Laurence Olivier's secret lover reveals the Truth about cruel adulterous wife Vivien Leigh

Larry admitted that the period after splitting up with Vivien was the darkest, most lonely time of his whole life. Indeed, if it wasn’t for the fact that Vivien was always threatening to kill herself while they were together, he might have taken his own life, for he was seriously off balance at that time.

Larry was too much of a gentleman to speak openly about Vivien’s sex addiction. But I do know that Vivien would get her kicks by making sure she would time her ‘amours’ to coincide with Larry returning to their house in Chelsea or Notley Abbey, their country estate in Buckinghamshire.

Jealousy was rife between the pair, but Vivien became unmanageable when Larry began having hit after hit. She wanted to be Larry.

She demanded that he use his influence to create opportunities for her to become a Dame, and felt that Larry wasn’t helping her sufficiently to that end.

But he told me: ‘The truth is she wasn’t good enough in the theatre. She would never even bother turning up for her voice production classes.

‘Now, if she had stuck to filming, she would have won Oscar after Oscar, but that wasn’t good enough for Vivien – she was determined to beat me at my own game.’

I worked with Vivien in 1959, long before I met Olivier.

When I was 16 and still at RADA, my agent Robin Fox – the patriarch of the Fox acting dynasty – suggested I get my first experience of a film studio and he secured a walk-on part for me in The Roman Spring Of Mrs Stone, starring Vivien and Warren Beatty.

I was somewhat puzzled to discover that although the number on the door matched that on my key, the name on the door read Lotte Lenya – who back then was a musical legend. Had there been some mistake?

I checked my key number yet again. It was correct so, full of confidence, I placed the key in the lock, only to receive three sharp taps on my shoulder as I did so.

‘You can’t go in there, that’s Lotte Lenya’s dressing room!’ hissed a small lady behind me, her dazzling eyes hot with confrontation.

I stood my ground. ‘Good morning, Miss Leigh,’ I replied as sweetly as I could muster. ‘That’s Lotte Lenya’s dressing room,’ she repeated, eyes hotter than ever.

‘The porter has obviously given you the wrong key, you shouldn’t be up here. Walk-ons are downstairs in the extras’ dressing rooms.’

Her sharp tongue and dazzling eyes were beginning to have an effect on me. I was only 16, after all, so what right had the great lady to terrorise me in this way?

‘Now off you trot this instant, and check your key number with the porter,’ she demanded. I showed her my key. ‘Look, the numbers match, but by all means, you check with the porter if you wish,’ I suggested, opening the door and walking in.

Lotte’s dressing table was full of her private, personal paraphernalia .  .  . maybe Vivien had a point, maybe there had been a mistake. Still, I trusted Robin, my wizard of an agent; he probably represented Lotte Lenya too, and had arranged it all beforehand.

I sat down as Robin had instructed to await the arrival of the costume designer, Bumble Dawson who was to dress me.

Bumble was Vivien’s best friend at that time. Suddenly Miss Leigh flounced in, stuffing a sheet of paper into my hand.

‘That’s a list of colours you can’t wear,’ she announced before flouncing out again. Every colour was on that list except black.

I find anything to do with Olivier's love life totally depressing.

Bumble turned away from me after reading Vivien’s long list. ‘Bitch,’ she mumbled under her breath, thinking I hadn’t heard. ‘We’ll show her .  .  .’

Indeed, she did. For my walk-on role, Bumble dressed me in an overwhelmingly soft, sumptuously sexy black leather suit, well ahead of its time. The moment I appeared on the set Warren did a double-take, which Vivien caught.

He then picked up a copy of Esquire magazine, placed it in front of his face, walked over the stage floor and made a beeline for me.

He stood there, directly in front of me, pointing to his face in close-up on the magazine’s cover. Suddenly he whipped it away, revealing his real face.

‘Hi, my name’s Warren Beatty,’ he said. He gave a slight bow before returning to his chair and glancing toward Vivien as he went.

From then on, I felt distinctly uncomfortable, with Vivien’s vixen eyes glued to either Warren or me all day.

It was obvious to me that they were having an affair. If only I could have pacified Vivien by telling her that Warren’s advances meant nothing to me – he wasn’t my type at all – the day might have turned out quite, quite differently. But I found Vivien to be a distinctly brittle, dark and jealous woman.

Since it was my first day in the movie world, I presumed that this egomaniacal behaviour must be the norm.

As fate would have it, a few years later I was invited to a tea party at the home of the actor Robert Morley in Henley. I recall it being a beautiful afternoon, and the garden was packed with showbiz types. About halfway through the afternoon, a lady dressed in black wafted across the lawn. Her escort led her to a chair in the shade under a tree.

I bided my time and then I went over with a plate of cakes and offered her one. She looked at me in a puzzled manner.

‘Have we met before?’ she asked in a somewhat tired voice.

‘Yes, on The Roman Spring Of Mrs Stone,’ I replied. ‘You told me I could only wear black.’

‘Of course .  .  . ,’ she replied, and remembering, she sort of shrugged an embarrassed apology. Our eyes were drawn to her outfit. ‘Black suits you,’ I told her truthfully.

I’ll never forget the inconsolable fragility within her smile, the ravishing beauty now ravaged by life.

Whatever the truth about the relationship between Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh – and the truth, being such a pliable substance, is always in the middle somewhere – one thing is for sure: when Larry and Vivien split up most of the chattering classes sided with her.

the fire dog

What is a "fire dog?"

A Dalmatian?

Anonymous comment about Vivien Leigh :

'My late father was an actor and worked with Miss Leigh. He always said she was simultaneously the most ugly and beautiful woman he had ever met. An angry sparrow of a woman who had to be the center of attention at all times and thought gestures like bringing in a cake for somebody's birthday outweighed the kind of random cruelty which could wreck the career of powerless, young actors.'

R7 Andiron? Or the grate?

fire dogs:

My grandmother worked with her in "Duel of Angels." Said that, in addition to Leigh's brilliance, she was incredibly thoughtful and democratic. And very funny in a bawdy way. Even decades after, Gran would tear up a bit when reminiscing.

I don’t see it.

R13 Go to bed, Joan

So the side piece says her lover’s wife was a real bitch.

Who’d have thunk it ? ?

old-fashioned SIN and sedition

I must admit to being disappointed that we never discovered what happened to Nona...?

And the really big question remains: wtf did Lotte Lenya do when she found some sixteen year old ingenue swannng about in her dressing room?!

As for the other stuff - blah blah blah.

Though I have to say I was kinda shocked when it came to the part where the storyteller said she’d been cast as Abigail - as I’d sort of assumed up until that point it had been one of Larry’s male lovers.

It’s all so complicated.

Sorry, who IS this ho who was supposedly fucking a married Olivier for decades?

None of the quotes give her name.

[quote]r18 Sorry, who IS this ho who was supposedly fucking a married Olivier for decades? None of the quotes give her name.

It is Sarah Miles, best known for David Lean’s film RYAN’S DAUGHTER (1970)

Olivier's first wife, and mother of Tarquin, was actress Jill Esmond. Said to be a dyke.

Who cares about these British bitches? We're the only dames worth discussing on DL.

Olivier was fucking around but it was Leigh who was cruel for having guys on the side?

This crazy 1950s Puritan bullshit is tiresome. I thought we were past the "men can fuck around but women can't" thing a long time ago.

And, R22, Olivier didn't have the excuse of mental illness to excuse his behavior! Yes, mania can lead to changes in sexual behavior, to put it politely, but Olivier just fucked around because he wanted to. And admitted in his autobiography that he was screwing around as his marriage to Leigh fell apart.

At least his 3rd wife seemed okay with it all, they stopped having sex after the kids were born, but she was apparently happy to stick around and play the Grande Dame Lady Olivier for ever after.

Oh look, yet another thread pushing the narrative that Vivien Leigh was a monster - a MONSTER I TELL YOU!

I don't care if she oversaw the Khashoggi interrogation - I'll take her over Laurence Olivier, Jill Esmond, Danny Kaye, Joan Plowright, or Sarah Miles.

Fuckin' legendary. Someone needs to do a full bio movie on her. The breakdown in Los Angeles after leaving India with David Niven babysitting her madness could win someone an Oscar. And what great cinema it would make.

If you want sweetness and light in your mythical actresses, then go love June Allyson or Loretta Young.

Off to watch Leigh in That Hamilton Woman (love that one)

R21 Hey Bette

Remember when they wanted Vivien to replace Joan in Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte and Leigh's response was:

"No, thank you. I can just about stand looking at Joan Crawford's face at six o'clock in the morning on a southern plantation, but not Bette Davis'."

In DL terms, Bette, she told them your pussy stank.

Always the same OP against antic actresses ? Honestly, I heard some years ago Laurence Olivier loved to watch her wife fucking with others men ? Closeted gay ?

Vivien was responsible for the Dyatlov incident

No. It was Elizabeth Taylor. (Another famous *bitch* in some DL thread... bad obsession against women as enemies I think)

Well, the obvious difference is that Viv could act, and Liz (basically) could not.

I thought he was a homo.

R30 You thought wrong.

R4 Bumble Dawson is shown at left below

I see what you did there R13.

closeted homosexual

Sarah Miles has a topless scene in "Ryan's Daughter".

Rex Reed, in his review of the film, described her breasts as looking like two burnt cupcakes.

Rex Reed, Breast Connoisseur

Claire Bloom said Vivien knew she had had an affaire with Olivier and when they did Duel of Angels Bloom was at the height of her beauty.

She said that Leigh was a kind and helpful co-star.

Nobody but nobody ever says these things about Olivier. The stories about him tend towards undermining others The Patty Duke story is astounding. So bad I tend to want to not believe it.

R36, what happened with Patty Duke? She had only good things to say about Olivier in her autobiography.

[quote]R36 The stories about him tend towards undermining others The Patty Duke story is astounding.

Where is that? (I have no trouble believing he was a vengeful little bitch.)

Well that's interesting. I had no idea. Did they do a TV movie or some program together? I'm not sure what it was but in reviewing the rushes everyone was going on about how great Duke was.

Olivier who was there said 'let's kill the little darling shall we?' I assumed he meant cutting her performance to his advantage.

[quote]Sarah Miles has a topless scene in "Ryan's Daughter". Rex Reed, in his review of the film, described her breasts as looking like two burnt cupcakes.

Rex Reed loves cupcakes and eats them often. Rex is a good judge of cupcakes.

Who cares what this home-wrecking strumpet has to say? She wishes she had even an iota of Vivien’s talent.

Who cares what this urine-drinking strumpet has to say? She wishes she had one iota of Larry’s talent.

Patty Duke and a Laurence Olivier starred in the TV production of a play called 'Power and Glory' which aired in the early 60s. I don't know if the above stories are true, except that Patty only had good things to say about Laurence.

I remember reading that anecdote because it was the first time I came across the phrase 'kill the darling.' I didn't know at that point they had done anything together. Maybe he was being facetious in mock jealousy and did genuinely appreciate her talents.

Funny, she was bi-polar, like Vivien.