Dark Star: A Biography of Vivien Leigh

by Alan Strachan

Overview

Winner of the Society for Theatre Research Book Prize 2020

Vivien Leigh was perhaps the most iconic actress of the twentieth century. As Scarlett O'Hara and Blanche Du Bois she took on some of the most pivotal roles in cinema history. Yet she was also a talented theatre actress with West End and Broadway plaudits to her name. In this ground-breaking new biography, Alan Strachan provides a completely new full-life portrait of Leigh, covering both her professional and personal life. Using previously unseen sources from her archive, recently acquired by the V&A, he sheds new light on her fractious relationship with Laurence Olivier, based on their letters and diaries, as well as on the bipolar disorder which so affected her later life and work. Revealing new aspects of her early life as well as providing glimpses behind-the-scenes of the filming of Gone with the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire, this book provides the essential and comprehensive life-story of one of the twentieth century's greatest actresses.

'A gripping new biography' - The Daily Mail
'[Vivien Leigh's] life, lived to the full at every second, will never be better told than it is in these pages' - The Sunday Times
'One of the most revealing showbiz biographies ever' - Sir Ian McKellen
'Enthralling' - Michael Codron
'A wonderful tribute' - Dame Penelope Keith DBE, DL

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780755600571
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/19/2020
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	1,053,567
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.80(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Alan Strachan is a theatre director. In London's West End he has directed over thirty productions, and has also worked in regional theatre as well as in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Dublin and New York often with leading actors and on plays ranging from Shakespeare, Shaw and Tennessee Williams to Alan Ayckbourban and Tom Stoppard. He is the author of Secret Dreams: A Biography of Michael Redgrave and Putting It On: The West End Theatre of Michael Codron.

Table of Contents

List of Plates xi

Acknowledgements xiv

Prologue xvi

1 A Child of the Raj 1

2 Hours Nearer Death 9

3 Young Wife and Mother 22

4 Enter Olivier 41

5 Altered States 57

6 Printing a Legend 71

7 Star-Crossed 92

8 Wartime Dramas 103

9 From Sabina to Anna 118

10 Down Under 133

11 The Kindness of Strangers 148

12 Two on the Nile 170

13 Crack-Up 187

14 Avonside 210

15 At Court 233

16 Ending a Legend 254

17 Worlds Elsewhere 274

18 Last Acts 292

Epilogue 310

Appendix Facts/False Facts 316

Notes on Sources 325

Select Bibliography 336

Index 340

Editorial Reviews

What makes this account of a familiar story outstanding is that Strachan wins the reader's trust ... As an experienced man of the theatre, he suggests, qualifies and adds interesting views of his own.” —The Spectator

“[Vivien Leigh's] life, lived to the full at every second, will never be better told than it is in these pages.” —The Sunday Times

“A gripping new biography.” —The Daily Mail

“Strachan's meticulously researched, elegantly written volume is an eye-opener. Strachan's attention to detail is striking ... a valuable, authoritative record that supports [Leigh's] status as a great stage and screen actress.” —The Herald

“This is a well-written biography of a much-loved star. Strachan achieves that rare thing of exposing his subject whilst maintaining their integrity. Leigh, who was fiercely private, would have been proud of this book.” —The Lady

“Alan Strachan does a fine job in reasserting [Vivien Leigh's] status, not merely re-examining her stage work, but also becoming the first biographer to give due attention to the underrated films she made.” —Country Life

From the Publisher