20 5 / 2013
I posted this question on facebook but thought I’d post it here, as well:
What’s with all of the generalizations about these people’s relationship? There seems to be more than usual recently. “Too bad he cheated and then divorced her…” “He soon grew tired and left because of it…” “He was basically always horrible to her…” Life isn’t black and white. Are we ignoring the intricacies of a long and complicated historical relationship in order to make it easier for us to understand? Do many of us feel more “loyal” to Vivien because she’s our favorite actress and she was the one who was left in the end (despite us never actually knowing her)?
I’m curious. Your thoughts?
07 5 / 2013
“I never thought it was possible to love anybody so much or quite so completely, or that anybody should be so wonderfully abundant and prodigal to me in everything I’ve wanted most. As we have settled down and become firmer in our minds, and more peaceful in our hearts, our life together has become so unbelievably beautiful. We have been through a terribly difficult two years… but I really believe that our love will justify itself in the end.” - Laurence Olivier
The other day, someone on Facebook asked whether Laurence Olivier really loved Vivien Leigh. I couldn’t tell whether they were serious or just trolling.
(via kirstenelaine)
06 5 / 2013
Hey everyone,
I just wanted to say thanks to all of you who reblogged the information and signed up to register your interest in my photography book project, Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait (I sent out a mail merge but not sure it reached everyone - tricky Google docs!). Your support has been extremely instrumental in allowing me to prove that there is still great interest in the life and work of the fascinating Vivien Leigh.
Vivien Leigh’s mystique was a combination of staggering beauty, glamour, romance, and genuine talent displayed in her Oscar-winning performances in Gone With the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire. For more than thirty years, her name alone sold out theaters and cinemas the world over, and she inspired many of the greatest visionaries of her time: Laurence Olivier loved her; Winston Churchill praised her; Christian Dior dressed her.
Through both an in-depth narrative and a stunning array of photos, Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait presents the personal story of one of the most celebrated women of the twentieth century, an engrossing tale of success, struggles, and triumphs. It chronicles Leigh’s journey from her birth in India to prominence in British film, winning the most-coveted role in Hollywood history, her celebrated love affair with Laurence Olivier, through to her untimely death at age fifty-three in 1967.
Author Kendra Bean is the first Vivien Leigh biographer to delve into the Laurence Olivier Archives, where an invaluable collection of personal letters and documents ranging from interview transcripts to film contracts to medical records shed new insight on Leigh’s story. Illustrated by hundreds of rare and never-before-published images, including those by Leigh’s “official” photographer, Angus McBean, Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait is the first illustrated biography to closely examine the fascinating, troubled, and often misunderstood life of Vivien Leigh: the woman, the actress, the legend.
02 5 / 2013
I just pre-ordered victoriastation’s Vivien Leigh book. And I just can’t wait. Because it’s that glorious thing when an actual fan gets to pay the ultimate tribute to their favorite star.
Move over, trashy gossip books.
Thanks, Zsazsa! You’ve been so supportive and I really, really appreciate it. Guys, it is true what they say: Passion and hard work really do pay off. I hope you all like the final product!
30 4 / 2013
Cover mock-up for Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait by Kendra Bean (that’s me!) via @PerseusBooksUK
Really liking this one!
29 4 / 2013
26 4 / 2013
Blogged >> 5 things I'll be doing while everyone else is at the TCM Film Festival
While many in the classic film blogging community have a front row spot on the red carpet at the 2013 TCM Film Festival, I’ll be here doing other stuff.
25 4 / 2013
Alas! Earwax!: Noël and Vivien
Reading Noël’s diary entries about Vivien Leigh’s breakdowns and relapses makes me a bit ill with rage and grief on her behalf. But I suppose it’s not his fault he didn’t know — or say he knew — about the reality of bipolar and manic depression. Just really upsets me, some of the things he says….
I agree that it’s sad about Vivien, but I think we fans also have to accept that people - particularly those close to her like Noel Coward, John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier - often had a really difficult time dealing with her when she was manic. Another thing: these diaries were not written with the intent of being published at the time. Vivien’s real friends, Coward included, never talked about her problems publicly. There’s something to be said in that, I think.
