Vivien Leigh was an Oscar winning British movie star who struggled with mental illness.
She was born Vivian Mary Hartley on November 5, 1913, in Darjeeling, India. When she was six years old her parents took her to England so she could get a better education. After seeing her first play Vivien decided she wanted to become an actress. She married Herbert Leigh Holman, a London barrister, in 1932, and had a daughter named Suzanne. Vivien started her career performing on the London stage. She got small parts in movies like Things Are Looking Up and A Yank At Oxford. While making Fire Over England in 1937 Vivien began an affair with her married costar Laurence Olivier. They both divorced their spouses so they could be together. Vivien was one of dozens of actresses who auditioned for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in the 1939 epic Gone With The Wind. She got the part and won an Academy Award for her iconic performance. In 1940 she married Laurence but they had a tumultuous relationship and he often cheated on her. Meanwhile Vivien, who was bi-sexual, had numerous affairs with men and women. Laurence told his friends that Vivien was a nymphomaniac.