Vivien Leigh and Laurence
Olivier at the 1939 premiere of Gone With The Wind
Hannah Furness, arts correspondent
It was one of the most
famous marriages in Hollywood history, as Vivien Leigh and Sir Laurence Olivier
left their respective spouses for true love.
Not that anyone would
notice, from the pages of Leigh’s diary.
The actress recorded the
moment she broke the news that she was leaving her husband, and running away
with Olivier in just five words: “Told Leigh” and “Left with Larry”.
The entries are two of
hundreds of items in an appointment diary which details the extraordinary life
of the film star, after she was catapulted to fame and fortune.
Others disclose how she
broke her own vow to stay away from Olivier as the lovers tried to mend their
respective marriages, sneaking in to watch him on stage in Hamlet just to be
near.
Laurence Olivier with his
wife, Vivien Leigh (Vivian after their arrival in England from Hollywood in
1941
The Smythson book is one of
a collection of items belonging to Leigh to be sold at auction by Sotheby’s,
giving an insight into her personal and professional life.
The diary, which spans from
1937 to 1939, includes notes about winning her most famous role in Gone With
the Wind, meetings with her rich and famous friends, and travelling on the
Orient Express.
Seen in public for the
first time, it has now allowed experts to piece together biographies of the
actress with a blow-by-blow account of each day of life in her mid-20s.
The diary begins in 1937,
following an affair between Leigh and Olivier as they were trying to live apart
and reconcile with their own spouses.
Leigh's diary
The diary shows how Leigh
instead made regular visits to see Olivier in Hamlet, spent time social with
him and his wife Jill, and eventually travelled to Denmark with both of them as
part of the Old Vic theatre company.
On 10 June, her notes for
the day read “Told Leigh”. On 16 June she records “Left with Larry”.
The sale will also include
a wedding present for Leigh and Olivier from Katherine Hepburn, clothes,
photograph albums and Leigh’s library, full of gifts from author and actor
friends.
Leigh in Gone with the Wind
Among the more unusual
items is a manuscript signed “Elizabeth R”, “commanding Sir Thomas Heneage to
pay £133 6s. 8d., to her chief almoner Richard Fletcher” thought to have been
given as a gift after she played a lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth I on screen.
“It’s an appointment diary,
not her personal reflections,” said Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby’s specialist. “But
when kept as assiduously as this, you get all sorts of fascinating insights
into the life of Vivien Leigh.”
The diary has come to
auction after the death of Leigh’s only daughter in 2015. It will be sold by
Sotheby’s London on 26 September with an estimate of £2,000-3,000.
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