the Convent of The Sacred Heart in Roehampton, England. She had achieved staggering success the world over, won two Academy Awards and was recognised universally as the wonderful Scarlett O’Hara. Sadly, out of the public eye, Vivien suffered from various psychiatric and physical illnesses which devastated both her personal and professional lives, which she had worked so hard to earn. At forty-six years of age she had lost Laurence Olivier, the love of her life, and, for the first time in over three decades, Vivien Leigh was on her own.
After Laurence Olivier
According to friends Vivien was decidedly unhappy after Olivier left, but she made the best of it, courageous as always. At this point she became closer to her daughter from her first marriage, Suzanne, who was by now married herself with two sons.
Of course, Vivien continued acting and it was in New York, whilst starring in a Broadway production, Duel of Angels, that Vivien met handsome actor, John Merivale. Merivale was, in most ways, ideal for Vivien. He was gentle and patient, liked the same things and was happy to simply sit and do the crossword with her. It was acknowledged, by Merivale also, that he did not replace Olivier in her affections.
Vivien's Tony Award and Final Performances
Vivien, as always, was on the look-out for new challenges and in 1962 one was presented to her in the form of a Broadway musical. This would be her first and only and Vivien wanted to try everything, and she knew that musicals were increasing in popularity. Tovarich was a box-office hit and Vivien’s reportedly lovely low singing voice, twinned with her performance, won her a Tony Award.
Recurring Tuberculosis
In 1965, Vivien made her last film; Stanley Kramer’s Ship of Fools in which she played bitter divorcee, Mary Treadwell. In May 1967, two years after the film was released, the tuberculosis from which Vivien had suffered in 1944 returned. As Vivien no longer had someone to tell her to go to hospital, she chose to stay at home and be treated there. After two months rest at her home, Tickerage Mill, she showed no sign of improvement.
Death
On July 7th, 1967, having spent the day gardening, her favourite hobby, and entertaining friends, Vivien Leigh died at the age of fifty-three. On receiving the call, Olivier rushed immediately to her room, fell into hysterics and locked himself in for six hours. The following night, the lights of London’s West End were dimmed for one hour, to commemorate her life and passing.
Three months after her death, her ashes were scattered over the pond of Tickerage Mill by her mother, daughter and Jack Merivale. Those who knew her guarantee that, had Vivien not fallen ill again, she would have continued acting, finding new ways to challenge herself, and always, despite the heartbreak in her life, been determined to make the best of it. Vivien’s philosophy was one she happened to share with the woman who made her famous; Scarlett O’Hara never gave up and neither would she.
“I’ve been very lucky because I’ve enjoyed almost every almost every bit of work, I don’t mean to say that I’ve been satisfied with what I’ve done, but I’ve always found it interesting.”
Vivien Leigh speaking in a televised interview.
Sources
Laurence Olivier - Confessions of An Actor - Orion - 1994
Capua,M. - Vivien Leigh: A Biography - McFarland & Co. Inc. - 2003
Walker,A. - Vivien: Life of Vivien Leigh (Legends) - Orion Books Ltd. - 1994
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