Has three grandsons: Neville Farrington (b. December 4 1958), Jonathan Farrington (b. May 13 1961) and Rupert Farrington (b. Aug 31 1962)
Her father was a full-blooded Englishmen, while her mother was of French and Irish descent.
Her favorite role was that of Myra Lester, which she played in Waterloo Bridge (1940).
Her performance as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939) is ranked #3 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
In February 1940, Jill Esmond agreed to divorce Lawrence Olivier; and Herbert Holman agreed to divorce Vivian Leigh, although they maintained a strong friendship for the rest of Leigh's life. Esmond was granted custody of Tarquin, her son with Olivier; and Holman was granted custody of Suzanne, his daughter with Leigh. On 31 August 1940, Olivier and Leigh were married in Santa Barbara, California, in a ceremony attended only by their witnesses, Katharine Hepburn and Garson Kanin.
Is portrayed by Morgan Brittany in The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980) (TV) and by Mel Martin in Darlings of the Gods (1989) (TV)
Kept Laurence Olivier's photograph beside her bed and on her dressing table even after they divorced. Until her death she was addressed as "Lady Olivier."
Laurence Olivier saw Vivian Leigh in The Mask of Virtue, and friendship developed after he congratulated her on her performance. Olivier and Leigh began an affair after acting as lovers in Fire Over England (1937), when Olivier was married to actress Jill Esmond. They began living together, as their respective spouses had each refused to grant either of them a divorce. Under the moral standards then enforced by the motion picture industry, their relationship had to be kept from public view.
Lived with John Merivale from 1959 to her death in 1967.
Married Laurence Olivier at San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara on August 31st, 1940, with Katharine Hepburn as maid of honor; they honeymooned on actor Ronald Colman's yacht.
Measurements 34A/23/34.
Measurements: 32A-23-33 (during Gone with the Wind (1939)). (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).
Mother of Suzanne Farrington.
Pictured on one of four 25¢ US commemorative postage stamps issued 23 March 1990 honoring classic films released in 1939. The stamp features Clark Gable and Leigh as Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind (1939). The other films honored were Beau Geste (1939), Stagecoach (1939), and The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Ranked #48 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
Reportedly used one of her two Oscars to doorstop her bathroom.
Returned to work sixteen months after giving birth to her daughter Suzanne Farrington in order to begin performing in the stage production entitled "The Green Sash".
Scarlett O'Hara might have been played by an actress called 'April Morn', a stage name she briefly considered before settling on Vivien Leigh.
She desperately wanted to play the second Mrs. De Winter in Rebecca (1940) opposite her husband Laurence Olivier, but producer David O. Selznick thought the role would dilute her value as a Scarlett O'Hara type and cast Joan Fontaine instead. His decision severely strained her professional relationship with Selznick; neither she nor Olivier ever appeared in one of his films again. Fontaine won her first Academy Award nomination in the role.
She died after collapsing at home from complications from an attack of tuberculosis on July 7, 1967. That evening lights of West End theater marquees were kept dark for an hour in her honor.