Kirjahaku

Traces the life and career of the popular film actress, describes her major roles, and recounts her work on behalf of UNICEF

"My birth sign is Scorpio and they eat themselves up and burn themselves out. I swing between happiness and misery. I am part prude and part non-conformist. I say what I think and I don't pretend and I am prepared to accept the consequences of my actions."--Vivien Leigh When Vivien Leigh died in 1967, headlines around the world proclaimed, "Scarlett O'Hara is Dead!" Perhaps more than any of her contemporaries, Vivien Leigh became the very embodiment of the roles she made famous, from Gone With the Wind's immortal heroine to her harrowing portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. Vivien's beauty, determination, and enormous charisma were her triumph, whether it was a matter of charming George Bernard Shaw in order to become his personal choice for the part of Scarlett--or winning the then-married Laurence Olivier as her husband. Her twenty-years' partnership with Olivier, both onstage and off, made them the "royal couple" of the theater, and garnered unparalleled critical and popular acclaim. But the achievement had its darker side, for Vivien became so immersed in her roles that she began to take on their characteristics in real life--often at enormous cost: playing Blanche DuBois actually "tipped her into madness"; and while filming Ship of Fools, she found herself hammering co-star Lee Marvin's face with very real--and painful--blows of her spiked heel. The public glamour of her fairy tale marriage to Olivier--so desperately important to them both--hid a private nightmare of violence and frequent infidelity. She was consumed by devastating battles against tuberculosis, to which she finally succumbed, and manic-depression, which she sought to keep at bay through a voracious sexual appetite, having affair after affair--sometimes serious, as with Peter Finch, sometimes with whichever taxi driver happened to bring her home. Based on previously unpublished interviews with her friends, family, and colleagues, as well as with Vivien Leigh herself, Vivien is an extraordinary picture of a unique and complex woman, as willful as she was beautiful, who knew what she wanted--whether the coveted role of Scarlett or that, equally coveted, of Lady Olivier--and got it. With its telling anecdotes, fascinating insights, and unforgettable glimpses into Hollywood's heyday, it is sure to stand as the definitive portrait of one of the most talented and tormented actresses of all time.

Title: The history of the workhouse or Poor's Hospital of Aberdeen from 1739 to 1818, its Boys' Hospital from 1818 to 1852, Girl's Hospital from 1828 to 1852, and its Boys' and Girls' Hospitals from 1852 to 1885. By A. W., i.e. Alexander Walker.]Publisher: British Library, Historical Print EditionsThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the world's largest research libraries holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats: books, journals, newspapers, sound recordings, patents, maps, stamps, prints and much more. Its collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial additional collections of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 300 BC.The HISTORY OF BRITAIN & IRELAND collection includes books from the British Library digitised by Microsoft. As well as historical works, this collection includes geographies, travelogues, and titles covering periods of competition and cooperation among the people of Great Britain and Ireland. Works also explore the countries' relations with France, Germany, the Low Countries, Denmark, and Scandinavia. ++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library Walker, Alexander; 1885. 60 p.; 8 . 10370.ff.22.