Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Galloway (Leading Lady), former executive editor of the Hollywood Reporter, offers a richly detailed account of the fiery ascent and demise of one of Hollywood's most glamorous couples. While starring in 1937's Fire over England, Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier--both married at the time--became enmeshed in a passionate affair. "Each moment they weren't working," Galloway writes, "they would sneak off, find a private space where they could talk, laugh and touch." After a break from filming 21 Days, the two ran away together and, a few years later, married in 1940. Weaving in uncovered correspondence and interviews with family and friends, Galloway delivers a taut narrative, charting the couple's rise to stardom on stage and screen--notably Leigh's performance as Scarlett O'Hara in 1939's Gone with the Wind and Olivier's starring role in 1944's Henry V. But as the author unveils, Leigh's shifting moods and, later, manic episodes and depression became the "slow drip of pain" that eventually led to the couple's divorce in 1960. Galloway's reporting is immersive and intimate, and studded with vivid recollections--including one from actor Hayley Mills of a "dressed-up evening" the couple hosted where guests were "stark naked, except wearing a tie." It's a riveting story brought to life by the outsized passion that entangled them and later tore them apart. This page-turning biography is one to get swept up in. (Mar.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Galloway (dean, Dodge Coll. of Film and Media Arts, Chapman Univ.; Leading Lady: Sherry Lansing and the Making of a Hollywood Groundbreaker) painstakingly dissects the complicated relationship between two of the most famous actors to tread the boards and shine on screen--Sir Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. After falling in love while married to others, Olivier and Leigh became one of the first headline-making celebrity couples, whose passion and tempers provided almost daily fodder for gossip reporters. Galloway's extensive research reveals the many hurdles the couple faced--mounting financial problems, miscarriages, affairs, and Leigh's many health issues, from tuberculosis to undiagnosed bipolar disorder--and offers behind-the-scenes accounts from both their greatest successes (Gone with the Wind; Wuthering Heights) and their worst performances (their stage version of Romeo and Juliet was such a flop that audiences demanded their money back, and Leigh and Olivier lost their life savings, which they had invested into the production). While the focus is on Olivier and Leigh's relationship, Galloway also offers a riveting depiction of the First and Second World Wars and show business in the U.S. and the UK. VERDICT Will greatly appeal to cinema buffs, theater aficionados, and fans of the doomed lovebirds.--Lisa Henry
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
The sweeping story of a relationship between two Hollywood legends. Galloway, the former executive editor of the Hollywood Reporter, braids political, personal, and cinematic history in this dishy narrative about the tumultuous marriage of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. While this relationship has been written about countless times, the author endeavors to make this account more nuanced, using the prism of our modern understanding of mental health to address the problems Leigh battled throughout her life. To that end, we get a slightly more sympathetic view of the actor. As a child, she was sent from her birthplace in Darjeeling, India, to boarding school in England. An unrequited hunger for love and kindness is the throughline of Galloway's depiction. She was lonely, frightened, and never appeared to fully recover from feelings of abandonment caused by her parents sending her away. These characteristics are easily identified now as obvious contributors to Leigh's mental health struggles; during her lifetime, not so much. While readers now might relate to Leigh, it's clear that during her marriage to Olivier, onlookers, as well as "Larry" himself, were inclined to believe she was at best mercurial and at worst crazy, while the husband was long-suffering. Galloway excels at detailing the couple's world, complete with cameos by Marilyn Monroe, Arthur Miller, Katharine Hepburn, and Warren Beatty. We also see how World War II and Hollywood politics impacted the pair's destiny. Leigh comes across at times as strong, smart, and scathing; at others, desperate and brittle, as she endured numerous rounds of electroshock therapy in hopes of changing enough to keep Olivier's love. Olivier, for his part, eventually gave up on his "Vivling" and made it about him. The first two-thirds of the book race by in full Technicolor, while the last third is thinner, reading more like an IMDB page or an obituary, which it eventually becomes for Galloway's two tragic and beautiful subjects. A good choice for lovers of theater and cinema--and for those who live for the drama. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
