Vivien Leigh

vivien Leigh was born Vivian Mary Hartley on the evening of Wednesday November 5th， 1913 in her parents home in Darjeeling， India. Her father， Ernest Hartley， was born in Yorkshire England in 1883， and had moved to India at the age of 22 in search of a career and adventure. He became involved with a brokerage firm， spent time racing horses， and acted inThe Calcutta Dramatic Society.Vivien's mother， Gertrude Yackjee，although from Irish descendants，was also born in Darjeeling India， in 1888. Friends of the Hartleys said that Gertrude， with her dark hair， blue eyes， and peach-like skin (traits Vivien would inherit)， was very beautiful in her youth，more so than Vivien. The Yackjee side of the family also had Armenian descendants which may have influenced Vivien's dark Eastern looks.

Meeting originally in Calcutta， Vivien's parents traveled to London where they were married in 1912. They then returned to India and settled in Darjeeling，a city within site of Mount Everest. A year after their marriage， Vivien was born， \"a most enchanting little girl with wonderful colouring.\" Just as Fatsy Quinn， a family friend describes:\"Vivien was so tiny and delicately made， with wonderful large blue eyes and chestnut wavy hair， the tiny retrousse nose， the only complexion I have ever seen that really was like a peach.\" Enjoying elements of fantasy and drama as a child， she was encouraged to read early on and became fond of authors such as Rudyard Kipling， Hans Christian Anderson， and Lewis Carroll. She moved to England with her family at the age of 6 in 1920， returning to India only briefly in the 1960's.

On September 21st， 1920， Vivien was placed in the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Roehampton， and did not see her parents again for almost a year and a half. She was educated at the Convent for the subsequent 8 years， and 'from early on she showed poised， self-containment， and the ability to sustain a private existence. ' Her first stage appearances at school were in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream(playing the fairy)， and in The Tempest(as Miranda). She studied ballet， played the cello in the school orchestra， and excelled at plano--taking her music exam at the Royal Academy of Music when she was a teenager. Vivien was also fascinated early on in different lan- guages， Egyptian history， and learned to speak French fluently.

Vivien stayed briefly at a sister convent of the Sacred Heart in San Remo， the capital of the Italian Riviera， during 1928 1929. At the age of 15， she went to Paris to spend a term at a finishing school(l) in Auteuil. She was the youngest student in the school， however she was already moving from the awkward youth phase into a charming， dark haired beauty that would later bring much fame. The purpose of the finishing school in France was 'to teach French--language and literature--and to send the girls out into the world(2) with a good marriage set firmly in their sights(3). ' At Christmas of that year， 1929， Vivien was chosen to be the heroine of the school play. Encouraged by her schoolmistress， she was inspired to work on her diction and acting abilities. This early help pushed her further towards an interest in a career on stage. Her final two years of education were at yet another finishing school，this time in the Bavarian Alps， which concluded her schooling in June of 1931--halfway towards her 17th birthday. During this time， she developed an interest in the visual arts and continued to study languages--notably French and German.

In January of 1932 Vivien met Leigh Holman while staying at her aunt's in Teignmouth， England. He was a man 13 years her senior， but possessed a charm and intelligence Vivien found captivating. Born in 1900， Leigh was educated in Cambridge and practiced as a Barrister-at-Law. An attachment quickly developed between the two and they spent several months courting and corresponding. In May of 1932， Vivien began to study at RA- DA，The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Life was looking up--she was about to marry a man she greatly admired， and she was studying acting in a well-known academy. Much to her dismay， Vivien abandoned the academy， at Leigh's request， once they became serious about marriage.

The wedding between Leigh and Vivien took place on December 20th 1932， at St. James's Cathedral. Shortly after they returned from their honeymoon in Austria， Vivien obtained Leigh's permission to return to RADA and she continued to study acting. A year passed and Vivien gave birth to a daughter on October ¹0th 1933， naming her Suzanne. At this point， things seemed to have settled into domestic life for Vivien. Her destiny would not remain domestic for long however， she had just heard of the chance for a small part in a new film entitled Things are Looking Up……

The year was 1934. On August 21st， Vivien arrived at Lime Grove Studios to begin work on her first film，Things are Looking Up. Work progressed slowly and when the film was finished， her one line of dialogue was cut from an already small role.in September， Vivien went to see a play called Theatre Royal starring a popular new stage actor， Laurence Olivier. She returned several times to see him act， intrigued by his good looks and stage presence. She even said to a girlfriend， 'that's the man I'm going to marry'， knowing quite well that both she and her new matinee idol(4) were already married.

For the next several months Vivien worked on stage and appeared in two minor films: The Village Squire， a comedy， and Gentleman's Agreement，in which she played an unemployed typist. Her husband Leigh， felt this was just a fling(5) with acting—one that would soon get out of her system. He hoped she would return to her domestic role of wife and mother， but it now seemed unlikely--Vivien was determined to continue acting.

In the spring of 1935， Vivien's talent agent succeeded in getting her a part in a comedy entitled Look Up and Laugh， starting Gracie Fields--George Burns' wife and comedy partner. During this time， she auditioned(6) for a leading role in a costume play called The Mask of Virtue. Her acting skills from her work at the academy had improved enough that Vivien succeeded in winning the part. After several months of rehearsals while con- tinuing to work in the studio on her 4th film，The Mask of Virtue opened on May 15th， 1935. The play was a great success and Vivien became an overnight sensation.Alexander Korda，the famous European film producer，happened to be present on opening night(invited by the play's director) and he asked her to sign a contract that would guarantee 50 thousand pounds over a 5 year period. This contract， if it had been completed， would have resulted in 10 films in Britain from the period between 1935 and 1940. Vivien ended up making only 6 films before leaving for Hollywood in 1938.

After The Mask of Virtue ended its run， Vivien waited for another success to feed her new found fame， but it did not arrive as easily. The remainder of 1935 was slow， and she performedin a few more plays of less importance. One thing of note did occur howevershe was introduced to her matinee idol， Laurence Olivier， at the trendy Savoy Grill in London.

Laurence Olivier was 7 years her elder， born in Dorking， England， of Anglo-Catholic parents. He obtained a scholarship to the Central School of Speech and Drama， and made his way to the London stage by the time he was 21. He married his first wife， Jill Esmond Moore， also an actress in July of 1930. When Olivier was 28， he went to Hollywood and made three minor films， returning to England in 1932， unhappy with the results. Soon af- ter， he acquired success as a matinee stage idol， performing in various works including Shakespeare. In August 1936， he was asked to co-star in what would be Vivien's first film for Alexander Korda，Fire Over England. Olivier， played a sailor sent to Spain on an important mission for the Queen. Vivien played Cynthia， the Queen's lady-in-waiting， and his new found love. This film gave the two rising stars time to spend with each other on screen and off， and their relationship grew stronger. It was long hours of work and they spent whatever chance they could together alone. Shooting Dark Journey started immediately afterward for Vivien， co-starring Conrad Veidt. She had the leading role in a spy drama about a clothing shop owner who worked secretly for the government.

To continue her new film contract， Vivien was then due to star in Storm in a Teacup， the first of two films working opposite Rex Harrison. She took a short break in Rome with Olivier before returning to the studio to begin shooting.During this period Vivien read a great deal during breaks on set and found a new favourite novel that she re-read several times—— Gone With the Wind. She even asked her agent to submit her name to(7) the widely publicized search to find an actress for Scarlett O'Hara.

This request was returned with a reply:\"I have no enthusiasm for Vivien Leigh. Maybe I will have， but as yet have never even seen photograph of her. I will be seeing Fire Over England shortly， at which time will of course see Leigh. --David O. Selznick.\"

注释：

1. finishing school 精修学校

2. send...out into the world 把……送入社交界

3. set...in one's sights 让……轻易获得

4. matinee idol 戏剧偶像

5. fling [口]（随意的）尝试

6. audition 试演（尤指发声）

7. submit...to 向……提供（或提交）

1913年11月5日，一个星期三的傍晚，费雯丽诞生于印度的达吉林市其父母的家中，当时起名为维维安·玛丽·哈特利。其父厄内斯特·哈特利于1883年出生于英国的约克郡，为了寻求发展和冒险，于22岁那年移居印度。他投靠了一家经纪公司，有时候也赛马及参加加尔各答市戏剧团的演出。其母格特鲁德·雅克吉的双亲是爱尔兰后裔，但她本人于 1888年也出生在印度的达吉林市。据哈特利夫妇的友人说，格特鲁德秀发乌黑，双眼碧蓝，面若桃李(费雯丽后来所继承的特色)，年轻时美丽动人，比费雯丽有过之而无不及。雅克吉这一方的家族还有亚美尼亚人的血统，这可能使得费雯丽的外貌具有东方人的黑色特征。

费雯丽的双亲最初在加尔各答相遇，接着前往伦敦，并于 1912年在此结婚。然后，他俩返回印度，定居达吉林这个位于珠穆朗玛峰方圆以内的城市。在他们结婚一年后，费雯丽出世了，“这可是个天香国色、楚楚动人的小姑娘”。正如这家人的一个朋友范特茜·昆尼所述：“费雯丽长得真小巧玲珑，碧蓝的大眼睛水灵动人，栗色秀发像波浪般卷曲，鼻子精巧上翘，其肤色真的美如红桃，我从未见其他人有过。”从小她极具幻想、演戏方面的天分，因此，在大人的鼓励下，很早就开始了阅读，爱上了像路德雅德·吉卜林、汉斯·克里斯廷·安德森和刘易斯·卡洛尔这样一些作家。