Vivien Leigh Net Worth

Vivien Leigh's Quotes

• [to critics about her reviews for "The Mask of Virtue" (1935), her second play on the London stage] It's much easier to make people cry than to make them laugh.
• Some critics saw fit to say that I was a great actress. I thought that was a foolish, wicked thing to say because it put such an onus and such a responsibility onto me, which I simply wasn't able to carry.
• Scorpios burn themselves out and eat themselves up and they are careless about themselves - like me. I swing between happiness and misery and I cry easily. I am a mixture of my mother's determination and my father's optimism. I am part prude and part non-conformist and I say what I think and don't dissemble. I am a mixture of French, Irish and Yorkshire, and perhaps that's what it all is.
• [when asked to take over Joan Crawford's role in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)] No, thank you. I can just about stand looking at Joan Crawford's face at six o'clock in the morning, but not Bette Davis'.
• [on Alexander Korda] Alex was like a father to us - we went to see him with every little problem we had. We usually left convinced that he had solved it - or that we'd got our own way.

Interesting Facts about Vivien Leigh

1. Ranked #48 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
2. Suffered from bipolar disorder (referred to as "manic depression" at the time of her diagnosis).
3. Lived with John Merivale from 1959 until her death in 1967.
4. A heavy smoker, Leigh was smoking almost four packs a day during filming of Gejaagd door de wind (1939).
5. Gertrude Hartley, while awaiting the birth of her child in Darjeeling, spent 15 minutes every morning gazing at the Himalayas in the belief that their astonishing beauty would be passed to her unborn child.
6. After cremation at Golders Green, London, her ashes were scattered on the mill pond at her home, Tickerage Mill, at Blackboys in Sussex.
7. Scarlett O'Hara might have been played by an actress called 'April Morn', a stage name she briefly considered before settling on Vivien Leigh.
8. Laurence Olivier's first wife, Jill Esmond, named Vivien as co-respondent in her February 1940 divorce from Olivier on grounds of adultery. Vivien would name Joan Plowright - Olivier's next and last wife - as co-respondent in her 1960 divorce from Olivier, also on grounds of adultery.
9. The producer of the 1935 play "The Mask of Virtue" suggested to her that she change the 'a' in her first name to an 'e' from "Vivian" to "Vivien".
10. According to legend, Myron Selznick introduced Vivien to his brother - Gejaagd door de wind (1939) producer David O. Selznick - with the words, "Hey, genius! Meet your Scarlett.".
11. Married Laurence Olivier at San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara on August 31, 1940, with Katharine Hepburn as matron of honor; they honeymooned on actor Ronald Colman's yacht.
12. A lover of cats, especially Siamese.
13. Claimed that when she tested for Gejaagd door de wind (1939), the costume was still warm from the actress who preceded her.
14. Was offered the supporting role of Isabella in Wuthering Heights (1939), but decided to gamble and hold out for the lead role of Cathy. Director William Wyler thought she was crazy to pass up the opportunity, telling her, "You will never get a better part than Isabella for an American debut." Shortly after, she landed the plum role of Scarlett O'Hara.
15. Pictured on one of four 25¢ US commemorative postage stamps issued March 23, 1990 honoring classic films released in 1939. The stamp features Clark Gable and Leigh as Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara from Gejaagd door de wind (1939). The other films honored were Beau Geste (1939), Stagecoach (1939) and The Wizard of Oz (1939).
16. Her favorite role was that of Myra Lester, which she played in Waterloo Bridge (1940).
17. She took her then husband's first name (Leigh) as her last name when she began acting professionally.
18. Godmother of actress Juliet Mills and Suzanna Leigh.
19. Reportedly used one of her two Oscars to doorstop her bathroom.
20. Kept Laurence Olivier's photograph beside her bed and on her dressing table even after they divorced. Until her death, she was addressed as "Lady Olivier".