WHY VIVIEN LEIGH REJECTED LOVER IN FRONT OF OLIVIER
Rivals' showdown ended in laughter
SUPERSTAR Laurence Olivier invited actor Peter Finch to dinner for a tense face-to-face showdown over his affair with Olivier’s wife, Scarlett O’Hara star Vivien Leigh.
But instead of yelling and punching, the confrontation ended up in laughter, reveals author Stephen Galloway in his new book, Truly, Madly.
Olivier and Leigh were Hollywood’s golden couple when they tied the knot in 1940.
But by the time they divorced 20 years later, she’d become tormented by spells of bipolar madness and plunged into numerous brazen affairs.
During a 1953 plane trip from India to L.A., “she became hysterical,” says the book. “She flew at her window like a trapped bird, beating it with her fists, fighting to get out.
“Then she tore at the neckline of her dress, ripping it down the middle. She scratched and clawed at everyone trying to restrain her. Finally they managed to sedate her.”
Meanwhile, a jealous Olivier had decided to confront
Leigh’s current lover Finch and invited him to din-din at his Notley Abbey home.
After the three chatted amicably over dinner, Leigh went to make coffee and the men retired to the library to sip port.
Olivier began acting like the lord of the manor “and Finch, taking his cue, responded by becoming an elderly, rather seedy butler,” says the book.
“After improvising a comical scene together, both husband and lover ended up hysterical with laughter.”
Suddenly, Vivien burst in and demanded: “Will one of you come to bed with me now?”
Olivier replied: “You’ve got to choose.”
She told him, “Darling, his fingernails, they’re dirty!”
Finch rose and left — the affair was over.
Leigh and Olivier divorced in 1960. She died seven years later at 53 of tuberculosis.