Vivien Leigh | Christie's

Vivien Leigh

Details

Vivien Leigh
A cancelled British passport, issued on 20th December, 1932 for five years and extended until 20th December, 1940, with a black and white photograph of bearer, [Vivien Leigh]-- 2x2in. (6x4cm.) and her signature in black ink Vivian Mary Holman, the passport giving details of Leigh's place of birth: Darjeeling, her date of birth: 5 November 1913, her domicile: England, height: 5ft 3in., colour of eyes: Grey and colour of hair: Brown, her maiden name: Hartley and her national status: British Subject by birth, wife of a British Subject, the thirty-two pages with numerous consulate and immigration ink stamps recording Leigh's frequent trips within this pivotal period of her career and life, various ink stamps include:
- 29 May 1937 Esbjerg... - recording Leigh's trip to Denmark to play Ophelia opposite her lover, Laurence Olivier as Hamlet at Kronberg Castle, Elsinore, seventeen days before leaving her husband Leigh Holman for Olivier
- 20 Oct 1938...American Consulate General, London, England for a temporary U.S. visa for Leigh's first trip to the States a month later [she sailed on 27th November, 1938, an additional stamp DEC 1 1938 records her arrival in New York] - for two reasons which she gave to a fellow passenger on the Majestic when she told him she was going ...Partly because Larry's there, and partly because I intend to get the part of Scarlett O'Hara..., on December 10th the legendary meeting of David Selznick and Vivien Leigh occurred on the backlot of Selznick International Pictures during filming of the burning of Atlanta sequence, when Olivier organized events so that his agent, Myron Selznick, should introduce Vivien Leigh to his brother David O. Selznick, a meeting which led to her being cast in the most important role in her career as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind

Literature

VICKERS, Hugo Vivien Leigh, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1988, pp.79, 102-104
CAMERON, Judy & CHRISTIAN, Paul J. The Art of Gone With The Wind - The Making of a Legend, New York: Prentice Hall Press, 1989, p.64

Exhibited

Lot Essay

The meeting of David Selznick and Vivien Leigh is in the words of Hugo Vickers ...as legendary in show business history as the encounter of Stanley and Livingstone... According to David Selznick, his brother, Myron, Olivier's agent, brought Leigh onto the burning Atlanta set and ..introduced me to her, the flames were lighting up her face and Myron said: 'I want you to meet Scarlett O'Hara'. I took one look and knew that she was right..... Vivien was offered a screen test immediately, and acquired the most sought after female role in films for many years.

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