There is a new book out about Vivian Leigh and in it, the authors describe in great detail the sexual adventures of the woman who won an Oscar for portraying Scarlett O'Hara.
The authors say that the marriage between Vivian and Laurence Olivier was a sham and that the two were cheating on each other within months of being married. The book says that Scarlett had several female lovers but that she preferred going to gay bars with one of her male gay friends where they would pick up male prostitutes who specialized in the "rough trade."
The pair would pay the men a substantial sum to keep the liaisons secret and not to tell they had sex with Scarlett. One time though she did get caught by an Italian hotel staff and was kicked out of the hotel for having sex with too many men at one time. Wow.
I am officially traumatized.......
ReplyDeleteHow many decades has this women been gone? Is this really necessary now? Are they any living witnesses to this? Maybe she did like to live on the wild side, but what's the point of bringing this up?
ReplyDeleteI've always had problems with so-called revelations on the lives people who have passed away and can't defend themselves. Cheap and tacky.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the marriage was a sham. He left his 1st wife for her. It was pretty hot between them for awhile.
ReplyDeleteIs nothing sacred? Good Lord, we're talking about Scarlett O'Hara here!
ReplyDeletesunnyside - Though they were pretty into each other initially, everyone knew that Laurence Olivier cheated on Vivian Leigh with men. I found that out from my high school English teacher. It wouldn't surprise me if it were a scam.
ReplyDeleteIt's a scandalous story that I find intriguing - especially since I love Vivian Leigh in "Gone with the Wind" - but I'm not traumatized or really shocked. Maybe the promiscuity and impulsiveness was a symptom of her bipolar disorder?
scam = sham
ReplyDeleteWasn't she a known nymphomaniac? I recall reading that this was one of those Hollywood secrets that was not known to the general public but to fellow actors it was.
ReplyDeleteLeigh was bipolar. Her hypersexuality during her manic phases was pretty well known. Back in those days it was called nymphomania. About the only person who could calm her during her manic spells was her first husband (Leigh Holman, whose first name became her professional last name), whom she still had an urge to please by trying very hard to behave herself.
ReplyDeleteShe truly loved Olivier, but he couldn't handle her mental illness as it grew more profound, and eventually left her.
Leigh and Olivier were one of THE Hollywood power couples, coming in time after Fairbanks/Pickford and before Burton/Taylor. Elizabeth Taylor in her youth bore such a strong resemblance to Leigh, she was able to replace her in 'Elephant Walk' when Leigh's illness prevented her from completing the film.
I heard things about Audrey Hepburn that seemed outrageous. And it kills me. I heard from a good person who had very credible "Old Hollywood" sources. When he was telling me the stories about Audrey I tried to forget them all immediately and call him a liar, but he gave me his word that was not lying.
ReplyDeleteEven if true, the author Darwin Porter is not very reliable. He uses third hand innuendo and mostly unsourced quotes. Shady at best.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds too fantastical to be believed, but wow if it is true.
ReplyDeleteI know everyone deserves their privacy but common, she's dead, whats the harm in relieving some of her dirty little secrets?
I find it facinating when we get to have a peek into Old Hollywood, which is by far more interesting than the Jersey Shore Spiedi shit we have to endure today~
What Squeezebox said. I pretty sure I read that 20 years ago in another book about her, so it's not really news now.
ReplyDeleteMissjenny619 PLEASE spill about Hepburn!
ReplyDelete:)
@Cheryl - wait, is he the same author that made all those claims about Paul Newman soon after he died? What a bottom-feeder.
ReplyDeleteWow, she is my favorite old Hollywood star. I've read most of her other biographies and they were sort of "gentle" with her bipolar, mental problems and sex life. I hate myself for wanting to actually read this! Ugh, poor Viv......
ReplyDeleteAhhhh, Gone with the Wind. Fabulous book; fabulous film. This bit about Viv babe is juicy. But, I take all my gossip with a grain of salt. Since she is dead and gone, I take her crazy sexcapades with a huge salt shaker. Wouldn't suprise me if she was on the promiscuous side.
ReplyDeleteRocketQueen: Yes, he has "proof" that almost everyone was gay. He wrote "Hollywood Babylon: It's Back."
ReplyDeletethe woman was mentally ill. it's actually a tragic story, but the sex thing fits like a glove with her mental issues.
ReplyDeletethey really did love each other. i've always thought it was a very sad story.
Jasmine - The person who told me was good friends with a number of "Old Hollywood" types and was a very good person who doesn't care about gossip, I just want to be clear about that first.
ReplyDeleteHe told me that Audrey slept around a lot, even with married men, which is how she got most of her roles. It kills me because she seemed so virtuous. But, she knew the casting couch well apparently.
Yes, he has "proof" that almost everyone was gay. He wrote "Hollywood Babylon: It's Back."
ReplyDeleteWonder if he has met Ted Casablanca? He thinks everyone is gay too,
@MissJenny,
ReplyDeleteThat's crazy talk! But, I buy it. Nothing suprises me in La La Land. And to think Audrey is always viewed as the epitome of class.
While it is true that rumors about Vivian Leigh have been around for years I would warn about the author, Darwin Porter. In his books everyone is gay or bi and he includes the juiciest quotations. The only problem is why these quotations, from dozens if not hundreds of actors, never showed up in hundreds of other biographies but only in Darwin Porter's fevered writings. Also, while he writes the most salacious material about the dead (who can not sue), his few references to the living are always seem to be prefaced "alledged" etc.
ReplyDeleteJasmine, in his latest book in the Hollywood Babylon series, Porter has William Holden (dead) tell British actor Alan Cuthbertson (dead) that he (Holden) had three way sex with Audrey Hepburn (dead) and Capucine (dead). Oh, and for extra points Porter also tosses in that Capucine was born a man before undergoing a little operation! Trust that is enough Hepburn gossip for you.
Who is Darwin Porter? I thought Hollywood Babylon was Kenneth Anger's property.
ReplyDeletePersonally, the most shocking thing about this is the pic that Enty posted. Scarlett with a ciggie in hand! Why, I do declare!
ReplyDelete@Missjenny and Daveb,
ReplyDeleteThanks you guys, while that was a little shocking and kinda sad to hear (about the casting couch anyways) I love everything Old Hollywood, like I said, so this was a nice treat to have for today!
:))
How many men is "too many men" to have sex with at one time? Do they have a weigh station or something on the way in?
ReplyDeletenow we know why Helen Mirren has such a hate on for Audrey..lol.
ReplyDelete@Jax...
ReplyDeleteDame Helen has a hate for Audrey?! I read that Emma Thompson isn't a big fan but Helen, too?
Let's not use the word 'nymphomaniac', please. It has hugely sexist implications because there's no equivalent, judgemental word for a man who screws around a lot.
ReplyDelete@lollydarling: the person that mentioned nymphomania pointed out that it was an old-fashioned (outdated) term for what we would be termed hypersexuality. Why can't we use the word in the correct time context?
ReplyDelete*what would be
ReplyDeleteWaterslide: there are an awful lot of words that were used 'in the correct time context' that are more than ugly today. I wonder if you would be as quick to defend the use of racist or homophobic words with that weak proviso? There was absolutely no need for Squeezebox to use the word 'nymphomaniac'; it was neither required nor indicated by the context. And no, to labour a point, 'nymphomania' is not a term for 'hypersexuality'. You're wrong. It is a derogatory term for women who enjoy sex 'too much'. As Melody The First so rightly said, 'How many men is "too many men"?' I can't think of a case where a male movie star has been censored, let alone kicked out of a hotel, for mere promiscuity.
ReplyDeleteLet me start by saying Leigh's alleged sexual escapades were undoubtedly (in my decidedly non-medical opinion) a result of her well documented bi-polar issues.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, if you're dead, you can't sue.
That being said, I'd like to go on record as saying that Alexander the Great had a long, torrid affair with Napoleon Bonaparte.
I got that little tidbit straight from Socrates.
Can I get a book deal now?
@Merlin D. Bear, Alexander and Napoleon had nothing on John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Alexander Hamilton was my source on that. ;)
ReplyDelete@BigMama - Me too!
ReplyDeleteWow...part of me would like to read this book!
It is kind of tacky but at the same time....if those people lived NOW we'd already probably have heard these things (maybe on Enty's blog!) b/c of how much more information is leaked.
We're here for the gossip. Why is any of this (Vivian, Audrey) considered shocking? Although it surprises me that hotels would have had limits on their guests sex partners.
ReplyDeleteI thought the term nymphomaniac could refer to a man, too.
Love the picture. All sweetness and light with a ciggie in her hand.
No, Shakey, it only refers to women. With men it's satyriasis, which historically hasn't been used a as a pejorative term... sigh... And agree with you about the picture!
ReplyDelete@Shakey -
ReplyDeleteYou have to remember that should such an event have taken place, it would have been back in the 40's - a time when such things didn't happen (*cough*cough*) - and reputations meant everything.
@lollydarling: Nymphomania and satyriasis (...in men...Are you sure you're not Maud Lebowski?) are indeed both archaic terms for exactly what is being discussed...in the parlance of our times...hypersexuality. Google nymphomania and see the first thing that shows up.
ReplyDeleteAre both of those terms sexist in that they refer to a person's gender? Yes. Are they used by the psychiatric community to diagnose a condition in the time in which we live? No. I hardly think the OP was using the word in a derogatory manner. It was in context and I'd like to know what real woman is sitting around crying about reading the word nymphomania on a gossip blog.
Sheesh.
*goes back to watching that nymphomaniac Bunny LaJoya in Logjammin'*