
Dark Star: A Biography of Vivien Leigh
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780755600571
Publication Date: 03/19/2020
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 groundbreaking new biography, Alan Strachan provides a completely new fulllife 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 behindthescenes of the filming of Gone with the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire, this book provides the essential and comprehensive lifestory 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
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 groundbreaking new biography, Alan Strachan provides a completely new fulllife 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 behindthescenes of the filming of Gone with the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire, this book provides the essential and comprehensive lifestory 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
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