This is a tribute, a tribute to the only person I have admired for years. Miss Vivien Leigh. 


  

 She have meant a lot for me during the last eight years. Now, on the July 7^th, the day she died 42 years ago I'm going to explain why I admire her so much. This is probably going to sound quite weird but I am having a really hard time trying to put my finger on what it is about Vivien that is SO amazing. 

I first saw her eight years ago when my mother forced me to see Gone with the Wind. If it hadn't been for my mom I probably would not have turned out the way I have (at least not when it comes to movies). I saw GwtW at least once a day for the first two weeks after my first introduction to the movie. I'm NOT joking! Today, Gone with the Wind is my favourite movie of all times. I was caught by Vivien's beauty and the vitality in her acting. Her performance as Scarlett O'Hara is one of the most brilliant acts in a movie I have ever seen. 

Vivien as Scarlett O'Hara together with her co-star Clark Gable as Rhett Butler 

The first thing that I'm going to talk about is her acting skills. Vivien Leigh was discovered in the mid 1930^th. She, like most great British actors, has been well schooled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. She has quickness and alertness in her way of acting that makes me so impressed. Vivien is so full of life and high-spirited that when she enters in a scene your eyes are naturally drawn to her. She never saw herself as a movie star; she was an actress, an actress that preformed on a stage in front of an audience. Although she was in 19 movies she enjoyed the stage, which I have the highest respect for. I think it is a much harder job expressing the same state of mind and mood every time you enter a stage than act in front of a camera.  

Another thing about Vivien Leigh that has caught me is her appearance. She is one of the most beautiful actresses I have ever seen. She saw her beauty as a handicap and the word she hated the most was beautiful. I have a hard time finding another word to describe her looks... but I simply can't find one. She never had a cute girlish appearance she was a stunning beauty. Something that has hit me again and again is that she had an originality in her looks that was different from the kind of prototypical Hollywood-actress at her time. One of the things that make me think of it is once again her vitality and high-spirited creature that always is mirrored through her eyes. 

 

Her first out of two Academy awards for her achievement in Gone with the Wind  

I can say a lot more about her, too much I guess, but she was a human being like every body else. I do not want to glorify her, she had her faults as well and sometimes people (especially other fans) seem to forget that. I admire her A LOT and I think that it's mostly because she is every thing I am not. I'm kind of living my own "Hollywood glamour dream" through her.  

  "I hope I've one thing that Scarlett never had. A sense of humor. I want some joy out of life... And she had one thing I hope I never have. Selfish egotism." - Vivien Leigh