 During the early part of 1957, there began rumours in the
press that the Oliviers were separating. He had begun an affair with Joan
Plowright, his co-star in The Entertainer and Vivien had had an on and
off relationship with Peter Finch. Vivien's daughter Suzanne, had
recently become engaged, and Vivien took some time off and traveled with her father in
Ireland, revisited her first husband Leigh. On Vivien's 44th birthday, she was
in Glasgow visiting Olivier's performance of The Entertainer. Suzanne's wedding
took place on December 6th, and both Vivien and Olivier attended. Suzanne had
been fortunate to have her grandmother Gertrude care for her during the many years Vivien
was away in Hollywood and on stage tours.
After a brief return to the stage in Newcastle, and further rest in 1965, Vivien did her final play with John Gielgud in his production of Ivanov. After touring America and her last ever stage performance in March, she spent several months vacationing in France and Greece. Vivien was awarded the French equivalent of the Oscar for her role in Ship of Fools during this trip, and spent a lot of time, mainly alone, reading scripts that held little promise.
A private funeral was held on Wednesday the 12th at St. Mary's surrounded by hundreds of flower arrangements with tributes from family and peers. All of London's theatres switched off their marquees at 10pm for an hour of respect and requiem masses were arranged in New York. A memorial service was held at St Martin's in the Fields on August 14th, attended by her many friends and famous stars. Many felt, for her to die while she was still performing and beautiful, was how she would have wished it. Her ashes were scattered at Lake Tickerage on October 8th. Vivien Leigh |
Returning
to acting in mid 1958, Vivien performed in Duel of Angels and
toured the UK, while Olivier was overseas in America having a huge success with The
Entertainer. There were further plans to film Macbeth, but
this ended again and permanently, when Mike Todd, their new producer (creator of Todd-Ao)
was killed in an accident. Vivien suffered severe bursts of anxiety during the fall of
1958 while still able to perform to good reviews in Duel of Angels.
On her 45th birthday, Vivien and Olivier met for dinner and he explained to her
that they must go their separate ways. The play Skin of Our Teeth,
was shot for BBC television during this time, and was shown on March 17th 1959,
resulting in a rare TV performance by Vivien - one that she disliked immensely. After
performing on stage in New York in Look After Lulu, Vivien's
father fell ill and died on December 18th at age 76 during a time when the
Olivier marriage was over in all but name. Laurence Olivier started live anew at this
point, away from Vivien and her misunderstood illness, and began a family with Joan
Plowright.
Vivien left for America to star in a another reprisal of
in Duel of Angels. It was here she met and began a relationship
with fellow stage actor, John Merivale. They had met previously only briefly during A
Midsummer Night's Dream in 1937. Their affair was initially secret but was constantly
questioned by the press and news coverage. The reviews of Duel of Angels were
very good and again Vivien was on top form on stage. Her therapy with shock treatment had
been very successful in keeping her from harsh mood swings. She received an unwelcome
telegram from Olivier asking for divorce, but in her heart, she always believed that he
would come back to her. She made an announcement to the press that Olivier wished to
divorce her in order to marry Joan Plowright. Vivien drank severely during this period and
was diagnosed with cyclic manic-depressive psychosis, receiving 6 shock treatments during
1960 and early 1961, while still performing successfully on stage. She moved in with John
Merivale and lived for a time in Hollywood, revisiting old friends and peers while Duel
of Angels toured the west. There was strong press and public interest in the divorce
settlement between Vivien and Olivier at the time, and it was finalized on December 2nd,
1960.
Vivien began work
on a new film, the first in 5 years, written by Tennessee Williams called The
Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone. It was about an aging actress who forsakes her
career to take care of her ill husband. After he dies, the widow is left in Rome and is
taken advantage of by a young gigolo. Her co-star was a very youthful Warren Beatty, and
Vivien wore a graying light blonde wig for her role. Reviews of the film were positive,
and Vivien had returned to the screen in a new and impressive light. In the summer of that
year, she flew to Atlanta to be part of a Civil War Centenary and present a reprisal of Gone
With The Wind. She arrived with Olivia de Havilland, her only surviving co-star from
20 years earlier. Clark Gable had unfortunately died a few short months before, as a
result of a heart attack. After this special occasion, Vivien took a holiday in Jamaica
and seemed much recovered from the results of her recent shock treatments. She appeared
briefly in the film The Valiant Years, a documentary on Winston
Churchill.
A new tour was set to begin, returning to Australia with the
Old Vic company. Her mother Gertrude, still maintaining her own beauty business, suffered
a heart attack in the fall of 1961, though recovered successfully. Vivien was proposed to
by an aged Australian multi-millionaire named Sir Ernest Davis during the new tour of
Australia, which she politely declined. He, however, left her some valuable shares in his
will. The tour continued across South America where she addressed the audiences in
Spanish, and returned to London in May of 1962. Her voice was used in audio recordings of
several Beatrix Potter children stories including The Flopsy Bunnies, Squirrel
and Nutkin, and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, all popular with young children at the
time.
Taking on the task of a musical comedy Tovarich,
she took singing and dancing lessons for several hours a day during rehearsals. Her
efforts paid off, and she received much critical acclaim as well as a Tony award in 1963
for best musical comedy performance by an actress. Her illness returned due to new stress
and lengthy performances without a much needed holiday, so her temperament became
impossible to control. It was suggested that she return to England to receive a new series
of shock treatments. She asked her companion John Merivale to marry her and come with her
to London, but he declined and this strongly effected their relationship afterwards. She
was placed in the Avenue Nursing Home as a result of nervous exhaustion and was
monitored 24 hours a day so that she would rest and not try to leave on her own, having
reoccurring hallucinations. She was eventually allowed to rest at her own home in London,
where she was monitored by a nurse and spent many sleepless nights - one of the many
unfortunate side effects of tuberculosis. Laurence Olivier visited her briefly and they
spent some time together talking and taking walks by a nearby lake. In June of 1964,
Vivien had recovered enough so that she could leave England once again, this time to
return to Hollywood to make what would be her final film, Ship of Fools.
The novel Ship
of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter had been a successful best-seller and
David O. Selznick had lost out in getting the film rights when United Artists bought it
shortly after it was published. It is best known for Vivien's Charleston dance alone on
the ship's deck. Having several more shock treatments in July, she was able to complete
the film without many incidents, though her physical condition had worsened. Vivien
remained a close friend with Katharine Hepburn during this time, and returned home to
England, leaving Hollywood at the end of August when filming was finished. She spent
several quite months in London before planning a trip to India, having a desire to return
to the land she was born.
After
considering several new film ideas and plays, Vivien did a reading at Oxford which would
become her last public appearance. In May, she became very ill and refused to be admitted
to a hospital. Her tuberculosis had returned with a severe patch on her left lung. In
June, her illness was released to the public and a new play, A Delicate
Balance was postponed. She continued to rehearse daily in her home with
Michael Redgrave, trying to recover. Olivier at the time, was in the hospital receiving
treatment for prostate cancer. She continued to smoke and entertain her many friends and
visitors, preferring to live as she always had. Vivien once wrote, 'I would rather have
lived a short life with Larry than face a long one without him.'