Harry Ransom CenterThe University of Texas at Austin

From russell birdwell
Selznick International Pictures
Culver City, California

Vivien Leigh, whose father is French and mother Irish, will
play the role of Scarlett O'Hara, whose father was Irish and mother
French.

The selection of Miss Leigh by David O. Selznick, president of
Selznick International Pictures, Inc., yesterday brought to a close
the two year controversy over the selection of a Scarlett for Margaret
Mitchell's "Gone With The Wind."

Choice of Miss Leigh was based upon tests directed by George
Cukor, who will direct the picture.

Clark Gable already has been announced for the role of Rhett
Butler, and with the screenplay by Sidney Howard and Oliver H.P.
Garrett completed, Selznick has the stage set for the beginning of
production. The picture, to be filmed entirely in Technicolor, goes
before the cameras within the next two weeks.

In her physical characteristics as well as her ancestry, Miss
Leigh resembles the heroine of Miss Mitchell's book. She is five
feet three,weighs 103 pounds, has green eyes, brown hair with a touch
of red, and even possesses Scarlett's pointed chin.

Miss Leigh is a newcomer to American production, but has had
some experience in English studios. For Alexander Korda she played in
"Fire Over England" and "Storm in a Teacup." More recently, she was
seen in "A Yank at Oxford," produced by MGM in London.

Prior to her recent screen work, Miss Leigh had a great deal
of experience on the stage, having played leads in "The Mask of Virtue,"
"The Happy Hypocrite," "Henry VIII," "Bats in the Belfry," "Because We
Must" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

-more-

She has been under contract to Alexander Korda, but under the
terms of her contract for Selznick, and by arrangement with Mr. Korda,
she will be under exclusive contract for the future to Selznick Inter-
national, except for one picture yearly which she will make in England
for Mr. Korda.

In private life, Miss Leigh is Mrs. Leigh Holman, wife of a
London barrister and mother of a five-year-old daughter, Suzanne.

Miss Leigh was born in Darjeeling, India, at the foot of Mt.
Everest, on November 5, 1913, daughter of Ernest Richard Hartley,
stock broker, of French decent, and Gertrude Robinson Hartley, born
in Ireland. She was schooled in Paris, London, Switzerland, Italy and
Germany.

At the age of fifteen, as a student in Mlle. Manileve's school
in Paris, Miss Leigh was taught dramatics by an actress of the Comedie
Francaise. She was given a chance to try her talent in school pro-
ductions of Victor Hugo's plays, and her aptitude brought urgings to
continue her dramatic studies.

Three years later Miss Leigh entered the Academy of Dramatic
Art in London to study for her career. A year later she met and married
Holman, returning to school after the honeymoon.

Before she got the chance to play her first professional
acting role, Miss Leigh found herself concerned with the more important
real-life role of a mother. Once the care of little Suzanne was well
arranged, however, Miss Leigh went out to prove to herself that her
earlier ambitions had been justified.

Starting slowly, Miss Leigh took what small parts she could
get. She was given her first big opportunity on the stage when
Sydney Carroll gave her a role in his production, "The Mask of Virtue"
at the Ambassadors Theatre.

-more-

In making her Hollywood debut for Selznick International, she
goes into the most widely-discussed role in the history of motion
pictures. Literally thousands of actresses and non-professionals were
considered for the role. The search included the efforts of talent
scouting units in all parts of the country, especially the South.
Due to the importance of the role, most of the major stars in motion
pictures have at one time or another been considered, but Selznick
continued to hope for a girl who was not identified in the minds of
the public with other roles, a girl who would not have to subordinate
a previously established personality in the creation of Scarlett
O'Hara.

Some months ago it was announced that January fifteenth had been
set as a deadline for the selection, and as the time limit drew to a
close the choice narrowed down to a few players. Miss Leigh appeared
at the studio, hoping, but little daring to believe that she would be
considered for the role, at the moment when the fire scenes were being
made for the sequence dealing with the burning of Atlanta, and was
introduced to Selznick at the moment when the fire was at its height.
He was immediately impressed by her physical resemblance to the
Scarlett of Miss Mitchell's creation, and acting tests were promptly
arranged.

Miss Leigh's name is pronounced as though spelled "Lee."

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