Vivien Leigh Books

Vivien, once again seems to be getting herself tangled up in some of the most bizarre situations. She is back on TV, now wearing a costume, but she is eager to prove that she can avoid the diva syndrome this time. In an attempt to reform her reputation, she is thrown into a challenging role that was not quite what she expected. In her new role she is required to perform her own stunts in costume which is complicated to say the least. To further add to her problems are her complicated relationships; her male co-stars don't want to work with her, her future step sisters are determined to make her miserable, and on top of all of this her mother is in the midst of planning her wedding. Now she is falling for one of her co-stars, will her life ever not be so complicated?

Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout have a strong imaginative plot from start to finish, and have developed memorable characters. This story is laugh out loud funny, down right hilarious, and is very entertaining. I highly recommend this one without any hesitation!

While reading the story my daughter wanted to know what I was reading and I began telling her about it and since she has taken the book home and has informed me she wants all of the deuts books to read. I am so thankful she has a new found love of reading. Thank you, maybe she will spend more time reading than watching TV. I must also admit that I quite enjoyed the book and will buy the prior books and read before passing along to my daughter.

I am such a huge fan of this series. I could not wait to get the latest installment and it did not disappoint. Once again our Vivien seems to get herself tangled up in the weirdest situations - she is back on TV - wearing a beast costume no less. The description of Vivien trying to a)believe that she has to be on national tv in a animal costume and b) Vivien's attempts at "being one" with the costume (tail and all) is hilarious. Vivien also may be finding love in this one or is she?

While I really enjoyed the book, I missed the one on one moments that Vivien shared with her mother in the first book. It seems that most of the interaction between the two also included alot of other people (most of them highly irritating). For me, what works best in this series is the connection (sometimes tedious) between mother and daugher. With the twists in this book - Vivien and her mother seem to be heading towards less one on one and more family (by marriage) oriented themes - which I am not sure will work as well.

However, the book is hilarious, our Vivien is her true self and this is a great purchase.

Buy it.

In this poignant novel about our favorite diva -- now in control -- there is lots of humor and romance.

Her mother is marrying a guy that Vivien would like if it wasn't for his daughters, who are awful to say the least. They are backstabbing, conniving little brats!

Jake (Vivien's mother's fiancé) got her a job on a new show that the critics said needed a female character. That would have been all right if Chaz, the director of Diamond Heights (the show she got fired from for being a diva) wasn't the director! He is, of course, rude to Vivien the whole time, and she knows that he only keeps her there because Jake owns the company producing the show. Being an actress doesn't sound so glamorous anymore, does it?

Not only is the director a jerk but the other male actors treat her horribly because she has never done stunts before. (The show is about people who were transformed into animals and they are trying to take down the mad scientist who made them this way. Totally an action show!)

I really liked this book because it is funny and lighthearted but also has a great plot. I think almost anyone could read this book and get something out of it!

Reviewed by: Taylor Rector

An amazing audio recording of a top-notch cast performing an intricate verbal dance that is Austin Pendleton's clever play. After hearing the recording, I wished I knew how to reach Joan Plowright, the only surviving notable who's a character in the play (the others being Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier, Kenneth Tynan and Vivien Leigh), to ask her if any of the play is actually true. Oh, to have been witness to the real-life drama that was going on during rehearsals of Ionesco's RHINOCEROS, which is the play that Welles, Plowright and Olivier were working on while Olivier's marriage to Leigh was falling apart. This recording is for the theatre lovers and theatre historians as well as the theatre artists.

This book is very expensive, but is a must have for serious Vivien Leigh fans or for the researcher. The book contains only 2 photographs of Miss Leigh but is jam packed with information about the actress. The beginning of the book consists of a concise 110 page biography. Surprisingly, the biography contained information I did not know about the actress. Molt includes some rare information about the late actress. The other sections that make up this 303 page book are Chronology, Stage Appearance, Filmography, Unrealized Projects (very interesting), Awards & Nominations, Videography, Radio Appearances, TV Appearances, Discography, Collectibles, Bibliography (great books included), Archives, and Posthumous Tributes. I highly recommend this book; it will not disappoint!

This book has been lionized as a labor of love, and I suppose it is-- a certain fondness approaching idolatry appears in every chapter. For all that, and despite a promising first chapter where we're introduced to Vivien as she meets David Selznick at the "burning of Atlanta" and he realizes he's found his Scarlett!-- this is a dull book.

but worse than that for anyone really interested in her life, it's a book missing very important facts. That's not Edwards' fault-- of all the people she acknowledges at the end of the book, Laurence Olivier, Viv's second husband and the man who was there as her manic-depressiveness began to take over, is not listed. Olivier did not speak much about Vivien until after he'd written his won two volumes of autobiography, in the 80s. (On Acting and its companion).

So, the notorious affair with Peter Finch, for example, is not described, or worse-- described as just a mild flirtation. Far too much is missing from the biography.

Alexander Walker's book VIVIEN, published after both Olivier and Leigh were dead, is a much better choice, and its style is also far more comprehensive. Walker spends less time speculating and more time grounding his ideas with citations and sources. There's also a book coming out in the spring of 2003 which promises to be complete.

In short, this must have been a very welcome book in 1977, 10 years after Viv's death, but it's obsolete now. I gave it two stars because in its time it did represent a great deal of labor and research, and the writing style works hard (unsuccessfully, for me) to keep the reader engaged. But for anyone who really needs to research her life and the lives of the many famous people in her life, it's missing too much.

"Gone With The Wind" is my all-time favorite movie, which I've seen probably a million times now. I "blame" Vivien Leigh for the movie's success and for being so strong in my heart. Besides being the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, Vivien's acting is so wonderful, you really believe she IS Scarlett O'Hara. At least, she always will be for me. BUT, little did anyone know Ms. Leigh's hidden secret -- her mental illness, which made her success all the more enthralling. Despite bouts of "craziness" and bouts of fear so great she hid in corners, Leigh became America's sweetheart. Her portrayal of Scarlett was one of a woman you love and hate. Folks note in the biography that after Vivien got over one of her "crazy" spells, she was so kind to everyone and quick to apologize that everyone just loved her and felt the need to protect her all the more. This book is wonderful in its portrayal of mental illness while describing the star's romantic life with star Laurence Olivier -- who later leaves her because he can't handle her mental instability. This was all before medication could have brought some dignity back to this diva's life. Author Edwards sure did her homework in describing a true lady who struggled to succeed while struggling for her life.

Still waiting for a biography acknowledging what I think was her real underlying problem. Tuberculosis. Suffered from it nearly her whole life long. Aggravated it by smoking heavily, etc. TB KILLED her (in 1967??). Medications prescribed at the time could cause psychotic reactions. Add that to a highly intelligent, driven, complex personality, miscarriages, grueling work schedules, marital problems ... that doesn't up to mental illness to me. Particularly since she rarely missed any performances. Just not possible. Someday, one author won't put the cart before the horse and give this remarkable woman her due.

This short biography of Vivien Leigh will satisfy those looking for information about the bare bones of Vivien Leigh's career and some of the tabloid gossip surrounding her life but it never comes close to understanding who Vivien Leigh really was, what made her tick, and what made her a great star.

The problem with this biography is that it merely quotes verbatim what other biographies have already written, and when it does not it paraphrases. There is nothing to suggest the author thought deeply about his subject, no assessment of her achievements and flaws, no evaluation and little description- the information is regurgitated and presented like a high school research project. It fails in getting to the crux of Vivien's illness, her manic depression, or explaining her conflict with religious upbringing, or her worship for Laurence Olivier and the grand romancisatiion of their affair. There is scant meaningful historical context to go by, which, in a biography of someone who died almost 40 years ago, is everything to someone reading today. The writing style is also woefully adolescent, a fact you may have to forgive given this is a translation. For those looking for photographs, the selection is disappointingly stingy.

However, thankfully there are better biographies out there. I recommend Alexander Walker's excellent haunting portrayal of Vivien.

I really like the cover photo of this book. However, the other photos
are not high quality printing. It looks like a photocopied book of another book The text is interesting too read I don't think the use of profanity in the book is necessary at all. Vivien Leigh is a complex, beautiful person and this book barely does justice to her.

I bought this used and i'm glad I did. I wasn't completly happy with it. The book seemed to be a quick insight of Vivien Leigh's life. Also I was aware she did alot of Shakespeare play's but I thought it focused alot on this soley. Yes, it's good to know, but I like books that focus on "the life" of a star not more on the play's. I almost couldn't keep up with all the traveling talk either. Just happy I didn't spend the actuall cost of this book.

Sad but insightful -

I was saddened by parts of this detailed biography, disturbed by other parts of it, and also moved by other parts of it. I was fascinated by all of it. I ended up feeling as if I had lived it right along with Vivien - who was not only an intelligent, ambitious woman, but also a great actress and a terrible mother - a woman full of contradictions! A character greater than any she ever played! An enjoyable reading!