The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London has acquired a vast personal archive belonging to the late British actress Vivien Leigh, star of Gone With the Wind.
The archive, which comprises about 10,000 items, incorporates letters from Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller, as well as large-format stills from Gone With the Wind and the stage production of Romeo and Juliet.
More than 200 telegrams, letters, postcards and photographs dating from 1938 to 1967 chart Leigh’s relationship with the Oscar-winning actor Sir Laurence Olivier.
The couple married in 1940 and divorced in 1960.
Their correspondence also throws light on how the National Theatre in London was founded. In 1963, Olivier established the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic, near Waterloo.
“What comes across in the archive is that Leigh was willing to de-glamourise herself if the role called for it,” said Keith Lodwick, a curator in the museum’s theatre and performance department.
“She wrote to Elia Kazan, director of the film A Streetcar Named Desire, saying: ‘You do know that when I said over the phone I am worried about the way I will look, I didn’t mean good, I meant right.’ It’s an aspect that has not really been touched upon before in biographies,” he added.
Material from the archive, which was bought from Leigh’s grandchildren, will go on display in the V&A’s theatre and performance galleries this autumn.
The archive, which comprises about 10,000 items, incorporates letters from Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller, as well as large-format stills from Gone With the Wind and the stage production of Romeo and Juliet.
More than 200 telegrams, letters, postcards and photographs dating from 1938 to 1967 chart Leigh’s relationship with the Oscar-winning actor Sir Laurence Olivier.
The couple married in 1940 and divorced in 1960.
Their correspondence also throws light on how the National Theatre in London was founded. In 1963, Olivier established the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic, near Waterloo.
“What comes across in the archive is that Leigh was willing to de-glamourise herself if the role called for it,” said Keith Lodwick, a curator in the museum’s theatre and performance department.
“She wrote to Elia Kazan, director of the film A Streetcar Named Desire, saying: ‘You do know that when I said over the phone I am worried about the way I will look, I didn’t mean good, I meant right.’ It’s an aspect that has not really been touched upon before in biographies,” he added.
Material from the archive, which was bought from Leigh’s grandchildren, will go on display in the V&A’s theatre and performance galleries this autumn.