She was considered "the most beautiful actress in Hollywood", she dodged the nickname "star" and in addition to the film based on the book by Margaret Mitchell, she starred in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
Determined, stubborn, and strong, above all strong. Such were Vivien Leigh and Scarlett O'Hara, her mythical character in Gone with the Wind that made her worthy of an Oscar and made her a star, although she did not like being called that, since she said it was an actress and said that "stars have a false existence".
The awards, the success, the fame, and the nickname "the most beautiful woman in Hollywood", hid a sad and stormy life, with a lonely childhood, superfluous romances, a depression that took her away from the film sets, and a Tuberculosis that prematurely ended his life.
Vivien and Scarlett had to become resilient to overcome the ravages of life. Although her name is a legend, Leigh made only 19 films, including Gone with the Wind (1939, based on the book by Margaret Mitchell) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), both for which she won the Oscar for Best Actress.
Her childhood had nothing to do with that of her fictional alter ego. Until the Civil War began, Scarlett had had everything served on a platter. Daughter of an aristocratic family, she was the darling of her father and no one could say no to her requests.
By contrast, Vivien Mary Hartley as she was her real name, had a very lonely childhood. She was born in the Himalayas, although her roots were Irish and at the age of six her parents decided to place her in a convent in England. With them living in India, they went to visit her just four years later, and they saw her little girl only once a year, with luck. They just went to look for her when she was thirteen years old and the family made an extensive tour of Europe.
Two diseases, one destiny
In 1935 the actress contracted tuberculosis and was on the brink of death. Ten years later, when it seemed like a topic over, Vivien had a severe relapse. That, added to the loss of two of her pregnancies, plunged her into a deep depression that made her walk away from acting on several occasions.
She had to leave the filming of Elephants Walk in 1954 as she had begun to mix up the dialogue. On the plane back to her house in California, she was accompanied by Olivier, who, despite her rebuffs, remained unconditional. There the actress had a nervous breakdown, she took off her clothes and even threatened to jump into the void.
Her husband decided to put her in a psychiatric hospital in London, from which she only came out several months later. By 1963 her life seemed to be on the right track again and she had won a Tony Award for her role in the Broadway musical Tovarish. However, a new depressive crisis led her to give up the piece. A similar episode lived in 1966 when she returned to the ring and starred in Ivanov.
She was tormented again by the ghost of Tuberculosis, every time she coughed from her her chest ached, she was weak and she had lost several kilos. No medication or treatment could end her health problems and her depression. On July 7, at just 53 years old, Vivien stopped breathing while she was sleeping.
She died in the solitude of her room. Neither the two Oscar awards, nor her fame, nor "the most beautiful actress in Hollywood" served her to face the two diseases that tormented her for three decades, more than half of her life. Her name is already a legend, just like Scarlett's blue eyes.
