Vivien Leigh as Eva Peron?

[StageManager2]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 4:25am

I was at a bookstore recently, at the biography section, leafing through a book about Vivien Leigh and it mentions that in the late 1950s Vivien was in talks to star in a bio-pic about Evita. It even quotes her as saying, "Eva Peron was lucky. She died at 33." By then, Vivien was in her mid-forties. Needless to say, nothing ever came of it. I thought this information was very interesting and am curious as to what her portrayal would have been like? Would she have channeled Scarlett O'Hara for part of the film and Blanche DuBois for the sick/dying scenes? What does everyone else think?

[Glebb]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 6:51am

I read that Anne Edwards bio a long time ago and thought that a lot of show biz Brits were fascinated with Eva Peron. No telling how Viv would have been but I love her as Scarlett, Blanche and Lady Hamilton.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 10:05am

Blanche and Scarlett were but two of the myriad roles Leigh played and she excelled at everything she did. Unlike many of our current movie stars, she was a true actress who inhabited a character.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 11:38am

Amen, rath! She's one of my favorites.

[justme2]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 12:55pm

Remember her heartbreaking performance in Waterloo Bridge? That luncheon scene with her fiancee's mother? She was a fantastic actress. She would have done fine with the Eva Peron role, if it had ever come about.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 1:09pm

Well what is perhaps more interesting than Vivian Leigh playing the role, is contemplating: what political stance and tone would film makers in the 1950s have taken with Peron's life? Tim Rice and ALW took a stance in EVITA in the 1970s that reflected British politics of the time. I wonder what the agenda would have been with a Vivian Leigh bio pic. Interesting.

[justme2]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 5:01pm

Great question. I wonder that as well. I have a feeling it would have been a very glossed over biopic if a major studio was planning on producing it. With lots of Cassini gowns, of course.