Vivien Leigh: A Southern English Rose

He was Hubert Leigh Holman and the two met soon after at a society ball. The romantic atmosphere, and Vivien's charm and beauty won him over immediately. They were married later in the year; she was eighteen and he was thirty-one. Holman was a little wary of Vivien's interest in acting, but he assumed that she would eventually grow tired of it.

It didn't take Holman long to realize that his wife was more interested in acting than marriage. He hoped that motherhood would increase her interest in family, but when Vivien gave birth to their daughter Suzanne on October 12, 1933, she could hardly wait to go out for auditions again. She spent her days out promoting herself and would often miss the evening meal at home.

Vivien eventually won a small part in Things Are Looking Up(1935). She played a schoolgirl, and according to some sources, her only line was cut from the final print. Still, Vivien was encouraged and more determined than ever to be a successful actress.

After her first movie role, Vivien struggled to find another. She soon realized that she needed an agent to help her. A mutual friend introduced her to John Gliddon, a former actor and journalist was just about to start an agency in order to promote the creation of new British movie stars. She was his first client.

The first order of business in this new partnership was to find a more stageworthy name for Vivien. They decided that "Leigh" would be best because her increasingly distressed husband couldn't object to her using one of his own names. John also began taking Vivien out to be seen by the right people and he had her buy a nicer wardrobe so that she would always look like a star. His work paid off with a pair of small movie roles, The Village Squire and Gentlemen's Agreement.

Though critics didn't like either of the movies, they agreed that Vivien was a "promising" actress. More significantly, an actor who had appeared with Vivien in both of these movies thought of her when an actress fell ill in a play in which he was acting. Vivien agreed to step in, though her role in Green Sash was beyond her expertise. Her fellow castmates were helpful and she managed to charm the critics regardless of her inexperience. However, many critics noted that her voice was difficult to hear and this convinced

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