Truly, Madly: Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, and the Romance of the Century

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.)